Palynological records of Holocene monsoon change from the Gulf of Tonkin (Beibuwan), northwestern South China Sea

Palynological records in cores C4 and B106 from the Gulf of Tonkin reveal signals of paleo-monsoon and paleoenvironmental change during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Before ∼ 13.4 cal kyr BP, the Gulf of Tonkin was exposed to the atmosphere and covered by grassland. Starting at ∼ 11.7 cal kyr BP, the Gulf of Tonkin was inundated by brackish water, indicated by the appearance of the brackish algae Cleistosphaeridium , Sentusidinium and Spiniferites, a decrease of herb content, and an increase of Pinus . After Hainan Island was completely separated from the Leizhou Peninsula by Qiongzhou Strait at ∼ 8.5 cal kyr BP, a continuous marine sedimentary environment was found. The current patterns were similar to those of the present, with a general trend of current homogenization reflected by gradually decreasing quantities of Quercus pollen and a narrowing gap between the palynological concentrations of the southern and northern parts of the region. The data suggest that three short periods of strengthened winter monsoons and currents were centered at ∼ 6.0 cal kyr BP, ∼ 2.7 cal kyr BP and ∼ 0.2 cal kyr BP and that two short periods of strengthened summer monsoons and currents were centered at ∼ 7.5 cal kyr BP and ∼ 3.4 cal kyr BP.

Brackish water · Climatology · Geography · Holocene · Monsoon · Palynology · Physical geography · Pleistocene · Pollen · Salinity · Ecology · Geological and Geophysical Studies · Geology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena · Oceanography · Paleontology

• Pollen record of the centennial climate changes during 9–7 cal ka BP in the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Delta plain, China

  Open Access•Bing Song, Zhen Li et al.•Quaternary Research•2017

  Incluir item

• Mid-Holocene mangrove succession and its response to sea-level change in the upper Mekong River delta, Cambodia

  Open Access•Zhen Li, Yoshiki Saito et al.•Quaternary Research•2012

  Incluir item

• Pollen quantitative distribution in marine and fluvial surface sediments from the northern South China Sea

  Lu Dai, Chengyu Weng et al.•Quaternary International•2014

  Incluir item

• Vegetation, Climate, and Sea Level in the Past 55,000 Years, Hanjiang Delta, Southeastern China

  Open Access•Zhuo Zheng, Qianyu Li•Quaternary Research•2000

  Incluir item

• Deriving Response Matrices from Central American Modern Pollen Rain

  Open Access•Mark B Bush•Quaternary Research•2000

  Incluir item

• Holocene Monsoon Changes Inferred from Lake Sediment Pollen and Carbonate Records, Northeastern Cambodia

  Open Access•Andrew Lee Maxwell•Quaternary Research•2001

  Incluir item

• Influence of the intertropical convergence zone on the East Asian monsoon

  Open Access•Gergana Yancheva, Norbert R Nowaczyk et al.•Nature•2007

  Incluir item

• The history and variability of the East Asian paleomonsoon climate

  Open Access•Zhaolong An, Zhisheng An•Quaternary Science Reviews•2000

  Incluir item

• The Nonconcept of Species Diversity

  Open Access•Stuart H Hurlbert•Ecology•1971

  Incluir item

• The Holocene Asian Monsoon

  Open Access•Yongjin Wang, Hai Cheng et al.•Science•2005

  Incluir item

• Correlation between climate events in the North Atlantic and China during the last glaciation

  Open Access•Stephen C Porter, Zhaolong An et al.•Nature•1995

  Incluir item

• Evolution of Asian monsoon variability revealed by oxygen isotopic record of middle Holocene massive coral in the northern South China Sea

  Open Access•Ruixia Su, Donghuai Sun et al.•Quaternary International•2010

  Incluir item

• Climate change and human impact on the Song Hong (Red River) Delta, Vietnam, during the Holocene

  Open Access•Zhen Li, Yoshiki Saito et al.•Quaternary International•2006

  Incluir item

• Mid-Holocene sea-level highstand along the Southeast Coast of China

  Open Access•Yongqiang Zong•Quaternary International•2004

  Incluir item

• Source and distribution of pollen in the surface sediment of Daihai Lake, inner Mongolia

  Open Access•Xu Qinghai, Li Yuecong et al.•Quaternary International•2005

  Incluir item

• The use of Rarefaction Analysis for Estimating Palynological Richness from Quaternary Pollen-Analytical Data

  Open Access•H J B Birks, J M Line•The Holocene•1992

  Incluir item

• Estimating pollen diversity from pollen accumulation rates

  Open Access•Willem O Van Der Knaap•The Holocene•2009

  Incluir item