Paleoceanography of the South China Sea since the middle Miocene: evidence from planktonic foraminifera

A deepening thermocline influenced by consistently warm surface water since the late Miocene in the southern South China Sea is also evidenced by a two-stepwise increase of Pulleniatina group, by a gradually decreasing Sphaeroidinella-Sphaeroidinellopsis spp. and abundant Globorotalia menardii and related species. The FO Globigerinoides ruber (pink) at approximately 1 Ma and an abrupt increase in the pink-to-all ratio of G. ruber at 0.4 Ma at Site 1143 provide two additional PF events for deciphering Pleistocene biostratigraphy and paleoceanography.