Foraminiferal responses to major Pleistocene paleoceanographic changes in the southern South China Sea

A detailed age model for core 17957-2 of the southern South China Sea was d eveloped based on delta(18)O, coarse fraction, magnetostratigraphy, and bio stratigraphy for the last 1500 kyr. The delta(18)O record has clear similar to 100-kyr cycles after the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution (MPR) at the entran ce of marine isotopic stage (MIS) 22. Planktonic foraminifera responded to the MPR immediately, showing the increased sea surface temperature (SST) an d dissolution after the MPR. Benthic foraminifera did not respond to it unt il the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary. Since the MPR, the depth of thermocline g radually became shallower until MISs 6-5. This major change within MISs 6-5 was also reflected in the decreased SSTs and increased productivity and De ep Water Mass. Thus two major Pleistocene paleoceanographic changes were fo und: One was around the MPR; the other occurred within MISs 6-5, which spec ulatively might be ascribed to the reorganization of surface and deep circu lation, possibly induced by tectonic forces.