Planktic foraminiferal stable isotopes, Mg/Ca, local seawater d18O and temperature differences of sediment core NGHP-01-01A

DOI

Global atmospheric circulation experienced drastic changes during the Middle Miocene climate transition (MMCT~14.7-13.0 Ma) possibly related to the glaciation on West-Antarctica. Palaeoceanographic reconstructions have found that upwelling in the western Arabian Sea due to summer South Asian monsoon (SAM) winds likely occurred since ~14.7 Ma, with fully modern-like monsoonal wind patterns after the end of the MMCT at around ~13 Ma. Whether the changes in monsoonal circulation since ~14.7 Ma are also associated with upper ocean hydrographic changes in the eastern Arabian Sea (EAS) is currently not known for the middle Miocene. To this end, the difference in Mg/Ca-based temperatures (ΔT˚C) of surface-dwelling with lower mixed layer/thermocline-dwelling and sub-thermocline-dwelling planktic foraminifera was reconstructed to estimate the upper ocean thermal gradient at Site NGHP-01-01A in the EAS and thus changes in the upper surface water column structure, i.e., mixed layer depth (MLD) and the depth of thermocline (DOT). The Mg/Ca-temperature estimates from the upper mixed layer down to the sub-thermocline show a prominent cooling trend between ~14.2 Ma and 13.2 Ma. The upper water column reconstructions reveal weaker mixing, a shallower thermocline, and therefore a well stratified upper water column in the EAS after ~14.2 Ma. We suggest that the weaker mixing and shallower thermocline in the EAS after ~14.2 Ma are most likely due to an intensification of the summer SAM. A strong salinity stratification and/or the formation of a barrier layer (BL) because of increased SAM rainfall and advection of low salinity water may also have contributed to a weaker mixing and shallower thermocline in the EAS during the investigated time period. The change in the upper ocean hydrography in the EAS after ~14.2 Ma fits well into the emerging picture of monsoonal-driven upper ocean hydrographic changes in the equatorial and northern Indian Ocean due to an intensification of the summer SAM since ~14.7 Ma.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.961229
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.961229
Provenance
Creator Steinke, Stephan; Lin, Guanyu; Chen, Anran; Groeneveld, Jeroen ORCID logo
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2024
Funding Reference National Natural Science Foundation of China https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001809 Crossref Funder ID 41776055 Middle to Late Miocene history and evolution of South Asian monsoonal rainfall
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International; Data access is restricted (moratorium, sensitive data, license constraints); https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
OpenAccess false
Representation
Resource Type Dataset
Format text/tab-separated-values
Size 4085 data points
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (70.903 LON, 15.306 LAT)