A late Quaternary chironomid-inferred temperature record from the Sierra Nevada, California, with connections to northeast Pacific sea surface temperatures

2006 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 356-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron P. Potito ◽  
David F. Porinchu ◽  
Glen M. MacDonald ◽  
Katrina A. Moser
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Temperature Record ◽  
Sea Surface Temperatures ◽  
Santa Barbara ◽  
Santa Barbara Basin ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Sst Variability ◽  
Surface Temperatures

AbstractChironomid remains from a mid-elevation lake in the Sierra Nevada, California, were used to estimate quantitative summer surface water temperatures during the past ∼15,000 yr. Reconstructed temperatures increased by ∼3°C between lake initiation and the onset of the Holocene at ∼10,600 cal yr BP (calibrated years before present). Temperatures peaked at 6500 cal yr BP, displayed high variability from 6500 to 3500 cal yr BP, and stabilized after 3500 cal yr BP. This record generally tracks reconstructed Santa Barbara Basin sea surface temperatures (SSTs) through much of the Holocene, highlighting the correspondence between SST variability and California land temperatures during this interval.

Paleoceanography of the Santa Barbara Basin During the Last 8000 Years

1978 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 366-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicklas G. Pisias
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
California Current ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Function Technique ◽  
Sea Surface Temperatures ◽  
Santa Barbara ◽  
Santa Barbara Basin ◽  
Varved Sediments ◽  
Surface Temperatures

The varved sediments of the Santa Barbara Basin off southern California, offer a unique opportunity to study the changes in oceanographic conditions of this nearshore area during the last 8000 yr. Quantitative analysis of Radiolaria found in recent surface sediment samples from the eastern North Pacific allows the identification of four “assemblages” which can be related to the physical oceanography of the California Current. Two assemblages are associated with the southerly flowing California Current, one with the main stream of the current (California Current Assemblage) and the other with the offshore flow along northern California (Central Assemblage). The two other assemblages are associated with the subtropical region of the eastern North Pacific (Subtropical Assemblage) and one found mostly off the coast of Baja California (Baja Assemblage). Analysis of the Radiolaria found in the varved sediments of a core from the Santa Barbara Basin give an 8000-yr continuous record of these four assemblages. The California and Baja Assemblages show only minor fluctuations in their importance in the sediments of the Santa Barbara Basin. The California Assemblage, however, shows a steady increase during this time period. Prior to 5400 yr B.P. the Radiolaria were predominately subtropical in character, whereas after 5400 yr B.P. the Central Assemblage becomes more important. Since 5400 yr B.P. most of the changes in the radiolarian fauna consist of fluctuations in the importance of these two assemblages. Past sea-surface temperatures for the month of February were calculated using the transfer function technique of J. Imbrie and N. G. Kipp (1971, In “The Late Cenozore Glacial Ages” L. K. Turekian, Ed.), (Chap. 5, Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, Conn.). The time series of paleotemperature estimates show major changes in the average February temperature of Santa Barbara Basin waters. The range of estimated temperatures (12°C) exceeds that of the historical observations of February temperatures in the Santa Barbara Basin but does not exceed the observed range for the California Current region. The intervals from 800 to 1800 yr B.P. 3600 to 3800 yr B.P. and 5400 to the end of the record appear to have been generally warmer than today. Comparison of the Holocene record of alpine glacial advances with the radiolarian assemblage and paleotemperature time series shows that the initiations of advances was coincident with a decrease in sea-surface temperatures and an increase in the importance of the Central Assemblage in the Santa Barbara Basin. The terminations of these advances were not marked by any consistent characteristic in the Santa Barbara Basin time series.

A 160-kyr Record of Alkenone-Derived Sea-Surface Temperatures from Santa Barbara Basin Sediments

1997 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 126-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.-U. Hinrichs ◽  
J. Rinna ◽  
J. Rullkötter ◽  
R. Stein
Keyword(s):  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Temperatures ◽  
Santa Barbara ◽  
Santa Barbara Basin ◽  
Surface Temperatures

Model for Paleoceanographic Reconstructions of the California Current During the Last 8000 Years

1979 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicklas G. Pisias
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
California Current ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Temperatures ◽  
Santa Barbara ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Santa Barbara Basin ◽  
Surface Conditions ◽  
Dynamic Height ◽  
Surface Temperatures

Two independent data sets are used to develop a model for reconstructing sea-surface temperature and dynamic height anomaly distributions for the California Current during the last 8000 years. The first data set, all hydrographic data available for the California Current region, was used to determine the statistical relationships between the historical record of sea-surface conditions in the Santa Barbara Basin and all one-degree-square grid points of the California Current area. Given these relationships and the second data set, an 8000-from the Santa Barbara Basin, past sea-surface conditions throughout the California Current can be estimated for times before historical observations. The 8000-year record of sea-surface conditions was estimated by analysis of the radiolarian fauna found in a varved sediment core from the Santa Barbara Basin (Pisias, N. G., 1978 year record of sea-surface temperatures and dynamic height anomalies , Quaternary Research 10, 366–384). The reconstructions of sea-surface temperature and dynamic height anomalies indicate that at times of cold sea-surface conditions in the Santa Barbara Basin, the flow of the California Current was much stronger than it is today or was during the times of the warmest sea-surface conditions during the last 8000 years. The atmospheric circulation during the winter of 1950, the period of the coldest recorded sea-surface temperatures in the Santa Barbara Basin based on the historical data set, contained a strong northerly component in the winds which is consistent with the inferred increase in the California Current at times of cold sea-surface temperatures. Times of warm sea-surface temperatures in the Santa Barbara Basin are characterized by decreased southward flow of the California Current and a marked increase in northward flow into the Santa Barbara Basin itself. In the historical record, times of warm sea-surface temperatures are often associated with high precipitation in southern California. The atmospheric circulation during the winter of 1968–1969 is characterized by strong eastward flow over southern California and a northward transport of warm humid air from the tropics into the region of southern California producing the high rainfall observed. The persistence of this atmospheric circulation could produce the more zonal flow predicted for the California Current during times of warmer average conditions in the Santa Barbara Basin.

Sea surface temperatures and ice rafting in the Holocene North Atlantic: climate influences on northern Europe and Greenland

2004 ◽  
Vol 23 (20-22) ◽  
pp. 2113-2126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Moros ◽  
Kay Emeis ◽  
Bjørg Risebrobakken ◽  
Ian Snowball ◽  
Antoon Kuijpers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Sea Surface Temperatures ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Surface Temperatures ◽  
North Atlantic Climate ◽  
Climate Influences ◽  
Ice Rafting

Late Quaternary sea-surface temperatures in the western Coral Sea: Implications for the growth of the Australian Great Barrier Reef

Geology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 677-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.T. Lawrence ◽  
T.D. Herbert
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Temperatures ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
The Past ◽  
Diagenetic Alteration ◽  
Coral Sea ◽  
Surface Temperatures

Abstract Recent chronostratigraphic evidence suggests that the central Australian Great Barrier Reef formed within the past 780 k.y. Periplatform sediments of the same age recovered from the western Coral Sea record a progressive decrease in the δ18O of planktonic foraminifera to the present. Several investigators have proposed that this trend represents an appreciable late Pleistocene warming (∼4 °C) of ocean surface temperatures, which they posit catalyzed the growth of the Great Barrier Reef. Contrary to this hypothesis, we demonstrate using alkenone paleothermometry (\batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(U_{37}^{k{^\prime}}\) \end{document}) on sediments from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 820 that sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) in the western Coral Sea changed by ∼1.5 °C or less during the past ∼800 k.y. If the central Great Barrier Reef rose in the late Quaternary, it was therefore not due to a warming of SSTs. We explore whether a major moisture balance change and/or diagenetic alteration of calcareous microfossils can explain the higher δ18O values observed at depth in the planktonic δ18O record at ODP Site 820. Our results suggest that diagenesis provides a large isotopic overprint.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document