| Citation: |
Xi Mei, Ri-hui Li, Xun-hua Zhang, Zhong-bo Wang, Yong Zhang, 2019. Reconstruction of phytoplankton productivity and community structure in the South Yellow Sea, China Geology, 2, 315-324. doi: 10.31035/cg2018091
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Reconstruction of phytoplankton productivity and community structure in the South Yellow Sea
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Abstract
The sedimentary environment and ecological system in the South Yellow Sea (SYS) changed dramatically due to sea level change caused by glacial-interglacial cycles. The authors report the use of marine biomarkers (brassicasterol, dinosterol and C37 alkenones) and terrigenous biomarkers (C28+C30+C32 n-alkanols) in core DLC70-3 from the SYS to reconstruct the variation in the phytoplankton productivity and community structure and possible mechanisms during the middle Pleistocene. The results show that the primary productivity and that of single algae presented a consistent trend for the whole core during the middle Pleistocene, which was high during interglacial periods and low during glacial periods, with the highest being in marine isotope stage (MIS) 5–9 and MIS 19–21. The main reason is that the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) carried much of high temperature, high salinity water into the SYS, causing upwelling and vertical mixing and stirring, which increased the nutrient supply in the photosynthetic layer. The phytoplankton community structure mainly showed an increase in the relative content of haptophytes in MIS 5–9 and MIS 19–21, while the relative content of diatoms and dinoflagellates decreased; there was no evidence for a haptophyte content in other stages. The results reveal a shift from a coccolitho-phorid-dominated community during MIS 5–9 and MIS 19–21 to a diatom-dominated community during the other stages, mainly as a result of surface salinity variation, attributed to the invasion of the YSWC during high sea level periods.
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References
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Xi Mei, Ri-hui Li, Xun-hua Zhang, Zhong-bo Wang, Yong Zhang, 2019. Reconstruction of phytoplankton productivity and community structure in the South Yellow Sea, China Geology, 2, 315-324. doi: 10.31035/cg2018091
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Figure 1.
Location of core DLC70-3 and other cores mentioned in the text, with surface currents in the South Yellow Sea (SYS) superimposed (modified from Liu J et al., 2010). Black arrows indicate paths of currents includng Kuroshio Current (KC); Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC); Tsushima Warm Current (TWC); The gray area indicates the mud distribution area of south Yellow Sea including the central south Yellow Sea Mud area (CS), southeastern Yellow Sea Mud area (SE), the mud area southwest off Cheju Island (CJ). NYS-the North Yellow Sea.
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Figure 2.
Chronological frame of DLC70-3 core. The GPTS (Fig. 2a) is from Gradstein FM et al. (2012), (L–Laschamp; Ja–Jaramillo; B/M: Brunhes–Matuyama chron boundary), sea-level estimate (Miller KG et al., 2005; Fig. 2b, c). Magnetostratigraphy of the DLC70-3 core in the South Yellow Sea. The ages near the top of the cores were obtained via AMS 14C dating, data of core DLC70-3 are from Mei X et al.(2013, 2016).
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Figure 3.
Contents of biomarkers, and other proxy records for DLC70-3. a–Content (ng/g) of brassicasterol; b–content (ng/g) of dinosterol; c–content (ng/g) of C37 alkenones; d–content (ng/g) of cholesterol; e– content (ng/g) of marine organic matter (MOM, sum of brassicasterol, dinosterol and alkenones); f–content (ng/g) of the terrestrial organic matter (TOM, C28+C30+C32 n-alkanols); g–ratio of MOM content to TOM content. Marine isotope stages (MISs) are labeled on the top panels.
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Figure 4.
Correlation between concentration of brassicasterol and dinosterol (a); cholesterol and MOM (b); TOM and MOM (c) , in DLC70-3 core.
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Figure 5.
Normalized (total content) biomarker contents for DLC70-3 core. a–Brassicasterol; b–dinosterol; c–alkenone; d–abundance of cold water species (Buccela frigida); e–abundance of foraminifera; Marine isotope stages (MISs) are labeled on the top panel.