Sea surface temperatures in the subarctic Northeast Pacific reflect millennial-scale climate oscillations during the last 16 kyrs

Changes of sea surface temperature (SST) in the subarctic NE Pacific over the last 16,000 calendar years before present (16 kyr BP) have been inferred from the study of C-37 alkenone unsaturation in a sediment core from the western Canadian continental slope. Between 16.0 and 11.0 kyr, three distinct cold phases (6-7 degreesC) interrupt two warmer periods (9-10 degreesC). Within the 2 sigma range of the radiocarbon based time control, the observed SST oscillations correspond to the Oldest Dryas, the Bolling, the Older Dryas, the Allerod, and the Younger Dryas periods in the GISP2 delta O-18 record. These results represent the first high resolution marine paleotemperature estimates off the northern west coast of North America and imply that the climate of this region may be very strongly coupled to that of the North Atlantic. Given the fast rates of SST change (1 degreesC/40-80 yr), such coupling must be controlled by atmospheric transmission of the climate signal.