Previous studies have indicated that the Yellow Sea underwent significant environmental changes during the Holocene, but many questions remain concerning the timing of the establishment of the modern circulation syste...Previous studies have indicated that the Yellow Sea underwent significant environmental changes during the Holocene, but many questions remain concerning the timing of the establishment of the modern circulation system, which would have major implications for the Yellow Sea ecosystem and carbon cycle. In this study, marine and terrestrial biomarkers were analyzed in Core YE-2 from a muddy area in the southern Yellow Sea to reconstruct Holocene environmental and phytoplankton community change. The content of three individual marine phytoplankton biomarkers (alkenones, brassicasterol and dinosterol) all display a similar trend, and their total contents during the early Holocene (362 ng/g) were lower than those during the mid-late Holocene (991 ng/g). On the other hand, the contents of terrestrial biomarkers (C27+C29+C31n-alkanes) during the early Holocene (1 661 ng/g) were about three times higher than those during the mid-late Holocene (499 ng/g). Our biomarker results suggest that the modern circulation system of the Yellow Sea was established by 5-6 ka, and resulted in higher marine productivity and lower terrestrial organic matter inputs. Biomarker ratios were used to estimate shifts in phytoplankton community structure in response to mid-Holocene (5-6 ka) environmental changes in the Yellow Sea, revealing a transition from a dinoflagellate-diatom dominant community structure during the early Holocene to a coccolithophore-dominant community structure during the mid-late Holocene.展开更多
Biomarkers have been widely used to reconstruct phytoplankton productivity and community structure changes, and this method has been applied for the first time in the middle Okinawa Trough during the transition from t...Biomarkers have been widely used to reconstruct phytoplankton productivity and community structure changes, and this method has been applied for the first time in the middle Okinawa Trough during the transition from the last deglaciation to the Holocene. The total content of all marine phytoplankton biomarkers, used as a total productivity indicator, reveals higher productivity during the deglaciation. The ratios of the biomarkers are used as community structure indicators which show that, compared with the Holocene, the contribution from haptophytes decreased while the contributions from diatoms and dinoflagellates increased during the deglaciation. The increased productivity during the deglacia- tion was likely caused by the stronger winter monsoon. Also increased nutrient supply from terrestrial sources contributes to the higher productivity due to lower sea-level, which is consistent with higher terrestrial biomarker (long-chain n-alkanols) content. These changes in the nutrient supply also con- tributed to the community structure changes in the Okinawa Trough.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2010CB428901)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 40976042, 41020164005)the Shandong Province Natural Science Foundation (No. ZR2009EM004)
文摘Previous studies have indicated that the Yellow Sea underwent significant environmental changes during the Holocene, but many questions remain concerning the timing of the establishment of the modern circulation system, which would have major implications for the Yellow Sea ecosystem and carbon cycle. In this study, marine and terrestrial biomarkers were analyzed in Core YE-2 from a muddy area in the southern Yellow Sea to reconstruct Holocene environmental and phytoplankton community change. The content of three individual marine phytoplankton biomarkers (alkenones, brassicasterol and dinosterol) all display a similar trend, and their total contents during the early Holocene (362 ng/g) were lower than those during the mid-late Holocene (991 ng/g). On the other hand, the contents of terrestrial biomarkers (C27+C29+C31n-alkanes) during the early Holocene (1 661 ng/g) were about three times higher than those during the mid-late Holocene (499 ng/g). Our biomarker results suggest that the modern circulation system of the Yellow Sea was established by 5-6 ka, and resulted in higher marine productivity and lower terrestrial organic matter inputs. Biomarker ratios were used to estimate shifts in phytoplankton community structure in response to mid-Holocene (5-6 ka) environmental changes in the Yellow Sea, revealing a transition from a dinoflagellate-diatom dominant community structure during the early Holocene to a coccolithophore-dominant community structure during the mid-late Holocene.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40676032, 40706021, 40621063 and 40431002)
文摘Biomarkers have been widely used to reconstruct phytoplankton productivity and community structure changes, and this method has been applied for the first time in the middle Okinawa Trough during the transition from the last deglaciation to the Holocene. The total content of all marine phytoplankton biomarkers, used as a total productivity indicator, reveals higher productivity during the deglaciation. The ratios of the biomarkers are used as community structure indicators which show that, compared with the Holocene, the contribution from haptophytes decreased while the contributions from diatoms and dinoflagellates increased during the deglaciation. The increased productivity during the deglacia- tion was likely caused by the stronger winter monsoon. Also increased nutrient supply from terrestrial sources contributes to the higher productivity due to lower sea-level, which is consistent with higher terrestrial biomarker (long-chain n-alkanols) content. These changes in the nutrient supply also con- tributed to the community structure changes in the Okinawa Trough.
