Short-term Climate Change Research Articles

Application of altimeter observation to El Niño prediction

A new version of the Lamont forecast model is used to assess the impact of TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data on predicting short-term climate change, with emphasis on the 1997 98 El Nino and subsequent La Nina. As compared to forecasts initialized with only wind data, the model's predictive accuracy was improved when the altimeter sea level data are used for model initialization. This is due to the effectiveness of sea level data in correcting the model ocean state. For this particular application, the effect of altimeter sea level observations is comparable to that of tide gauge measurements.

Sediment–soil sequences in the Granada Basin as evidence for long- and short-term climatic changes during the Pliocene and Quaternary in the Western Mediterranean

Abstract Since the Tortonian the carbonate-dominated Granada Basin has received various terrestrial sediments: late-Miocene, Pliocene, early- and mid-Pleistocene alluvial fans and late-Pleistocene slope deposits and loesses. These deposits include many paleosols. Two hundred and forty samples of paleosols and sediments in 20 representative Pliocene and Pleistocene profiles were analysed by standard methods. The long sequences with up to 85 paleosols indicate climatic cycles over at least 5 Ma. Erosion and sedimentation occurred under dry conditions without vegetation cover during periods of geomorphodynamic activity. Soil formation occurred under wet conditions with closed vegetation during periods of geomorphodynamic stability. The pedogenetically effective climate has been (subtropical-) Mediterranean since the early-Pliocene. Decreasing soil formation intensity indicates decreases of humidity in the mid-/late-Pliocene and late-Pleistocene.

Volcanism and Short-Term Climatic Change in East Asian and World History, c. 1200-1699

Volcanism and Short-Term Climatic Change in East Asian and World History, c. 1200-1699

Holocene paleoceanography of the northern Barents Sea and variations of the northward heat transport by the Atlantic Ocean

Foraminiferal assemblages were studied in northern Barents Sea core ASV 880 along with oxygen and carbon isotope measurements in planktonic (N. pachyderma sin.) and benthic (E clavatum) species. AMS C‐14 measurements performed on molluscs Yoldiella spp. show that this core provides a detailed and undisturbed record of Holocene climatic changes over the last 10000 calendar years. Surface and deep waters were very cold (<0°C) at the beginning of the Holocene. C. reniforme dominated the highly diverse benthic foraminiferal assemblage. From 10 to 7.8 cal. ka BP, a warming trend culminated in a temperature optimum, which developed between 7.8 and 6.8 cal. ka BP. During this optimum, the input of Atlantic water to the Barents Sea reached its maximum. The Atlantic water mass invaded the whole Franz Victoria Trough and was present from subsurface to the bottom. No bottom water, which would form through rejection of brine during winter, was present at the core depth (388 m). The water stratification was therefore greatly reduced as compared to the present. An increase in percentage of I. helenae/norcrossi points to long seasonal ice‐free conditions. The temperature optimum ended rather abruptly, with the return of cold polar waters into the trough within a few centuries. This was accompanied by a dramatic reduction of the abundance of C. reniforme. During the upper Holocene, the more opportunistic species E. clavatum became progressively dominant and the water column was more stratified. Deep water in Franz Victoria Trough contained a significant amount of cold Barents Sea bottom water as it does today, while subsurface water warmed progressively until about 3.7 cal. ka BP and reached temperatures similar to those of today. These long‐term climatic changes were cut by several cold events of short duration, in particular one in the middle of the temperature optimum and another, which coincides most probably with the 8.2 ka BP cold event. Both long‐ and short‐term climatic changes in the Barents Sea are associated with changes in the flow of Atlantic waters and the oceanic conveyor belt.

Styles of Failure in Late Holocene Highstand Prodelta Wedges on the Adriatic Shelf

On the continental shelves of the northern Mediterranean basin, the late Holocene highstand systems tract (HST) prograded un- der the influence of major rivers, after the attainment of the present sea-level highstand (about 5.5 cal kyr BP). On the Adriatic shelf, the thickness distribution of the late Holocene HST reflects the location of major deltas on the western side of the basin and the geostrophic cir- culation, which prevents a more uniform sediment dispersal toward the center of the basin. Very high sediment accumulation rates (1 to 10 cm/year) resulted in the construction of a HST depocenter up to 35 m thick. This shore-parallel depocenter is affected by failure of limited displacement over as much as 40% of its extent. Gas impregnation is common in the topset region and occurs at very shallow levels (a few meters) below the sea floor. Five areas are characterized by a variety of sea-floor and subsurface crenulations. Although locally some of these crenulations have an intriguingly regular geometry, sediment failure is the most plausible mechanism for their formation. Sediment failure better explains the large variety of geometries that characterizes the coastal mud prism of the late Holocene HST. Furthermore, we observe that these crenulations occur only where the downlap surface at the base of the HST is disrupted and affected by geometries that are con- sistent with fluid escape processes. This relationship suggests that the basal surface acts as a weak layer for sediment failure. Failure occurred in variable water depths from the northern slope of the modern Po prodelta (10-20 m water depth) to the narrow shelf offshore Bari (40-110 m water depth). In all these areas the proximal part of the HST prodelta wedge is intensely gas-charged. The thickness and age of the sediment sections affected by failure are slightly differ- ent from place to place but appear everywhere younger than 5.5 cal kyr BP. Where failure affects the entire HST the detachment occurs on the downlap surface at its base. Failure geometries characterize the head region whereas compressional features, such as pressure ridges and mud diapirs, dominate in the toe region, ranging in depth between 70 and 110 m. Where failure is limited to the upper few meters of the HST, there is a clear lithologic change (decrease in carbonate fraction and grain size) across the basal surface. This lithological change reflects a switch in sediment supply from local Apennine rivers (below) to Po- derived mud; this change occurred at the onset of the Little Ice Age, documenting the indirect control of short-term climate change and hu- man impact on sediment architecture. The deformations affecting the late Holocene HST in the various areas show differences in internal geometry, but appear everywhere to be characterized by limited downward displacement and can be attri- buted to shear-dominated retrogressive failure. It is suggested that some degree of consolidation occurred immediately after mobilization, possibly induced by the escape of fluids. Nowhere has failure evolved into disintegration and flow, likely because the type of cyclic loading that triggered it was not prolonged over a long enough interval. Short-lived radionuclides in the uppermost stratigraphic layers, which postdate the failure in the area offshore Ortona, allowed us to quantify systematic changes in sediment accumulation rates as a func- tion of the underlying deformed sea floor. In areas of wavy sea floor, troughs show sediment accumulation rates of greater than 16 mm/yr, a figure that is fourfold the rate measured on the flanks of the troughs.

Fine-grained submarine fans as possible recorders of long- and short-term climatic changes

Two major end-members of point-sourced submarine fans can be recognized: coarse-grained and fine-grained. The coarse-grained member is known from active margins where the sediment source is rather close to the coast. Once reaching the coast, most of the sediment goes into longshore transport and may move down a shelf depression to the slope. The movement of the sediment will gradually carve out a canyon. On the basin floor, a submarine fan is constructed that gradually progrades into the basin. Its thickness and sand/shale ratio decrease downdip. The fine-grained member is common for passive margins. It is a bypass system. The sediment originates far from the coast, the fluvial system is long and a major delta commonly results. Exposure of the wide shelf requires a relative lowering of sea level. Rapid aggradation of sediment near the shelfbreak results in high pore pressure that causes failure, followed by slumping and density flow transport. Deposition may commence at the base-of-slope. Leveed-channel transport is common on the mid-fan, while sheet-sand deposition takes place on the outer fan. Progradation of individual fan systems is rapid, followed by lateral switching to minimize bottom topography. Global and regional climatic changes cause variation in the growth/decay ratio of continental glaciers and in the type of fluvial effluent (hypopycnal and hyperpycnal outflows). Major global climate changes can cause ice ages, while smaller climate changes often influence transport and depositional variations. Shelf bypassing may result if hyperpycnal outflow conditions exist upon entering salt water. Although presently unknown, fine-grained submarine fans may provide data required to help analyze paleoclimate.

Application of altimeter observation to El Niño prediction

A new version of the Lamont forecast model is used to assess the impact of TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data on predicting short-term climate change, with emphasis on the 1997/98 El Niño and subsequent La Niña. As compared to forecasts initialized with only wind data, the model's predictive accuracy was improved when the altimeter sea level data are used for model initialization. This is due to the effectiveness of sea level data in correcting the model ocean state. For this particular application, the effect of altimeter sea level observations is comparable to that of tide gauge measurements.

The CO2 abatement game: Costs, incentives, and the enforceability of a sub-global coalition

Abstract This paper studies the economic incentives and the institutional issues governing the outcomes of a short-term climate change policy package guided by the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Berlin Mandate initiatives. Game theoretic tools and the global trade-environment interface are explored within a 26-region, 13-commodity computable general equilibrium framework to characterize the incentives of OECD regions to comply with a non-binding agreement in a carbon abatement coalition. The results showed that, in the absence of side payments, the achievement of such a coalition might require the design of suitable trade instruments.

A multiproxy approach to reconstruct the environmental changes along the Eurasian continental margin over the last 150 000 years

Abstract Sediment cores located along the Eurasian continental margin (Arctic Ocean) have been studied to reconstruct the environmental changes in terms of waxing and waning of the Barents/Kara Sea ice-sheets, Atlantic water inflow, and sea-ice distribution over the last 150 kyr. The stratigraphy of the cores is based on stable oxygen isotopes, AMS 14 C , and paleomagnetic data. We studied variations in marine and terrigenous input by a multiproxy approach, involving direct comparison of sedimentological and organo-geochemical data. Extensive episodes of northern Barents Sea ice-sheet growth during marine isotope stages (MIS) 6 and 2 have been supported by, at least, subsurface Atlantic water inflow, moisture-bearing storms, low summer insolation, and minimal calving of ice. Ice advance during MIS 4 was probably restricted to the shallow shelf. Between MIS 4 and MIS 2, large ice-sheet fluctuations correspond to contemporary Laurentide surging events and indicate short-term climatic changes in the Arctic Ocean as has been recorded in lower latitudes. In contrast, in low precipitation areas in eastern Eurasia, glacial activity was rather limited. Only distinct ice-rafted debris (IRD) input during Termination II and early MIS 3 reflects severe glaciations on the northern Severnaya Semlya margin during MIS 6 and MIS 4. We conclude that (1) oscillations of ice-sheets are less frequent along the eastern Eurasian margin than in areas with continuous moisture supply like the western Eurasian margins and that (2) major fluctuations of the Kara Sea ice-sheet during the last 150 kyr apparently followed the major interglacial/glacial MIS 5/4 and MIS 7/6 transitions rather than the precession (23 kyr) and the tilt (41 kyr) cyclicity of the Earth's orbit as observed for the Scandinavian (SIS) and the Svalbard ice-sheets, respectively [Mangerud, J., Jansen, E., Landvik, J.Y., 1996. Late Cenozoic history of the Scandinavian and Barents Sea ice-sheets. In: Solheim, A., Riis, F., Elverhoi, A., Faleide, J.J., Jensen, L.N., Cloetingh, S. (Eds.), Impact of Glaciations on Basin Evolution: Data and Models from the Norwegian Margins and Adjacent Basins. Global and Planetary Chance, Special Issue 12, pp. 11-26.]. Surface and/or subsurface Atlantic water masses coupled with seasonally ice-free conditions penetrated continuously to at least the Franz Victoria Trough during the last 150 kyr. However, sustained periods of open water were largely restricted to substages 5.5, 5.1, and the Holocene as indicated by distinct carbonate dissolution and higher accumulation of marine organic matter (MOM). Signals of periodic open-water conditions along the northern margin of Severnaya Semlya are of less importance. Higher production of foraminifera, probably due to Atlantic water inflow occurred between 38 and 12 14 C kyr and corresponds to periodic Atlantic water advection penetrating into the Arctic Ocean. However, marine organic proxies indicate a continuous decrease of surface-water productivity from the western to the eastern Eurasian continental margin due to a more extensive sea-ice cover over the last 150 kyr.

Numerical modelling of the ice sheet in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica: impacts of present, past and future climates

AbstractTime-dependent ice-sheet modelling of a 176 000 km2 area in western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, provided information on the ice sheet’s response to six climate-change scenarios. Another experiment was done to study changes in ice thickness, flow and basal temperature conditions between the present ice configuration and a simulated maximum palaeo-ice sheet. The input to the model included new datasets of bed and surface topography compiled for this study. The results of the six climate-change experiments, including a 0.5°C per century global-warming scenario, show that the ice sheet has a robust behaviour with respect to the different climate changes. The maximum change in ice volume was <5% of the initial volume in all climate runs. This is for only relatively short-term climate changes without major changes in global sea level, and also a simulated ice sheet without an ice shelf. The modelled long-term response time of the ice sheet, 20 kyr or more, indicates that the ice sheet may still be adjusting to the climate change that ended the Last Glacial Maximum. In the maximum palaeo-ice-sheet simulation, with a 5°C climate cooling and the grounding line located at the continental-shelf margin, ice thickness increased drastically downstream from the Heimefrontfjella mountain range but remained basically unaffected on the upstream polar plateau. Compared to present conditions, complex changes in basal temperatures were observed. The extent of areas with basal melting increased, for example in the deep trough of the Veststraumen ice stream. Areas at intermediate elevations in the landscape also experienced increased basal temperatures, with significant areas reaching the melting point. In contrast, high-altitude areas that today are clearly cold-based, such as around Heimefrontfjella and Vestfjella and the Högisen dome, experienced a 5–10°C decrease in basal temperatures in the palaeo-ice-sheet reconstruction. The results suggest that the alpine landscape within these mountain regions was formed by wet-based local glaciers and ice sheets prior to the late Cenozoic.

A frame-based spatially explicit model of subarctic vegetation response to climatic change: comparison with a point model

An important challenge in global-change research is to simulate short-term transient changes in climate, disturbance regime, and recruitment that drive long-term vegetation distributions. Spatial features (e.g., topographic barriers) and processes, including disturbance propagation and seed dispersal, largely control these short-term transient changes. Here we present a frame-based spatially explicit model (ALFRESCO) that simulates landscape-level response of vegetation to transient changes in climate and explicitly represents the spatial processes of disturbance propagation and seed dispersal. The spatial model and the point model from which it was developed showed similar results in some cases, but diverged in situations where interactions among neighboring cells (fire spread and seed dispersal) were crucial. Topographic barriers had little influence on fire size in low-flammability vegetation types, but reduced the average fire size and increased the number of fires in highly flammable vegetation (dry grassland). Large fires were more common in landscapes with large contiguous patches of two vegetation types while a more heterogeneous vegetation distribution increased fires in the less flammable vegetation type. When climate was held constant for thousands of years on a hypothetical landscape with the same initial vegetation, the spatial and point models produced identical results for some climates (cold, warm, and hot mesic), but produced markedly different results at current climate and when much drier conditions were imposed under a hot climate. Spruce migration into upland tundra was slowed or prevented by topographic barriers, depending on the size of the corridor. We suggest that frame-based, spatially explicit models of vegetation response to climate change are a useful tool to investigate both short- and long-term transients in vegetation at the regional scale. We also suggest that it is difficult to anticipate when non-spatial models will be reliable and when spatially explicit models are essential. ALFRESCO provides an important link between models of landscape-level vegetation dynamics and larger spatio-temporal models of global climate change.

Short-term climate changes during the Last Glacial-Holocene transition: comparison between Mediterranean records and the GRIP event stratigraphy

This paper presents biostratigraphical and stable isotope data obtained from core CM92–43, which was recovered from the central Adriatic as part of a comprehensive investigation of the palaeoenvironmental history of the basin. The data span the period of the Last Glacial–Holocene (LG–H) transition (ca. 18000 to 8000 GRIP ice-core yr BP). Regional biozones are defined on the basis of characteristic assemblages of planktic Foraminifera, and these are compared with other foraminiferal biostratigraphical schemes from the southern Adriatic and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Variations in relative abundance of selected planktic Foraminifera and in selected pollen types are shown alongside variations in δ18O and δ13C obtained from Globigerina bulloides and relative abundance of Globigerinoides ex. gr. ruber. The data are compared with the GRIP ice-core record and the event stratigraphy scheme based on this record, and it is concluded that the climate forcing mechanisms that controlled climate variations in the North Atlantic region during the LG–H transition also extended their influence into the Mediterranean region over the same period. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Palaeoenvironmental evidence for solar forcing of Holocene climate: linkages to solar science

Current concern over ‘greenhouse’ warming and possible human influence upon global climate has been countered by claims that recent advances in solar theory demonstrate a greater role than previously thought for solar forcing in recent climate change. This is still disputed for this century, but new evidence from a range of palaeoenvironmental indicators lends strong support to the notion that not only the long-term (105 to 103 years) climate changes of the Pleistocene but also short-term (101 to 102 years) climate changes in the Holocene may derive in large or small part from solar variability. Evidence from recent research into proxy climate records is reviewed and set in the context of recent advances elsewhere in studies of late Quaternary palaeoenvironments and in solar science.

Palaeoenvironmental evidence for solar forcing of Holocene climate: linkages to solar science

Current concern over ‘greenhouse’ warming and possible human influence upon global climate has been countered by claims that recent advances in solar theory demonstrate a greater role than previously thought for solar forcing in recent climate change. This is still disputed for this century, but new evidence from a range of palaeoenvironmental indicators lends strong support to the notion that not only the long-term (105 to 103 years) climate changes of the Pleistocene but also short-term (101 to 102 years) climate changes in the Holocene may derive in large or small part from solar variability. Evidence from recent research into proxy climate records is reviewed and set in the context of recent advances elsewhere in studies of late Quaternary palaeoenvironments and in solar science.

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It has long been suggested that there is a causal link between volcanic activity and Quaternary environmental change. Earlier work pointed to the volcanic activity driving large-scale Quaternary glacial fluctuations. However, a growing body of evidence lends weight to the converse view that Quaternary environmental changes resulted in increased volcanic activity. Using tephra layers as chronological horizons, researchers have begun to suggest that these volcanic events may have produced not only short-term climate changes but also variations in regional vegetation patterns and in the distribution of society. A full understanding of the complex interaction between volcanic activity and Quaternary environmental change requires the collaboration of both volcanologists and Quaternary scientists. Volcanoes in the Quaternary brings together papers from workers in both fields and reflects the diversity of current research. The papers are grouped geographically and focus on New Zealand’s North Island, the East African Rift Valley, the Mediterranean and Iceland. They cover the determination of eruptive chronologies, discuss the impacts on local vegetation and society, outline the importance of tephrostratigraphic records and provide detailed studies of hazard assessment.

Paleoclimatic changes during the Late Pleistocene - Holocene in Laguna Babícora, near the Chihuahuan Desert, México

The paleoclimatic variability of northern Mexico since the Late Wisconsinan is determined from sedimentological, geochemical, and stratigraphic studies of the lacustrine sequence of Laguna Babícora (29.4°N, 107.7°W; elevation 2100 m asl). Chronological control is based on 13 radiocarbon dates (6 from this study and 7 previously reported) from four stratigraphic profiles that cover a range from 16 342 to 2800 BP. Two major periods of increased humidity are recognized by lake-level variation during the Late Wisconsinan and early Holocene. The Late Wisconsinan humid period may be related to jet stream migration to southerly latitudes and the influence of the mobile polar high. This period has been identified in the sedimentary record of El Diablo profile with a radiocarbon date of 16 342 ± 201 BP. The early Holocene humid period is recorded in El Diablo (10 976 ± 115 BP) and Cano profiles (9614 ± 130 BP). It is interpreted as a result of the Younger Dryas climatic anomaly characterized by a temperature decrease and cold paleoclimatic conditions similar to those for the Late Wisconsinan. The early Holocene was followed by an overall gradual drying that reached a maximum around 6000 BP, during the middle Holocene. For the late Holocene evidence of widespread erosion, sedimentation changes, flooded surfaces, and paleosoils indicates that Laguna Babícora was subjected to short-term climatic changes.

Holocene lake level and climate change inferred from marl stratigraphy of the Cayuga Lake basin, New York

ABSTRACT A series of 12 radiocarbon-dated sediment cores (up to 15 m long) were used to define the Holocene stratigraphy beneath the Cayuga Lake basin in central New York State in order to evaluate the stability of Holocene climate in the northeastern United States. These cores contain an abundance of thick lacustrine marls (> 30% CaCO3) that were used to reconstruct century- to millennium-scale changes in lake levels and, thus, paleoclimates. The oldest sediments recovered (> 11.2 ka) consist of pink, proglacial clays that were deposited in Glacial Lake Iroquois between ~ 12.5 and 11.3 ka. Lacustrine sediment (non-marl) of Killarney-Younger Dryas age (11.2-10.3 ka) was recovered both north and south of modern Cayuga Lake, indicating relatively high lake levels during this well-known cold-climate phase. Following a brief ( The Holocene Hypsithermal period (~ 9-4 ka) in the Cayuga Lake basin was characterized by widespread deposition of marl that locally contains as much as 90% CaCO3. These marls document a broad, first-order warming-cooling trend throughout the Hypsithermal, with the climatic optimum at ~ 7 ka. This long-term trend is consistent with insolation data as well as ice-core records from Greenland, and likely was a response to Milankovitch orbital forcing. Lake levels throughout the Finger Lakes region were relatively high during the Holocene Hypsithermal, implying an overall warm and wet climate in contrast to the traditional view of mid-Holocene drought. However, Hypsithermal climate and lake levels in the Finger Lakes region were not stable; rather they were characterized by significant century- to millennium-scale variability, implying short-term climate changes. Marl deposition in the Cayuga Lake basin ceased at ~ 3.4 ka when lake levels dropped as global cooling set in at the end of the Hypsithermal. However, there was a brief return to a warm and wet climate at ~ 1 ka, during the Medieval Warm Period prior to the onset of anthropogenic effects.

Early Pliocene deep water circulation in the western equatorial Atlantic: Implications for high‐latitude climate change

High‐resolution (∼3–4 kyr) stable isotope stratigraphies from sites drilled along a depth transect on Ceara Rise (Ocean Drilling Program Leg 154, Sites 925 and 929) are used to reconstruct the deep water circulation response to the long‐ and short‐term climate changes of the early Pliocene (3.2–4.7 Ma). Over the long term, benthic foraminiferal carbon isotope records show that the vertical δ13C gradient in this region was similar to that of the late Holocene, implying a steady flux of Northern Component Deep Water (NCDW) into the deep Atlantic during most of the early Pliocene. The vertical benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotope gradient is reversed with respect to that of the late Holocene. On the basis of density constraints imposed by seawater stability along this depth transect we attribute the reversed gradient to warmer and more saline NCDW (5°C and 35.1). On orbital timescales we find that the phase relationship between δ18O and δ13C values at the deeper Site 929 differs from the late Pliocene/Pleistocene, while that at the shallower Site 925 was essentially the same.

Ecology of cryptophytes coexisting near a freshwater chemocline

1. A deep chlorophyll maximum dominated by Cryptomonas phaseolus, Cryptomonas undulata and often also by Cryptomonas rostratiformis was observed near the summer chemocline of the dimictic, meso‐eutrophic lake Schlachtensee from 1990 to 1996.2. The cryptophyte populations occupied a stratified water column of about 2 m thickness just below the oxycline. They were never observed in the summer epilimnion. In their habitat, oxygen concentration was always lower than 1 mg L–1 and light was growth‐limiting, whereas nitrogen and phosphorus were available at high concentrations.3. A very large portion of the populations stayed in the anaerobic, sulphide‐containing water layer. Below the chemocline, purple and green sulphur bacteria coexisted.4. The cryptophyte populations were maintained by in situ growth due to low‐light adapted photosynthesis and not due to phagotrophy.5. Short‐term changes in the light climate near the chemocline could explain the coexistence of different cryptophyte species.

第四紀後期の海洋環境と生物生産 縁海の古海洋学 縁海の海洋環境変遷とその重要性

Marginal seas, such are located as Bering Sea, Okhotsk Sea, Japan Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea and Indonesian seas, locate along the western rim of the Pacific. They have only a small area but are regions of high biological productivity, and thus expected to play an important role on global environment. Each of them has an unique characteristics on bathymetry, water exchange between the adjacent marginal seas and/or open ocean, primary productivity and volumes of fresh water input and terrigeneous material supply. Because they connect each other and to the open ocean through the shallow straits, characteristics of water masses flowed into the marginal seas were highly influenced by global sea level fluctuations. Furthermore, climatic change affected the volume of terrigenous supply to the seas. Therefore, paleoenvironments of the marginal seas largely changed with long-term sea level changes and short-term climatic changes. Recent studies on paleoceanography of the Japan Sea and the South China Sea suggest the importance of Asian monsoon to control the oceanic environments of the marginal seas. Hemipelagic sediments with higher sedimentation rates in the marginal seas recorded paleoceanographic changes in high resolution. Multidisciplinary studies for large-diameter long piston cores from the East Asian marginal seas may provide good information for global climate changes in the late Quaternary.