Distinct climate change synchronous with Heinrich event one, recorded by stable oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions in stalagmites from China

Uranium-series dating of oxygen and carbon isotope records for stalagmite SJ3 collected in Songjia Cave, central China, shows significant variation in past climate and environment during the period 20-10 ka. Stalagmite SJ3 is located more than 1000 km inland of the coastal Hulu Cave in East China and more than 700 km north of the Dongge Cave in Southwest China and, despite minor differences, displays a clear first-order similarity with the Hulu and Dongge records. The coldest climatic phase since the Last Glacial Maximum, which is associated with the Heinrich Event 1 in the North Atlantic region, was clearly recorded in SJ3 between 17.6 and 14.5 ka, in good agreement in timing, duration and extent with the records from Hulu and Dongge caves and the Greenland ice core. The results indicate that there have been synchronous and significant climatic changes across monsoonal China and strong teleconnections between the North Atlantic and East Asia regions during the period 20-10 ka. This is much different from the Holocene Optimum which shows a time shift of more than several thousands years from southeast coastal to inland China. It is likely that temperature change at northern high latitudes during glacial periods exerts stronger influence on the Asian summer monsoon relative to insolation and appears to be capable of perturbing large-scale atmospheric/oceanic circulation patterns in the Northern Hemisphere and thus monsoonal rainfall and paleovegetation in East Asia. Climatic signals in the North Atlantic region propagate rapidly to East Asia during glacial periods by influencing the winter land-sea temperature contrast in the East Asian monsoon region.     

Oxygen isotope systematics in Diploastrea heliopora: new coral archive of tropical paleoclimate

Diploastrea heliopora forms dense, robust, dome-shaped coral colonies throughout the reef ecosystems of the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans. This slow-growing (2 to 6 mm/yr) coral has the potential to yield continuous paleoclimate records spanning up to 1000 yr for the warmest waters on Earth, the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool, and has a long fossil history as a single recognizable species. Despite the potential of Diploastrea to be an important new paleoclimate archive, little is known about the systematics of geochemical tracers incorporated into its skeleton. To fill this knowledge gap, we compared skeletal δ¹⁸O signatures in live Diploastrea and Porites colonies from Southwest Lagoon, near Amédée Lighthouse, New Caledonia (at the southern latitudinal limit for Diploastrea) and Alor, Indonesia (in the core area of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool). We designed a new microsampling technique to minimize smoothing and distortion of the isotopic records due to the complex calyx architecture and slow growth of Diploastrea. High-resolution isotope profiles from the septal portion of the Diploastrea corallite are attenuated, whereas those restricted to the central columella are similar in quality to those extracted from the well-established Porites coral archive. The δ¹⁸O-temperature relationship for the columellar portion of Diploastrea (−0.18‰/°C) is in good agreement with that derived for a nearby Porites (−0.19‰/°C; Quinn et al., 1996), on the basis of comparison with an in situ sea surface temperature record from Amédée Lighthouse. There is a measurable difference of 0.3 ± 0.1‰ between the kinetic/biological disequilibrium offsets from seawater δ¹⁸O composition for Diploastrea and Porites. Despite this offset in mean δ¹⁸O, Diploastrea accurately records the regional differences in mean temperature and salinity between New Caledonia and the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool. Additional tests show that Diploastrea records El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) interannual variability in sea surface temperature and salinity across the southwestern Pacific, indicating that it should yield dependable paleo-ENSO records. Based on these results, we propose that D. heliopora has the potential to provide an important new coral archive of tropical paleoclimate.     

Construction and Characterization of Transportable Calibration Pads for Calibration of Portable and Airborne Gamma Ray Spectrometers in India

Characterization of the Panandhro lignite deposits from western Indian state of Gujarat, based on the geochemical and palynological evidences, has been performed to assess the floral composition, maturity and hydrocarbon potential of the sequence. Elementally, the lignites consist of moderate carbon, low hydrogen and moderate sulfur contents. The samples are characterized by high TOC contents (lignite: av. 46.43 wt.%, resin: 62.47 wt.%). The average HI values for the lignite is 136 mg HC/g TOC, and that of the associated resin is 671 mg HC/g TOC. The highest T_max is recoded in lignite (422°C) and lowest in the resin (39°C) samples. The FTIR spectrum of lignite is characterized by highly intense OH stretching peak ~3350 cm^-1, aliphatic CH_x stretching peaks between 3000-2800 cm^-1, aromatic C=O stretching and an aromatic C=C stretching. The spectrum of resin shows strongest absorption due to aliphatic CHx stretching between 2940-2915 cm^-1 and 2870-2850 cm^-1, and deformation by the medium peak between 1450 and 1650 cm^-1. The recovered palynofloral assemblage indicates the dominance of angiosperm pollen grains with maximum abundance of Arecaceae family, and subdominant pteridophytic spores. Marine influence is indicated by the presence of abundant dinoflagellate cysts. The occurrence of flora from a variety of ecological niches suggests a luxuriant diverse vegetation pattern existed in the vicinity of depositional site under humid tropical conditions. The overall characteristics of the lignite deposits point towards their ability to generate (upon maturation) hydrocarbons as they have types III–II admixed kerogen (organic matters).     

Geochemistry of coral from Papua New Guinea as a proxy for ENSO ocean–atmosphere interactions in the Pacific Warm Pool

A Porites sp. coral growing offshore from the Sepik and Ramu Rivers in equatorial northern Papua New Guinea has yielded an accurate 20-year history (1977–1996) of sea surface temperature (SST), river discharge, and wind-induced mixing of the upper water column. Depressions in average SSTs of about 0.5–1.0 °C (indicated by coral Sr/Ca) and markedly diminished freshwater runoff to the coastal ocean (indicated by coral δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C and UV fluorescence) are evident during the El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events of 1982–1983, 1987 and 1991-1993. The perturbations recorded by the coral are in good agreement with changes in instrumental SST and river discharge/precipitation records, which are known to be diagnostic of the response of the Pacific Warm Pool ocean–atmosphere system to El Niño. Consideration of coastal ocean dynamics indicates that the establishment of northwest monsoon winds promotes mixing of near-surface waters to greater depths in the first quarter of most years, making the coral record sensitive to changes in the Asian–Australian monsoon cycle. Sudden cooling of SSTs by 1°C following westerly wind episodes, as indicated by the coral Sr/Ca, is consistent with greater mixing in the upper water column at these times. Furthermore, the coral UV fluorescence and oxygen isotope data indicate minimal contribution of river runoff to surface ocean waters at the beginning of most years, during the time of maximum discharge. This abrupt shift in flood-plume behaviour appears to reflect the duration and magnitude of northwest monsoon winds, which tend to disperse flood plume waters to a greater extent in the water column when wind-mixing is enhanced. Our results suggest that a multi-proxy geochemical approach to the production of long coral records should provide comprehensive reconstructions of tropical paleoclimate processes operating on interannual timescales.     

Mid-Holocene variability in the marine C reservoir age for northern coastal Papua New Guinea

Changes in oceanic radiocarbon (¹⁴C) reservoir ages through the deglaciation and Holocene can provide important information on ocean circulation as Earth's climate warmed. Here, we present reservoir ages for the western tropical Pacific that span the mid-Holocene transition from less to more frequent El Niño events. Reservoir ages were calculated using paired U–Th and conventional ¹⁴C dating of eight individual fossil coral samples from Koil and Muschu Islands, northern coastal Papua New Guinea (PNG). AMS ¹⁴C and MC-ICPMS U–Th dating of additional samples from six of the fossil corals were used to confirm the TIMS U–Th and conventional ¹⁴C ages. The combined results show average reservoir ages of 185±30 ¹⁴C yr (n=4) for 7220–5850 yr BP compared to 420 ¹⁴C yr for a modern coral from Muschu Island. From 5850 to 5420 yr BP reservoir ages increase to modern values. The relatively young reservoir ages from 7220 to 5850 yr BP are best explained by greater influx of well-equilibrated sub-tropical water from the southern branch of the South Equatorial Current (SEC). This is consistent with strengthening trade winds (facilitating air–sea exchange) and a more northerly position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone thought to have occurred at this time. The transition to more modern-like reservoir ages from 5850 to 5420 yr BP suggests modern oceanic circulation patterns were established during this interval. The onset of modern El Niño activity around this time would have served to enhance the intrusion of ¹⁴C-depleted equatorial waters via the south equatorial branch of the SEC. Overall, the changes in reservoir age presented here for the western tropical Pacific suggest that Holocene changes in the El Niño–Southern Oscillation state of the tropical Pacific resulted in reorganisation of oceanic circulation in this region.     

Noble gas and carbon isotope ratios in Argyle diamonds,Western Australia: Evidence for a deeply subducted volatile component

The Argyle lamproite pipe of Western Australia contains diamonds formed at depths exceeding 150 km. We undertook noble gas and carbon isotope ratio (δ¹³C) analyses of three diamonds (likely of eclogitic paragenesis) from the Argyle lamproite to test for the possible presence of deeply subducted volatile components, and to further constrain the noble gas evolution of the Earth's mantle. The Argyle diamonds are characterised by mantle ³He (with ³He/⁴He ratios of 0.79 R _A to 0.25 R _A, where R _A is the atmospheric ³He/⁴He ratio of 1.4 × 10^–6), small excess Ar and Xe isotope anomalies relative to atmospheric components, and δ¹³C values of –11.6 to –10.2‰ VPDB. These observations indicate that noble gas and carbon isotopic compositions of the mantle where the Argyle diamonds formed, represent mixtures of an intrinsic mantle component with sedimentary and atmospheric components that may have been introduced through subduction processes.     

Oscillations in the southern extent of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool during the mid-Holocene

The Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) is thought to play a key role in the propagation and amplification of climate changes through its influence on the global distribution of heat and water vapour. However, little is known about past changes in the size and position of the IPWP. In this study, we use a total of 48 modern and fossil coral records from the Mentawai Islands (Sumatra, Indonesia) and Muschu/Koil Islands (Papua New Guinea) to reconstruct oscillations in the extent of the IPWP since the mid-Holocene. We show that reliable estimates of mean sea surface temperature (SST) can be obtained from fossil corals by using low-resolution Sr/Ca analysis of a suite of corals to overcome the large uncertainties associated with mean Sr/Ca-SST estimates from individual coral colonies. The coral records indicate that the southeastern and southwestern margins of the IPWP were cooler than at present between 5500 and 4300 years BP (1.2 °C ± 0.3 °C) and were similarly cool before 6800 years BP. This mid-Holocene cooling was punctuated by an abrupt, short-lived shift to mean SSTs that were warmer than at present between 6600 and 6300 years BP (1.3 °C ± 0.3 °C), while similarly warm conditions may have also existed after 4300 years BP. We suggest that mid-Holocene cooling at our study sites was related to contractions of the southeastern and southwestern margins of the IPWP, associated with the more northerly position of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) that accompanied mid-Holocene strengthening of the Asian summer monsoon. Conversely, intervals of abrupt warming appear to correspond with widespread episodes of monsoon weakening and accompanying southward migrations of the ITCZ that caused the IPWP to expand beyond our coral sites. Intervals of a strengthened Asian monsoon and cooling in the southwestern IPWP during the mid-Holocene appear to correspond with a more positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)-like mean configuration across the tropical Indian Ocean, suggesting that the Asian monsoon–IOD interaction that exists at interannual time scales also persists over centennial to millennial scales. Associated mean changes in the Pacific ENSO modes may have also occurred during the mid-Holocene. The dynamic and inter-connected behaviour of the IPWP with tropical climate systems during the mid-Holocene highlights the fundamental importance of the warm pool region for understanding climate change throughout the tropics and beyond.     

Diagenesis and geochemistry of porites corals from Papua New Guinea: Implications for paleoclimate reconstruction

Coral proxy records of sea surface temperature (SST) and hydrological balance have become important tools in the field of tropical paleoclimatology. However, coral aragonite is subject to post-depositional diagenetic alteration in both the marine and vadose environments. To understand the impact of diagenesis on coral climate proxies, two mid-Holocene Porites corals from raised reefs on Muschu Island, Papua New Guinea, were analysed for Sr/Ca, δ¹⁸O, and δ¹³C along transects from 100% aragonite to 100% calcite. Thin-section analysis showed a characteristic vadose zone diagenetic sequence, beginning with leaching of primary aragonite and fine calcite overgrowths, transitional to calcite void filling and neomorphic, fabric selective replacement of the coral skeleton. Average calcite Sr/Ca and δ¹⁸O values were lower than those for coral aragonite, decreasing from 0.0088 to 0.0021 and −5.2 to −8.1‰, respectively. The relatively low Sr/Ca of the secondary calcite reflects the Sr/Ca of dissolving phases and the large difference between aragonite and calcite Sr/Ca partition coefficients. The decrease in δ¹⁸O of calcite relative to coral aragonite is a function of the δ¹⁸O of precipitation. Carbon-isotope ratios in secondary calcite are variable, though generally lower relative to aragonite, ranging from −2.5 to −10.4%. The variability of δ¹³C in secondary calcite reflects the amount of soil CO₂ contributing ¹³C-depleted carbon to the precipitating fluids. Diagenesis has a greater impact on Sr/Ca than on δ¹⁸O; the calcite compositions reported here convert to SST anomalies of 115°C and 14°C, respectively. Based on calcite Sr/Ca compositions in this study and in the literature, the sensitivity of coral Sr/Ca-SST to vadose-zone calcite diagenesis is 1.1 to 1.5°C per percent calcite. In contrast, the rate of change in coral δ¹⁸O-SST is relatively small (−0.2 to 0.2°C per percent calcite). We show that large shifts in δ¹⁸O, reported for mid-Holocene and Last Interglacial corals with warmer than present Sr/Ca-SSTs, cannot be caused by calcite diagenesis. Low-level calcite diagenesis can be detected through X-ray diffraction techniques, thin section analysis, and high spatial resolution sampling of the coral skeleton and thus should not impede the production of accurate coral paleoclimate reconstructions.     

Late Quaternary siliciclastic/carbonate sedimentation model for the Capricorn Channel,southern Great Barrier Reef province,Australia

A model is presented for hemipelagic siliciclastic and carbonate sedimentation during the last glacial–interglacial cycle in the Capricorn Channel, southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Stable isotope ratios, grainsize, carbonate content and mineralogy were analysed for seven cores in a depth transect from 166 to 2892 m below sea level (mbsl). Results show variations in the flux of terrigenous, neritic and pelagic sediments to the continental slope over the last sea level cycle.During the glacial lowstand terrigenous sediment influenced all the cores down to 2000 mbsl. The percentages of quartz and feldspar in the cores decreased with water depth, while the percentage of clay increased. X-ray diffraction analysis of the glacial lowstand clay mineralogy suggests that the siliciclastic sediment was primarily sourced from the Fitzroy River, which debouched directly into the northwest sector of the Capricorn Channel at this time. The cores also show a decrease in pelagic calcite and an increase in aragonite and high magnesium calcite (HMC) during the glacial. The influx of HMC and aragonite is most likely from reworking of coral reefs exposed on the continental shelf during the glacial, and also from HMC ooids precipitated at the head of the Capricorn Channel at this time. Mass accumulation rates (MARs) are high (13.5 g cm^? 3 kyr^? 1) during the glacial and peak at ~ 20 g cm^? 3 kyr^? 1 in the early transgression (16–14 ka BP). MARs then decline with further sea level rise as the Fitzroy River mouth retreats from the edge of the continental shelf after 13.5 ka BP. MARs remain low (4 cm^? 3 kyr^? 1) throughout the Holocene highstand.Data for the Holocene highstand indicate there is a reduction in siliciclastic influx to the Capricorn Channel with little quartz and feldspar below 350 mbsl. However, fine-grained fluvial sediments, presumably from the Fitzroy River, were still accumulating on the mid slope down to 2000 mbsl. The proportion of pelagic calcite in the core tops increases with water depth, while HMC decreases, and is present only in trace amounts in cores below 1500 mbsl. The difference in the percentage of HMC in the deeper cores between the glacial and Holocene may reflect differences in supply or deepening of the HMC lysocline during the glacial.Sediment accumulation rates also vary between cores in the Capricorn Channel and do not show the expected exponential decrease with depth. This may be due to intermediate or deep water currents reworking the sediments. It is also possible that present bathymetry data are too sparse to detect the potential role that submarine channels may play in the distribution and accumulation of sediments.Comparison of the Capricorn Channel MARs with those for other mixed carbonate/siliciclastic provinces from the northeast margin of Australia indicates that peak MARs in the early transgression in the Capricorn Channel precede those from the central GBR and south of Fraser Island. The difference in the timing of the carbonate and siliciclastic MAR peaks along the northeast margin is primarily related to differences in the physiography and climate of the provinces. The only common trend in the MARs from the northeast margin of Australia is the near synchronicity of the carbonate and siliciclastic MAR peaks in individual sediment cores, which supports a coeval sedimentation model.     

Glacial/interglacial changes in the East Australian current

The East Australian Current (EAC) is the western boundary current of the south Pacific gyre transporting warm tropical waters to higher southern latitudes. Recent modelling shows that the partial separation of the EAC (~32°S) and the coupled formation of the Tasman Front (~34°S) are caused by a steep gradient in the zonally integrated wind stress curl. Analysis of oxygen isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O) in the planktonic foraminifer, Globigerinoides ruber, from sediment cores from the Coral Sea and Tasman Sea indicates that the EAC separation shifted northward to between 23 and 26°S during the last glacial. We suggest these results indicate a significant change in the Pacific wind stress curl during the glacial. Given recent evidence for El Niño-like conditions in the Pacific during the last glacial, with a reduction in the east–west sea surface temperature (SST) gradient, we suggest that weaker trade winds combined with more northerly, stronger westerlies were associated with a change to the wind stress curl, which repositioned the EAC separation and Tasman Front. In contrast, by ~11 ka BP, the EAC separation was forced south of 26°S. This southward shift was synchronous with a rapid warming of tropical SSTs, and the onset of a La Niña-like SST configuration across the tropical Pacific. It appears that the south Pacific trade winds strengthened accordingly, causing the EAC to readjust its flow. This readjustment of the EAC marks the onset of modern surface-ocean circulation in the southwest Pacific, but the present EAC transport was only achieved in the late Holocene, after 5 ka BP.