Sea surface temperature and terrestrial biomarker records of the last 260 ka of core MD05-2904 from the northern South China Sea

• Published in: Chinese science bulletin Vol. 53; no. 15; pp. 2376 - 2384
• Main Authors: He, Juan, Zhao, MeiXun, Li, Li, Wang, PinXian, Ge, HuangMin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg SP Science in China Press 01.08.2008
• Subjects: Chemistry/Food Science; Earth Sciences; Engineering; Humanities and Social Sciences; Life Sciences; Marine; multidisciplinary; Physics; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); 北部南中国海; 海洋学; 海洋表面温度; 陆地输入; ISEW, South China Sea; source region vegetation; northern South China Sea; terrestrial input; sea surface temperature
• ISSN: 1001-6538; 2095-9273; 1861-9541; 2095-9281
• DOI: 10.1007/s11434-008-0289-2

This paper reports high-resolution biomarker records of the last 260 ka for core MD05-2904 from the northern South China Sea （SCS）. The sea surface temperature （SST） record using the U37^k＇, index reveals a minimum of 21.5℃（MIS 2） and a maximum of 28.3℃（MIS 5.5）, for a temperature difference of almost 7℃, and provides the longest high-resolution U37^k＇ SST record in northern SCS. The content of odd-number long chain n-alkanes and several n-alkanes indexes such as the CPI, ACL and the C31/C27 ratio, all reveal generally higher values during the glacials and lower values during the interglaclals. Terrestrial input as Indicated by n-alkane content was mostly controlled by sea-level changes： During the glacials, lower sea-level exposed the continental shelf to enable rivers to transport more terrestrial materials to the slope; and the situation reverses during the interglacials. The n-alkane indexes changes reveal more n-alkanes from contemporary vegetation during glacials as a result of the proximity of the core site to the source region, while the increases in ACL and C81/C27 ratio during glaclals indicate a change to more grassy vegetation. However, the highest values for CPI, ACL and the C81/C27 ratio all occurred during late MIS 3, and it was suggested that this period was characterized by a strong summer monsoon-dominated humid climate which resulted in a denser vegetation for the exposed continental shelf region.