NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Ishiwatari et al. 1999 Japan Sea 30KYr Organic Geochemical Data

The organic and isotopic geochemical study of two sediment cores (KH-79-3, L-3, and KH-79-3, C-3) from the Oki Ridge in the Japan Sea has revealed that total organic carbon (TOC) mass accumulation rates are extremely high in the 12–11 ka (calendar age) interval and TOC in the sections in the 24–17 ka interval is depleted in 13C by 3.5‰ relative to Holocene sediments. Alkenone sea surface temperature (SST) shows a decrease from 18° to 14°C from 17.5 to 11.6 ka and a sharp increase from 14° to 19°C from 11.6 to 11.1 ka. The SST changes are associated with the inflow of cold seawater with the vertical water mixing and the inflowof warm Tsushima Current into the Japan Sea. The δ13C values for both 24-methylcholesta-5,22-dien-3β-ol (diatom marker) and dinosterol (dinoflagellate marker), are at their minimum from 24 to 17 ka, while those for long-chain alkenones are not. The theoretical considerations on δ13C for biomarkers suggest low photosynthetic carbon demand of diatoms and dinoflagellates from 24 to 17 ka.