Amplitude and timing of sea-surface temperature change in the northern South China Sea: Dynamic link to the East Asian monsoon

Research Article| October 01, 2005 Amplitude and timing of sea-surface temperature change in the northern South China Sea: Dynamic link to the East Asian monsoon Delia W. Oppo; Delia W. Oppo 1Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Youbin Sun Youbin Sun 2Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Delia W. Oppo 1Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA Youbin Sun 2Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 23 May 2005 Revision Received: 08 Jun 2005 Accepted: 13 Jun 2005 First Online: 03 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (2005) 33 (10): 785–788. https://doi.org/10.1130/G21867.1 Article history Received: 23 May 2005 Revision Received: 08 Jun 2005 Accepted: 13 Jun 2005 First Online: 03 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Delia W. Oppo, Youbin Sun; Amplitude and timing of sea-surface temperature change in the northern South China Sea: Dynamic link to the East Asian monsoon. Geology 2005;; 33 (10): 785–788. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G21867.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Magnesium/calcium (Mg/Ca) ratios of foraminiferal shells from a sediment core from the northern South China Sea, a semi-enclosed basin in the western tropical Pacific, document variations in sea-surface temperature (SST) during the past 145 k.y. Glacial SSTs were 4 °C colder than interglacial SSTs. During the last deglaciation, most of the warming was accomplished in a single abrupt step after continental ice-sheet decay had already begun, but warming and ice-sheet demise were nearly synchronous during the penultimate deglaciation. Abrupt SST changes of the past 15 k.y. were apparently synchronous with events in East Asian monsoon rainfall, suggesting that variations in monsoon winds and their influence on surface circulation of the western Pacific exerted a strong control on northern South China Sea SSTs. We suggest that this link persisted for the previous 130 k.y., during which time orbital-scale 2–3 °C SST changes and several small (≤2 °C) abrupt SST events occurred in the northern South China Sea. The similar timing of northern South China Sea SST, on a benthic δ18O time scale, to a well-dated speleothem record from eastern China suggests that the demise of ice sheets associated with the penultimate deglaciation did not precede Northern Hemisphere summer insolation increase. Our results suggest that surface waters had higher δ18O values during times of strong summer monsoon than during times of weak monsoon, likely reflecting a redistribution of 18O-depleted rainfall from land during times of strong summer monsoons, to the western Pacific during times of weaker summer monsoons. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.