Upper Ocean Variability in the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool during the Late Holocene, Early Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum

We analyzed oxygen isotopes and Mg/Ca ratios in the surface dwelling planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber (white s.s.) and the thermocline dweller Pulleniatina obliquiloculata to improve understanding of upper ocean spatial variability in the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP). We focused on three critical time intervals: the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 18-21.5 ka), the early Holocene (8-9 ka) and the late Holocene (0-2 ka). Our records from twenty-four stations in the South China Sea, Timor Sea, Indonesian seas and western Pacific indicate overall dry and cool conditions in the IPWP during the LGM with a low thermal gradient between surface and thermocline waters. Warm surface waters (>28 Celsius degree) spread over the entire region during the early Holocene, indicating substantial expansion of the IPWP. However in the eastern Indian Ocean (Timor Sea), the thermocline gradually shoaled from the LGM to early Holocene, reflecting intensification of the subsurface Indonesian Throughflow. Increased precipitation over the South China Sea appears related to an intensified summer monsoon and northward displacement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Increased freshwater export from the South China Sea through the Java Sea also contributed to a change in the vertical structure of the Indonesian Throughflow from surface- to thermocline-dominated flow and a freshening of Timor Sea waters during the early Holocene.