A 200-ka carbon isotope record from the South China Sea

Abstract

A stacked ocean carbon isotope (δ13C) record of 200 ka is established on the basis of planktonic foraminifer (Globigerinoides ruber) δ13C data from 8 sites in the South China Sea (SCS). The δ13C record from the SCS displays a trend similar to that from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans mainly responding to long eccentricity and precession cycles, with all the three δ13C minima occurring at glacial terminations. Thus, the changes of the oceanic carbon reservoir in glacial cycles should not be considered as a response only to ice-sheet variations, but could have been driven also by low latitude processes, such as the monsoon.