A first look at past sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Indian Ocean from Mg/Ca in foraminifera

Type Article
Date 2005-12
Language English
Author(s) Saraswat R1, Nigam R1, Weldeab S2, Mackensen A3, Naidu Pd1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Natl Inst Oceanog, Micropaleontol Lab, Panaji 403004, Goa, India.
2 : Univ Bremen, Res Ctr Ocean Margins, Bremen, Germany.
3 : Alfred Wegener Inst Polar & Marine Res, D-27568 Bremerhaven, Germany.
Source Geophysical Research Letters (0094-8276) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2005-12 , Vol. 32 , N. 24 / L2460 , P. 1-4
DOI 10.1029/2005GL024093
WOS© Times Cited 64
Abstract Sea surface temperature (SST) for the central equatorial Indian Ocean, has been reconstructed over the last similar to 137 kyr, from Mg/Ca of the planktonic foraminiferal species Globigerinoides ruber. According to our record the equatorial Indian Ocean SST was similar to 2.1 degrees C colder during the last glacial maximum as compared to present times. The data further shows that the surface equatorial Indian Ocean was comparatively warmer during isotopic stage 5e than at present (similar to 29.9 vs similar to 28.5 degrees C). Comparison of the equatorial Indian Ocean SST with the Antarctic delta D and Greenland delta(18)O records, shows that the major high-latitude cooling/warming events are also present in the equatorial Indian Ocean SST variation record. Similarity between the equatorial Indian Ocean SST and the equatorial Pacific SST suggests the possibility of a common mechanism controlling the SSTs in both the equatorial Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
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