Upper Pleistocene oxygen and carbon isotopic changes of core SCS-15B at the South China Sea

Abstract

The Upper Pleistocene oxygen and carbon isotopic records of G. sacculifer in core SCS-15B at the South China Sea resemble those from Pacific and Indian deep-sea cores. The δ 18O data show that the oxygen isotope stages can be recognized to stage 7. Using the time scale of Martinson et al. (1987. Quat. Res. 27, 1–29), sedimentation rates of SCS-15B are compared with a nearby core SCS-15A. Results indicate that there was a discrepancy of sedimentation rates between these two cores during the last interglacial period. Comparison with the benthic record between the last glacial maximum and Holocene implies that there may exist a temperature effect in the benthic record. The δ 13C data show that two minimum spikes occur at oxygen isotope stage transitions 6/5 and 2/1 as found in other oceans.