New high‐resolution alkenone record of last glacial to holocene sea‐surface temperature change in the east‐equatorial south atlantic ocean

Abstract

ABSTRACT. A new high‐resolution, alkenone‐de‐rived record of sea‐surface temperature (SST) change covering the last 26000 years was obtained from the east‐equatorial Atlantic off the Congo River. Temperature fluctuations correspond to climate change recorded in other marine and terrestrial archives of the region. The maximum temperature difference between 26000 years BP ago and the Holocene climate optimum around 6000 years BP was 4.3°C, corroborating other SST estimates from the same area. The coldest conditions were followed by a warming that began at 24000 calendar years BP, a time when Northern Hemisphere ice sheets were still at their maximal position. This comparatively early warming is in agreement with previous findings from the east‐equatorial South Atlantic. After a relatively stable period between 21500 and 14500 calendar years BP, a second warming began at 14500 calendar years BP which coincides with the onset of the African Humid Period. A cool period at 11500 calendar years BP halted this warming but the trend of increasing temperatures began again at 10000 calendar years BP, this time through large‐scale oscillations. The warmest time, around 6000 calendar years BP, was followed by a modest cooling that coincides with the end of the African Humid Period and the onset of Neoglaciation on the African continent. Following this the record shows two distinct warming‐cooling cycles during the late Holocene.