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The evolution of the Kuroshio Current over the last 5 million years since the Pliocene: Evidence from planktonic foraminiferal faunas

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Abstract

Meridional heat transport of the western Pacific boundary current (the Kuroshio Current) is one of the key factors in global climate change. This current is important because it controls the temperature gradient between low latitudes and the North Pacific and so significantly influences mid-latitude atmosphere-ocean interactions. Here we reconstruct changes in hydrological conditions within the mid-latitude mainstream of the Kuroshio Current based on faunal analysis of planktonic foraminifera in core DSDP 296 from the Northwest Pacific Ocean. This approach enabled us to deduce evolutionary processes within the Kuroshio Current since the Pliocene. A total of 57 species in the coarser section (>150 µim) were identified; results indicate that planktonic foraminiferal faunal evolution has mainly been characterized by three major stages, the first of which comprised mixed-layer warm-water species of Globigerinoides ruber which first appeared between 3.5 and 2.7 Ma and then gradually increased in content. Percentages of another warm-water species of G. conglobatus also gradually increased in number over this interval. Variations in warm-water species indicate a gradual rise in sea surface temperature (SST) and imply initiation of Kuroshio Current impact on the Northwest Pacific Ocean since at least 3.5 Ma. Secondly, over the period between 2.7 and 2.0 Ma, thermocline species of Globigerina calida, Neogloboquadrina humersa, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, and Pulleniatina obliquiloculata started to appear in the section. This fauna was dominated by G. ruber as well as increasing G. conglobatus contents. These features imply a further rise in SST and its gradually enhanced influence on thermocline water, suggesting strengthening of the Kuroshio Current since 2.7 Ma. Thirdly, between 2.0 Ma and present, increasing contents of thermocline species (i.e., G. calida, N. dutertrei and P. obliquiloculata) indicate a gradual rise in seawater temperature at this depth and also imply more intensive Kuroshio Current during this period. On the basis of comparative records from cores ODP 806 and DSDP 292 from the low latitude Western Pacific, we propose that initiation of the impact of the Kuroshio Current in the Northwest Pacific and it subsequent stepwise intensifications since 3.5 Ma can be closely related to the closure and restriction of the Indonesian and Central American seaways as well as variations in the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) and equatorial Pacific region.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and Kochi Core Center (KCC) for providing samples. We are also grateful to Baohua Li (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) for guidance and assistance with the identification of planktonic foraminifera. We thank the two reviewers and scientific editors of this article for their valuable suggestions. This work was supported by the Special Project’ Global Change and Atmosphere-Ocean Interactions’ (GrantNo. GASI-GEOGE-04), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB42030100), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41830539, 41476041, & 41876041), the Open Fund Project of the Key Laboratory of Marine Sedimentology and Environmental Geology, Ministry of Natural Resources (Grant No. MASEG201901), and the Taishan Scholar Project.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Jia Wang, Fengming Chang, Hanjie Sun, Yikun Cui & Tianhao Liu

  2. Laboratory for Marine Geology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Fengming Chang, Tiegang Li & Hanjie Sun

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jia Wang, Tiegang Li, Yikun Cui & Tianhao Liu

  4. Key Laboratory of Marine Sedimentology and Environmental Geology, First Institute of Oceanography, MNR, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Tiegang Li

  5. Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Fengming Chang & Hanjie Sun

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Wang, J., Chang, F., Li, T. et al. The evolution of the Kuroshio Current over the last 5 million years since the Pliocene: Evidence from planktonic foraminiferal faunas. Sci. China Earth Sci. 63, 1714–1729 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-019-9641-9

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