High-resolution U-37(K) temperature reconstructions in the South China Seaover the past 220 kyr

Past sea surface temperatures (SST) in the northern and southern areas of t he South China Sea have been reconstructed for the past 220 kyr using the U -37(K) alkenone index. The SST profiles follow the glacial/interglacial pat tern exhibiting differences between Last Glacial Maximum and Holocene that are 1 degrees-3 degrees C larger than those observed at the same latitudes in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In Termination I both planktonic forami niferal delta(18)O and SST exhibit well-defined Bolling-Allerod and Younger Dryas events with temperature differences between both periods of 0.8 degr ees and 0.4 degrees C in north and south, respectively. SSTs record a const ant north-south difference of 1 degrees C in the interglacials and nearly 2 .5 degrees C in the glacial stages. These differences define two distinct c limatic and water circulation patterns that correspond with glacial/intergl acial sea level oscillations which opened and closed water exchange with th e tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean through the present Sunda Shelf.