Ocean heat content variability in the western tropical Pacific region through the Mid-Pleistocene climate transition

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K21221
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Environmental dynamic analysis; Stratigraphy/Paleontology
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Sagawa Takuya 金沢大学, 自然システム学系, 助教 (40448395)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 熱帯太平洋 / 第四紀 / 古水温復元

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Calcification depth of planktonic foraminifera, Pulleniatina obliquiloculata, is estimated using sediment trap samples moored in the central and western equatorial Pacific. It is confirmed that Mg/Ca thermometry of this species is useful for reconstructing thermocline temperature in this regions. Past sea surface and thermocline temperatures were reconstructed by Mg/Ca thermometry of two planktonic foraminiferal species using a sediment core retrieved from the Ontong Java Plateau. Reconstructed temperatures showed glacial-interglacial change as well as variability in much longer timescale. The results suggest that the ocean-atmosphere interaction played significant role in long-term temperature regulation in the western tropical Pacific region.

Free Research Field

古海洋学