Seasonal sea surface temperature contrast between the Holocene and last glacial period in the western Arabian Sea (Ocean Drilling Project Site 723A): Modulated by monsoon upwelling

Abstract

Annual, summer, and winter sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the western Arabian Sea were reconstructed through the last 22 kyr using artificial neural networks (ANNs) based on quantitative analyses of planktic foraminifera. Down-core SST estimates reveal that annual, summer, and winter SSTs were 2, 1.2, and 2.6 decrees C cooler, respectively, during the last glacial period than in the Holocene. A 2.5 degrees C SST increase during Termination 1A (hereinafter referred as glacial to Holocene transition) in the western Arabian Sea. The study reveals a strong seasonal SST contrast between winter and summer from 18 to 14 calendar kyr owing to the combined effect of weak upwelling and strong cold northeasterly winds. Minor or no seasonal SST changes were noticed within the Holocene period, which is attributed to the intense upwelling during the summer monsoon. This causes a lowering of SST to values similar to those of the winter season in analogy with the present day. A 3 degrees C rise in winter SSTs during the glacial to Holocene transition coincides with a strengthening of the monsoon, suggesting a link between winter SST and monsoon initiation from the beginning of the Holocene. Strikingly, annual, summer, and winter SSTs show a cooling trend from approx. 8 ka to the present day, implying tropical cooling in the late Holocene.