Paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic records through Marine Isotope Stage 19 at the Chiba composite section, central Japan: A key reference for the EarlyeMiddle Pleistocene Subseries boundary

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Suganuma, Yusuke, Haneda, Yuki, Kameo, Koji, Kubota, Yoshimi, Hayashi, Hiroki, Itaki, Takuya, Okuda, Masaaki, J. Head, Martin, Sugaya, Manami, Nakazato, Hiroomi, Igarashi, Atsuo, Shikoku, Kizuku, Hongo, Misao, Watanabe, Masami, Satoguchi, Yasufumi, Takeshita, Yoshihiro, Nishida, Naohisa, Izumi, Kentaro, Kawamura, Kenji, Kawamata, Moto, Okuno, Jun'ichi, Yoshida, Takeshi, Ogitsu, Itaru, Yabusaki, Hisashi, Okada, Makoto
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier
• Subjects: Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 19; Oxygen isotope (d18O) stratigraphy; Pollen; Pacific; Subarctic
• Online Access: https://soar-ir.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2000483/files/17K00965_1.pdf

Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 19 is an important analogue for the present interglacial because of its similar orbital configuration, especially the phasing of the obliquity maximum to precession minimum. However, sedimentary records suitable for capturing both terrestrial and marine environmental changes are limited, and thus the climatic forcing mechanisms for MIS 19 are still largely unknown. The Chiba composite section, east-central Japanese archipelago, is a continuous and expanded marine sedimentary succession well suited to capture terrestrial and marine environmental changes through MIS 19. In this study, a detailed oxygen isotope chronology is established from late MIS 20 to early MIS 18, supported by a U-Pb zircon age and the presence of the Matuyama–Brunhes boundary. New pollen, marine microfossil, and planktonic foraminiferal δ18O and Mg/Ca paleotemperature records reveal the complex interplay of climatic influences. Our pollen data suggest that the duration of full interglacial conditions during MIS 19 extends from 785.0 to 775.1 ka (9.9 kyr), which offers an important natural baseline in predicting the duration of the present interglacial. A Younger Dryas-type cooling event is present during Termination IX, suggesting that such events are linked to this orbital configuration. Millennial- to multi-millennial-scale variations in our δ18O and Mg/Ca records imply that the Subarctic Front fluctuated in the northwestern Pacific Ocean during late MIS 19, probably in response to East Asian winter monsoon variability. The climatic setting at this time appears to be related to less severe summer insolation minima at 65˚N and/or high winter insolation at 50˚N. Our records do not support a recently hypothesized direct coupling between variations in the geomagnetic field intensity and global/regional climate change. Our highly resolved paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic records, coupled with a well-defined Matuyama–Brunhes boundary (772.9 ka; duration 1.9 kyr), establish the Chiba composite section as an ...