High-frequency climatic oscillations recorded in a Holocene coral reef at Leizhou Peninsula,South China Sea  

作　　者：余克服 刘东生 沈承德 赵建新 陈特固 钟晋梁 赵焕庭 宋朝景 

机构地区：South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China[1] Geology and geophysics Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China[2] Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China[3] Department of Earth Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia[4]

出　　处：《Science China Earth Sciences》2002年第12期1057-1067,共12页中国科学（地球科学英文版）

基　　金：This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.49902014); the Open Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology and Paleoenvironment of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The authors

摘　　要：A detailed study of the Goniopora reef profile at Dengloujiao, Xuwen County, Leizhou Peninsula, the northern coast of the South China Sea suggests that a series of high-frequency, large-amplitude and abrupt cold events occurred during the Holocene Hypsithermal, an unusual phenomenon termed 'Leizhou Events' in this paper. This period (corresponding to 14C age of 6.2-6.7 kaBP or calendar age of 6.7-7.2 kaBP), when the climatic conditions were ideal for coral reefs to develop, can be divided into at least nine stages. Each stage (or called a 'climate optimum'), lasting about 20 to 50 a, was terminated by an abrupt cold nap and (or) a sea-level lowering event in winter, leading to widespread emergence and death of the Goniopora corals, and growth discontinuities on the coral surface. Such a cyclic process resulted in the creation of a >4m thick Goniopora reef flat. During this period, the crust subsided periodically but the sea level was rising.The reef profile provides valuable archives for the study of decadal-scale mid-Holocene climatic oscillations in the tropical area of South China. Our results provide new evidence for high-frequency climate instability in the Holocene Hypsithermal, and challenge the traditional understanding of Holocene climate.A detailed study of the Goniopora reef profile at Dengloujiao, Xuwen County, Leizhou Peninsula, the northern coast of the South China Sea suggests that a series of high-frequency, large-amplitude and abrupt cold events occurred during the Holocene Hypsithermal, an unusual phenomenon termed “Leizhou Events” in this paper. This period (corresponding to 14C age of 6.2-6.7 kaBP or calendar age of 6.7-7.2 kaBP), when the climatic conditions were ideal for coral reefs to develop, can be divided into at least nine stages. Each stage (or called a “climate optimum”), lasting about 20 to 50 a, was terminated by an abrupt cold nap and (or) a sea-level lowering event in winter, leading to widespread emergence and death of the Goniopora corals, and growth discontinuities on the coral surface. Such a cyclic process resulted in the creation of a >4m thick Goniopora reef flat. During this period, the crust subsided periodically but the sea level was rising.The reef profile provides valuable archives for the study of decadal-scale mid-Holocene climatic oscillations in the tropical area of South China. Our results provide new evidence for high-frequency climate instability in the Holocene Hypsithermal, and challenge the traditional understanding of Holocene climate.

关 键 词：CORAL reef  HOLOCENE Hypsithermal  ABRUPT climate change  SEA level  Leizhou events  South China Sea. 

分 类 号：P732[天文地球—海洋科学]