Coupled dynamics of the South China Sea, the Sulu Sea, and the Pacific Ocean

Metzger, E. Joseph; Hurlburt, Harley E.

doi:10.1029/95jc03861

Cited by 312 publications

(212 citation statements)

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“…Finally, the U K 37 -based SST averages shifted close to the PF-based winter values as soon as the strait was shut over Stages 4-2. During this time much cooler surface water prevailed in the whole SCS, in part probably advected from the upwelling cell near the northern tip of Luzon (Metzger and Hurlbert, 1996;Pflaumann and Jian, 1999;P. Wang et al, 1995), a mechanism also suggested by the increased nutrient content (see below).…”

Section: Changes In Monsoon-driven Deep-and Surface-water Oceanographymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Today the flow advances along the continental margin of South China up to a position south of Hong Kong (Fig. 12A) and is linked to the winter monsoon (Metzger and Hurlbert, 1996). The rich nutrients of the flow originate from an upwelling cell near the north tip of Luzon, whereas the Kuroshio current is nutrient depleted.…”

Section: Variations In the Fertility Of The South China Sea (Premise 6)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…CLIMAP project members, 1981; Wang and Wang, 1990;P. Wang et al, 1995;Metzger and Hurlbert, 1996) suggest a number of features in SCS paleoceanography during cool and glacial stages, that may be tested by means of our proxy data.…”

Section: Six Premises On Glacial-to-interglacial Changes and Short-tementioning

confidence: 99%

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East Asian monsoon climate during the Late Pleistocene: high-resolution sediment records from the South China Sea

et al. 1999

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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 U K 37 biomarker index. Four cores were AMS-14 C-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 O 2 -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 Wang et al. / Marine Geology 156 (1999) prior to the δ 18 O 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.

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Section: Changes In Monsoon-driven Deep-and Surface-water Oceanographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Variations In the Fertility Of The South China Sea (Premise 6)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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East Asian monsoon climate during the Late Pleistocene: high-resolution sediment records from the South China Sea

et al. 1999

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“…Although the deep passages between the Pacific and Indian Oceans would not have been closed, some of them, particularly the Makassar Straits, would have been significantly narrower suggesting much stronger flows. Shortterm models are very sensitive to small changes in bathymetry (Metzger & Hurlburt 1996) so there is some uncertainty about model results. Glacial falls in sea level would probably have eliminated flow between the Pacific via the South China Sea, the Sunda Shelf and the Indian Ocean (Godfrey 1996) suggesting important changes in currents in the Philippines and Indonesian waters.…”

Section: Pleistocene Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Southeast Asia's changing palaeogeography

Hall¹

2009

blum - j plant tax and plant geog

373

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Geology provides the basis for understanding distributions of faunas and floras in Southeast Asia but only via a complex interplay of plate movements, palaeogeography, ocean circulation and climate. Southeast Asia grew incrementally by the addition of continental fragments, mainly rifted from Australia, and added to the margins of Sundaland as a result of subduction. Sundaland was an almost permanent land area from the beginning of the Mesozoic. The addition of the continental fragments of Southwest Borneo and later East Java -West Sulawesi formed a much larger emergent land area by the Late Cretaceous that extended from Indochina to West Sulawesi. Subduction resumed at the Sundaland margin in the Eocene and this led to widespread rifting within Sundaland, and formed one of the most important barriers at its edge, the Makassar Straits. Australia began to collide with Southeast Asia about 25 million years ago, effectively closing the former deep ocean separating the two continents, and forming the region now known as Wallacea. Collision, volcanism, and subduction-related processes have led to rise of mountains but also formed new oceans within this complex region. Plate tectonic movements and collisions were intimately linked to changing topography, bathymetry and land/sea distributions which have in turn influenced oceanic circulation and climate. As the deep-water barrier between Australia and Southeast Asia was eliminated and mountains rose, deep marine basins also formed. Eustatic changes in sea level further contributed to a complex palaeogeography. The present gateway between the Pacific and Indian Oceans is the only low latitude oceanic passage between the world's oceans, and is an important influence on local and probably global climate. The gateway is likely to have been just as significant in the past. Understanding the geology, then palaeogeography, and then their oceanic and climatic consequences are vital steps on the way to interpreting present distributions of plants and animals.

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“…A large part of the subsurface water entering through the Luzon Strait upwells to the surface layers, gets heated and then flows out of the SCS. The changes in ocean circulation and sea level associated with the monsoons are identified as the primary forcing mechanism of the SCSTF seasonal variability (Metzger and Hurlburt 1996). Meanwhile, its inter-annual as well as decadal variability are considered to be mainly governed by the ENSO Phenomenon (e.g., Qu et al 2004;Wang et al 2006b;Liu et al 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%