Sedimentology on 19 cores from the South China Sea

Based on the study of 10 sediment cores and 40 core-top samples from the South China Sea (SCS) we obtained proxy records of past changes in East Asian monsoon climate on millennial to bidecadal time scales over the last 220,000 years. Climate proxies such as global sea level, estimates of paleotemperature, salinity, and nutrients in surface water, ventilation of deep water, paleowind strength, freshwater lids, fluvial and/or eolian sediment supply, and sediment winnowing on the sea floor were derived from planktonic and benthic stable-isotope records, the distribution of siliciclastic grain sizes, planktonic foraminifera species, and the UK37 biomarker index. Four cores were AMS-14C-dated. Two different regimes of monsoon circulation dominated the SCS over the last two glacial cycles, being linked to the minima and maxima of Northern Hemisphere solar insolation. (1) Glacial stages led to a stable estuarine circulation and a strong O2-minimum layer via a closure of the Borneo sea strait. Strong northeast monsoon and cool surface water occurred during winter, in part fed by an inflow from the north tip of Luzon. In contrast, summer temperatures were as high as during interglacials, hence the seasonality was strong. Low wetness in subtropical South China was opposed to large river input from the emerged Sunda shelf, serving as glacial refuge for tropical forest. (2) Interglacials were marked by a strong inflow of warm water via the Borneo sea strait, intense upwelling southeast of Vietnam and continental wetness in China during summer, weaker northeast monsoon and high sea-surface temperatures during winter, i.e. low seasonality. On top of the long-term variations we found millennial- to centennial-scale cold and dry, warm and humid spells during the Holocene, glacial Terminations I and II, and Stage 3. The spells were coeval with published variations in the Indian monsoon and probably, with the cold Heinrich and warm Dansgaard-Oeschger events recorded in Greenland ice cores, thus suggesting global climatic teleconnections. Holocene oscillations in the runoff from South China centered around periodicities of 775 years, ascribed to subharmonics of the 1500-year cycle in oceanic thermohaline circulation. 102/84-year cycles are tentatively assigned to the Gleissberg period of solar activity. Phase relationships among various monsoon proxies near the onset of Termination IA suggest that summer-monsoon rains and fluvial runoff from South China had already intensified right after the last glacial maximum (LGM) insolation minimum, coeval with the start of Antarctic ice melt, prior to the d18O signals of global sea-level rise. Vice versa, the strength of winter-monsoon winds decreased in short centennial steps only 3000-4000 years later, along with the melt of glacial ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere.

(Appendix A) Organic facies at DSDP Hole 93-603B

The Palynology of two sections recovered during Leg 93 drilling by the Deep Sea Drilling Project in the continental rise along the western margin of the North Atlantic is reported. In Hole 603B at Site 603, the dinoflagellate stratigraphy indicates that the interval from Cores 603B-82 to 603B-26 ranges in age from late Berriasian to Santonian. The BlakeBahama Formation ranges from late Berriasian to Aptian. The Hatteras Formation ranges from Aptian to Cenomanian, although the uppermost part may be Turonian. Dinoflagellate evidence from the middle part of the Plantagenet Formation indicates an age from late Coniacian or early Santonian to Santonian within the interval of Cores 603B-28 to 603B-26. Magnetic polarity evidence of the stratigraphy of the Early Cretaceous for the western North Atlantic indicates a reliable correlation with the dinoflagellate zonation. The stratigraphic sequence of palynologically defined organic facies in carbonaceous claystone lithologies in Hole 603B shows that organic stratigraphic units consisting predominantly of fecal-pellet-derived, pelagic organic matter (xenomorphic facies) alternate with units consisting predominantly of terrigenous organic matter (tracheal and exinitic facies), corresponding to that described from other sites in the North Atlantic. A terrigenous organic facies is identified for the first time from the Plantagenet Formation. The claystone organic facies and major lithofacies are closely correlated. The tracheal and exinitic facies occur in carbonaceous terrigenous claystones and claystone turbidites associated with sandstone/siltstone terrigenous turbidites. The xenomorphic facies occurs in claystones within pelagic limestones lacking any turbidites, and in blackish, noncalcareous claystones which correlate in age with the marine-carbon-rich sapropels which are widespread in the North Atlantic Cenomanian. This facies also occurs with an admixture of terrigenous organic particles in the Blake-Bahama Formation, but the mixture is consistent with the submarine fan setting of this interval. The concentration of refractory organic matter (carbonized particles) in the micrinitic and carbonized tracheal facies is considered to be the result, at least in part, of the oxidation of sediment buried below a surface slowly accumulating pelagic clays below the carbonate compensation depth. The progressive increase in number of dinoflagellate species per stage through the Early Cretaceous (except for the late Barremian-Aptian) may have resulted indirectly from the generally progressive rise in global sea level during this time. At Site 605, the dinoflagellate stratigraphy across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary is remarkably close to that published from the Maestrichtian and Danian of Denmark. The Maestrichtian/Danian boundary is placed precisely within Section 605-66-1 by dinoflagellate evidence, agreeing with that predicted by other microfossils. The new dinoflagellate-cyst-based genus, Pierceites and its new species P. schizocystis, and the new combination P. ( = Trithyrodinium) pentagonum (May) are proposed. Diacanthum hollisteri Habib, type species of Diacanthum, is emended to accommodat e cysts with the archeopyle formulas P3'', 2P2''-3'', 2P3''-4'', and 3P2''-3''-4''.

Horizontal profiles of longwave and shortwave radiation components over sea ice near Barrow, Alaska during the 2011 melt

An integrated instrument package for measuring and understanding the surface radiation budget of sea ice is presented, along with results from its first deployment. The setup simultaneously measures broadband fluxes of upwelling and downwelling terrestrial and solar radiation (four components separately), spectral fluxes of incident and reflected solar radiation, and supporting data such as air temperature and humidity, surface temperature, and location (GPS), in addition to photographing the sky and observed surface during each measurement. The instruments are mounted on a small sled, allowing measurements of the radiation budget to be made at many locations in the study area to see the effect of small-scale surface processes on the large-scale radiation budget. Such observations have many applications, from calibration and validation of remote sensing products to improving our understanding of surface processes that affect atmosphere-snow-ice interactions and drive feedbacks, ultimately leading to the potential to improve climate modelling of ice-covered regions of the ocean. The photographs, spectral data, and other observations allow for improved analysis of the broadband data. An example of this is shown by using the observations made during a partly cloudy day, which show erratic variations due to passing clouds, and creating a careful estimate of what the radiation budget along the observed line would have been under uniform sky conditions, clear or overcast. Other data from the setup's first deployment, in June 2011 on fast ice near Point Barrow, Alaska, are also shown; these illustrate the rapid changes of the radiation budget during a cold period that led to refreezing and new snow well into the melt season.