Saltier sea surface water conditions recorded by multiple mid-Holocene corals in the northern South China Sea

The typical features of the mid-Holocene can be used to better understand present-day climate conditions and the potential trends of future climate change. The surface conditions, including sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity (SSS), of the South China Sea (SCS) are largely controlled by the East Asian monsoon system. Surface water conditions reconstructed from coral proxies can be used to study the evolution of the East Asian monsoon during the mid-Holocene. However, there are some discrepancies among existing coral-based studies regarding whether the mid-Holocene sea surface water was much saltier than the present day surface waters. Based on paired Sr/Ca and delta O-18 of modern and three fossil corals, this paper reconstructs the patterns of seasonal variation in SSS during the mid-Holocene in the northern SCS. The Delta delta O-18 records (a proxy for SSS) derived from the three fossil corals were all heavier than that from the modern coral, which suggests the presence of more saline surface waters during the mid-Holocene in the northern SCS. These results are consistent with previous studies based on records reconstructed from coral and foraminifera, as well as from numerical simulations. Reduced rainfall caused by the strengthened Asian Monsoon and/or the northward shift of the intertropical convergence zone during the mid-Holocene would explain the increased salinity of the surface waters of the northern SCS. The findings presented here clarify the discrepancies among previous studies and confirm the existence of saltier surface waters in the northern SCS during the mid-Holocene.