Late Quaternary variations in water mass in the Shatsky Rise area, northwest Pacific Ocean

Oxygen isotope analysis of planktonic and benthic foraminifera in piston core S-2 collected from the Shatsky Rise (33degrees21.75N, 159degrees07.70E; water depth 3107 m) provides a paleoceanographic record for the last 540000 years in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Although peaks in the abundance of sinistral Neogloboquadrina pachyderma occur during Marine Isotope Stage 2, and particularly 6 and 12, the southward shifting of the Subarctic front did not reach the core site during these glacial periods. However, mass accumulation rates of total organic carbon, biogenic opal, and terrigenous matter contents indicate that surface productivity increased during cold periods. In addition, the C/N ratio analyzed in organic matter reached values of up to 10 during glacial periods. These results imply that delivery of eolian dust to this site was enhanced by strengthened westerly winds during glacial periods. Down-core fluctuations in delta(13)C values of Globigerinoides ruber and Globorotalia inflata nearly overlap, particularly during the period from 540 to 260 ka. This latter trend suggest that the subtropical surface water mass prevailed at the core site throughout that period, based upon the very small vertical delta(13)C gradient through water column in modern Kuroshio Current water. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.