PALEOCEANOGRAPHIC RECORDS OF CORE ZHS-176 FROM THE NORTHERN SOUTH CHINA SEA: OXYGEN ISOTOPE AND ORGANIC CARBON

A coupled approach based on planktonic foraminiferal oxygen isotope and organic carbon from core ZHS-176 in the northern South China Sea slope is adopted to reconstruct the history of paleoclimatic evolution since the last glacial stage. The planktonic foraminiferal oxygen isotopic oscillations in core ZHS-176 during the last glacial period are coeval with climatic variations recorded in the Greenland ice core and Western Pacific sediment. These variations include the Last Glacial Maximum, Heinrich event 1, Bølling-Allerød, and Younger Dryas. During the Holocene, we also find three periods of strong precipitation stages and three periods of weak precipitation stages. The oxygen isotopic record exhibits correlation with climate records from distant regions, including the high-latitude area of North Atlantic, providing evidence for global tele-connection among regional climates. The biogenic organic carbon is dominated in core ZHS-176, and the content of terrigenous one increases while the East Asian summer monsoon strengthens. But after 3 kaBP, the terrigenous input decreases because of the weakened East Asian summer monsoon in the South China region.