Influence of the Kuroshio Current intrusion on Holocene environmental transformation in the South China Sea

Numerous studies have been conducted on the evolutionary history of the Kuroshio Current (KC) and other extensions. However, the history of the KC intrusion into the South China Sea (SCS) through the Luzon Strait has been little studied. Here we trace the Holocene developmental history of the KC int...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Holocene
Main Authors: Liu, Jianguo, Li, Tiegang, Xiang, Rong, Chen, Muhong, Yan, Wen, Chen, Zhong, Liu, Fang
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Depositional Environment
El Nino/southern Oscillation (Enso)
Holocene
Kuroshio Current
Pulleniatina Minimum Event (Pme)
South China Sea
Physical Geography
Geology
Geography
Physical
Geosciences
Multidisciplinary
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC-OCEAN
MIDDLE OKINAWA TROUGH
PLANKTONIC-FORAMINIFERA
HIGH-RESOLUTION
LATE QUATERNARY
LAST DEGLACIATION
SURFACE SEDIMENTS
WARM CURRENT
ARABIAN SEA
TIME SCALES
Pacific
Planktonic foraminifera
Online Access:http://ir.qdio.ac.cn/handle/337002/19585
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683612474481
Description
Summary:Numerous studies have been conducted on the evolutionary history of the Kuroshio Current (KC) and other extensions. However, the history of the KC intrusion into the South China Sea (SCS) through the Luzon Strait has been little studied. Here we trace the Holocene developmental history of the KC intrusion and its impact on environmental transformation in the northern SCS. This study involved a comprehensive analysis of planktonic foraminifera, clay minerals and geochemical elements of core 05E306 sediments from the northeastern SCS. AMS C-14 dates indicated that the sedimentation rate at the core site was most rapid (>1000 cm/ka) before similar to 6.0 ka, relatively rapid (similar to 65 cm/ka) between 6.0 and 4.6 ka and slow (similar to 24 cm/ka) since 4.6 ka. The Pulleniatina minimum event (PME) occurred between 4.6 and 2.7 ka, together with high percentages of Neogloboquadrina dutertrei and Globorotalia menardii. Planktonic foraminifera indicated that the KC intrusion experienced three significant changes at 6.0, 4.6 and 2.7 ka in turn. Depositional environments, including input of terrigenous materials and development of biogenic materials, similarly underwent three important transformations at 6.0, 4.1 and 3.0 ka, respectively. Abrupt changes in sedimentary records at the study core are contemporary with records from the tropical Pacific during the Holocene. This indicates that development of the KC intrusion and its impact on depositional environments in the SCS can be correlated with tropical factors from the low-latitude oceans.

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