Precisely dated AMS 14C marine cores reveal the complexity of millennial-scale Asian monsoon variability in the northern South China Sea (MD972146, MD972148)

High sedimentation rate (SR) cores retrieved from the South China Sea (SCS) form the basis for studying the marine components of millennial-scale Asian monsoon (AM) variability and for comparison with the AM reconstructions from cave records on land (e.g. Dongge and Hulu). However, carefully correlating the SCS sedimentary records to the cave records that are precisely dated by U/Th methods with resolution of decadal-scale, has not been completed. Such a correlation is essential when comparing AM influences expressed over land and sea, but requires a construction of marine AMS 14C age models that are precise enough to be compared to the cave U/Th age models. For the purpose of establishing such a correlation, this study presents new data from intensive AMS 14C dated marine cores retrieved from the northern SCS (MD972146, MD972148). The discrepancy of marine and cave δ18O record for the interval of ∼18–30 ka might be due to the change of marine 14C reservoir age in SCS surface water during the glacial period, and to the change in interhemispheric dominance of the AM systems. With the new AMS 14C dating on MD972146 and MD972148, we examined the millennial-scale records of planktonic foraminifer δ18O and carbonate contents of MD972146, MD97248, and SONNE 17940-2 and compared those records with Dongge–Hulu δ18O record of the past 30 ka. Our results show that in the intervals corresponding to the high-latitude Northern Hemisphere (NH) Younger Dryas (YD) and Heinrich I event (H1), the AMS 14C dated millennial-scale oscillations show relatively heavy δ18O and low carbonate contents, but H2 and H3 are in the opposite direction. Our results indicate the complexity for the marine cores which were used in interpreting the millennial-scale AM variability.

► Very high precision AMS 14C chronology of South China Sea marine sediment cores.
► First attempt for correlating the AMS 14C dated marine records to Th-based Hulu/Dongge cave records.
► Results show major synchronous and asynchronous millennial events in the marine and cave records.