Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T10:24:55.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seawater Temperature Seasonality in the South China Sea During the Late Holocene Derived From High-Resolution Sr/Ca Ratios of Tridacna Gigas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Hong Yan ,
Liguang Sun ,
Da Shao  and
Yuhong Wang
Hong Yan*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, 710075, China Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
Liguang Sun
Affiliation:
Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
Da Shao
Affiliation:
Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
Yuhong Wang
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Laser Chemistry Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
*
*Corresponding author at: State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, 710075, China., E-mail address:[email protected] (H. Yan).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Temperature seasonality, the difference between summer and winter temperature, has significant influences on global terrestrial and marine ecosystems. However, most of proxy-based climate records are of limited temporal resolution and thus insufficient to quantify the past temperature seasonality. In this study, high-resolution Sr/Ca ratios of modern (live-caught) and fossil (dead-collected) Tridacna gigas shells from the South China Sea (SCS) were used to reconstruct the seawater temperature seasonality during the late Holocene. The averaged seawater temperature seasonality around 2165 ± 75 BC (4.46 ± 1.41°C, derived from the data of 18 yr) were similar to the seasonality of recent decade (4.41 ± 0.82°C during AD 1994–2005), but the temperature seasonality around AD 50 ± 40 (3.69 ± 1.37°C, derived from the data of 48 yr) and AD 990 ± 40 (3.64 ± 0.87°C, derived from the data of 11 yr) was significantly lower than that during AD 1994–2005. The reduced seasonality around AD 990 ± 40 was attributable to the unusually warm winter during the medieval times, probably caused by the weakening of East Asian Winter Monsoon. Our study highlighted the potential of T. gigas shells in providing high-resolution seasonality climate information during the late Holocene.

Keywords

South China SeaTridacna gigasSr/CaTemperature seasonalityLate Holocene
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 83 , Issue 2 , March 2015 , pp. 298 - 306
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aharon, P. (1983). 140,000-yr isotope climatic record from raised coral reefs in New Guinea. Nature 304, 720–723.Google Scholar
Aharon, P. (1991). Recorders of reef environment histories�stable isotopes in corals, giant clams, and calcareous algae. Coral Reefs 10, 71–90.Google Scholar
Aharon, P., and Chappell, J. (1986). Oxygen isotopes, sea level changes and the temperature history of a coral reef environment in New Guinea over the last 105 years. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 56, 337–379.Google Scholar
Aharon, P., Chappell, J., and Compston, W. (1980). Stable isotope and sea-level data from New Guinea supports Antarctic ice-surge theory of ice ages. Nature 283, 649–651.Google Scholar
Alibert, C., and McCulloch, M.T. (1997). Strontium/calcium ratios in modern Porites corals from the Great Barrier Reef as a proxy for sea surface temperature: calibration of the thermometer and monitoring of ENSO. Paleoceanography 12, 345–363.Google Scholar
An, Z., Wu, X., Wang, P., Wang, S., Dong, G., Sun, X., Zhang, D., Lu, Y., Zheng, S., and Zhao, S. (1991). Paleomonsoons of China over the last 130,000 years-paleomonsoon variation. Science in China. Series B 34, 1016–1024.Google Scholar
Andreasson, F.P., and Schmitz, B. (1996). Winter and summer temperatures of the early middle Eocene of France from Turritella ?18O profiles. Geology 24, 1067–1070.Google Scholar
Andreasson, F.P., and Schmitz, B. (2000). Temperature seasonality in the early middle Eocene North Atlantic region: evidence from stable isotope profiles of marine gastropod shells. Geological Society of America Bulletin 112, 628–640.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aubert, A., Lazareth, C., Cabioch, G., Boucher, H., Yamada, T., Iryu, Y., and Farman, R. (2009). The tropical giant clam Hippopus hippopus shell, a new archive of environmental conditions as revealed by sclerochronological and ?18O profiles. Coral Reefs 28, 989–998.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batenburg, S.J., Reichart, G.J., Jilbert, T., Janse, M., Wesselingh, F.P., and Renema, W. (2011). Interannual climate variability in the Miocene: high resolution trace element and stable isotope ratios in giant clams. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 306, 75–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, J., Edwards, R., Ito, E., Taylor, F., Recy, J., Rougerie, F., Joannot, P., and Henin, C. (1992). Sea-surface temperature from coral skeletal strontium/calcium ratios. Science 257, 644–647.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bojar, A.-V., Hiden, H., Fenninger, A., and Neubauer, F. (2004). Middle Miocene seasonal temperature changes in the Styrian basin, Austria, as recorded by the isotopic composition of pectinid and brachiopod shells. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 203, 95–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, J., Fairbanks, R., and Shen, G. (1993). Recent variability in the Southern Oscillation: isotopic results from a Tarawa Atoll coral. Science 260, 1790–1793.Google Scholar
Correge, T. (2006). Sea surface temperature and salinity reconstruction from coral geochemical tracers. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 232, 408–428.Google Scholar
Elliot, M., Welsh, K., Chilcott, C., McCulloch, M., Chappell, J., and Ayling, B. (2009). Profiles of trace elements and stable isotopes derived from giant long-lived Tridacna gigas bivalves: potential applications in paleoclimate studies. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 280, 132–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gagan, M., Chivas, A., and Isdale, P. (1994). High-resolution isotopic records from corals using ocean temperature and mass-spawning chronometers. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 121, 549–558.Google Scholar
Goewert, A.E., and Surge, D. (2008). Seasonality and growth patterns using isotope sclerochronology in shells of the Pliocene scallop Chesapecten madisonius. Geo-Marine Letters 28, 327–338.Google Scholar
Hughen, K.A., Baillie, M.G.L., Bard, E., Beck, J.W., Bertrand, C.J.H., Blackwell, P.G., Buck, C.E., Burr, G.S., Cutler, K.B., and Damon, P.E. (2004). Marine04 marine radiocarbon age calibration, 0-26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46, 1059–1086.Google Scholar
Jones, D.S., and Allmon, W.D. (1995). Records of upwelling, seasonality and growth in stable?isotope profiles of Pliocene mollusk shells from Florida. Lethaia 28, 61–74.Google Scholar
Maier, E., and Titschack, J. (2010). Spondylus gaederopus: a new Mediterranean climate archive�based on high-resolution oxygen and carbon isotope analyses. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 291, 228–238.Google Scholar
McCulloch, M., Gagan, M., Mortimer, G., Chivas, A., and Isdale, P. (1994). A high-resolution Sr/Ca and ?18O coral record from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, and the 1982-1983 El Nino. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 58, 2747–2754.Google Scholar
McCulloch, M., Mortimer, G., Esat, T., Xianhua, L., Pillans, B., and Chappell, J. (1996). High resolution windows into early Holocene climate: Sr/Ca coral records from the Huon Peninsula. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 138, 169–178.Google Scholar
Meeker, L.D., and Mayewski, P.A. (2002). A 1400-year high-resolution record of atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic and Asia. The Holocene 12, 257–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oppo, D.W., Rosenthal, Y., and Linsley, B.K. (2009). 2,000-year-long temperature and hydrology reconstructions from the Indo-Pacific warm pool. Nature 460, 1113–1116.Google Scholar
Patterson, W.P., Dietrich, K.A., Holmden, C., and Andrews, J.T. (2010). Two millennia of North Atlantic seasonality and implications for Norse colonies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107, 5306–5310.Google Scholar
Rosewater, J. (1965). The family Tridacnidae in the Indo-Pacific. Indo-Pacific Mollusca 1, 347–396.Google Scholar
Sano, Y., Kobayashi, S., Shirai, K., Takahata, N., Matsumoto, K., Watanabe, T., Sowa, K., and Iwai, K. (2012). Past daily light cycle recorded in the strontium/calcium ratios of giant clam shells. Nature Communications 3, 761.Google Scholar
Schöne, B.R., and Fiebig, J. (2009). Seasonality in the North Sea during the Aller d and Late Medieval Climate Optimum using bivalve sclerochronology. International Journal of Earth Sciences 98, 83–98.Google Scholar
Schöne, B.R., Dunca, E., Mutvei, H., and Norlund, U. (2004a). A 217-year record of summer air temperature reconstructed from freshwater pearl mussels (M-margarifitera, Sweden). Quaternary Science Reviews 23, 1803–1816.Google Scholar
Schöne, B.R., Freyre Castro, A.D., Fiebig, J., Houk, S.D., Oschmann, W., and Kroncke, I. (2004b). Sea surface water temperatures over the period 1884-1983 reconstructed from oxygen isotope ratios of a bivalve mollusk shell (Arctica islandica, southern North Sea). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 212, 215–232.Google Scholar
Schöne, B.R., Fiebig, J., Pfeiffer, M., Gless, R., Hickson, J., Johnson, A.L.A., Dreyer, W., and Oschmann, W. (2005a). Climate records from a bivalved Methuselah (Arctica islandica, Mollusca; Iceland). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 228, 130–148.Google Scholar
Schöne, B.R., Pfeiffer, M., Pohlmann, T., and Siegismund, F. (2005b). A seasonally resolved bottom-water temperature record for the period AD 1866�2002 based on shells of Arctica islandica (Mollusca, North Sea). International Journal of Climatology 25, 947–962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schrag, D.P. (1999). Rapid analysis of high-precision Sr/Ca ratios in corals and other marine carbonates. Paleoceanography 14, 97–102.Google Scholar
Smetacek, V., and Nicol, S. (2005). Polar ocean ecosystems in a changing world. Nature 437, 362–368.Google Scholar
Surge, D., and Barrett, J.H. (2012). Marine climatic seasonality during medieval times (10th to 12th centuries) based on isotopic records in Viking Age shells from Orkney, Scotland. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 350, 236–246.Google Scholar
Wanamaker, A.D., Kreutz, K.J., Schöne, B.R., Pettigrew, N., Borns, H.W., Introne, D.S., Belknap, D., Maasch, K.A., and Feindel, S. (2008). Coupled North Atlantic slope water forcing on Gulf of Maine temperatures over the past millennium. Climate Dynamics 31, 183–194.Google Scholar
Wanamaker, A.D., Kreutz, K.J., Schöne, B.R., and Introne, D.S. (2011). Gulf of Maine shells reveal changes in seawater temperature seasonality during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 302, 43–51.Google Scholar
Wang, T., Surge, D., and Mithen, S. (2012). Seasonal temperature variability of the Neoglacial (3300�2500BP) and Roman Warm Period (2500�1600BP) reconstructed from oxygen isotope ratios of limpet shells (Patella vulgata), Northwest Scotland. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 317, 104–113.Google Scholar
Wang, T., Surge, D., and Walker, K.J. (2013). Seasonal climate change across the Roman Warm Period/Vandal Minimum transition using isotope sclerochronology in archaeological shells and otoliths, southwest Florida, USA. Quaternary International 308, 230–241.Google Scholar
Watanabe, T., and Oba, T. (1999). Daily reconstruction of water temperature from oxygen isotopic ratios of a modern Tridacna shell using a freezing microtome sampling technique. Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans 104, 20667–20674.Google Scholar
Watanabe, T., Suzuki, A., Kawahata, H., Kan, H., and Ogawa, S. (2004). A 60-year isotopic record from a mid-Holocene fossil giant clam (Tridacna gigas) in the Ryukyu Islands: physiological and paleoclimatic implications. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 212, 343–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wei, G.J., Sun, M., Li, X.H., and Nie, B.F. (2000). Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca and U/Ca ratios of a Porites coral from Sanya Bay, Hainan Island, South China Sea and their relationships to sea surface temperature. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 162, 59–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wei, G.J., Deng, W.F., Yu, K.F., Li, X.H., Sun, W.D., and Zhao, J.X. (2007). Sea surface temperature records in the northern South China Sea from mid-Holocene coral Sr/Ca ratios. Paleoceanography 22, PA3206.Google Scholar
Weninger, B., Jöris, O., and Danzeglocke, U. (2007). CalPal-2007. Cologne Radiocarbon Calibration & Palaeoclimate Research Package. Radiocarbon Laboratory, Cologne University, Cologne, Germany.Google Scholar
Yan, H., Sun, L., Liu, X., and Qiu, S. (2010a). Relationship between ENSO events and regional climate anomalies around the Xisha Islands during the last 50 years. Journal of Tropical Oceanography 29, 29–35.(In Chinese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Yan, H., Sun, L.G., Wang, Y.H., Liu, X.D., Qiu, S.C., and Cheng, W.H. (2010b). A 2000-year record of copper pollution in South China Sea derived from seabird excrements: a potential indicator for copper production and civilization of China. Journal of Paleolimnology 44, 431–442.Google Scholar
Yan, H., Shao, D., Wang, Y.-h., and Sun, L.-g. (2011a). High resolution Sr/Ca profile of Tridacna gigas from Xisha Islands of South China Sea and its potential application on sea surface temperature reconstruction. Journal of Earth Environment 381–386.(In Chinese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Yan, H., Sun, L., Oppo, D.W., Wang, Y., Liu, Z., Xie, Z., Liu, X., and Cheng, W. (2011b). South China Sea hydrological changes and Pacific Walker Circulation variations over the last millennium. Nature Communications 2, 293.Google Scholar
Yan, H., Shao, D., Wang, Y., and Sun, L. (2013). Sr/Ca profile of long-lived Tridacna gigas bivalves from South China Sea: a new high-resolution SST proxy. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 112, 52–65.Google Scholar
Yan, H., Shao, D., Wang, Y., and Sun, L. (2014a). Sr/Ca differences within and among three Tridacna species from the South China Sea: implication for paleoclimate reconstruction. Chemical Geology 390, 22–31.Google Scholar
Yan, H., Sun, L., Shao, D., and Wang, Y. (2014b). Higher Sea surface temperature in the northern South China Sea during the natural warm periods of late Holocene than recent decades. Chinese Science Bulletin 59, 4115–4122.Google Scholar
Yan, H., Wang, Y., and Sun, L. (2014c). High resolution oxygen isotope and grayscale records of a medieval fossil giant clam (Tridacna gigas) in the South China Sea: physiological and paleoclimatic implications. Acta Oceanologica Sinica 33, 18–25.Google Scholar
Yu, K., Zhao, J., Wei, G., Cheng, X., and Wang, P. (2005a). Mid-late Holocene monsoon climate retrieved from seasonal Sr/Ca and ?18O records of Porites lutea corals at Leizhou Peninsula, northern coast of South China Sea. Global and Planetary Change 47, 301–316.Google Scholar
Yu, K.F., Zhao, J.X., Wei, G.J., Cheng, X.R., Chen, T.G., Felis, T., Wang, P.X., and Liu, T.S. (2005b). delta O-18, Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca records of Porites lutea corals from Leizhou Peninsula, northern South China Sea, and their applicability as paleoclimatic indicators. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 218, 57–73.Google Scholar