Changes in sea surface temperature in western South China Sea over the past 450 ka

Sea surface temperature over the past 450 ka was obtained by the unsaturation of molecular fossil-long chain alkenone with a resolution of about 1 ka from the western South China Sea. This is the longest temperature profile in the South China Sea at such high resolution. The U ₃₇ ^k′-SST results revealed similar glacial-interglacial cycles as the δ¹⁸O profile of planktonic foraminifera, with SST variability of 23–25.5°C for glacial and 25–28°C for interglacial periods. The highest SST (28.4°C) was recorded at MIS5.5 and lowest SST (22.6°C) during MIS2. The SST record preceded the planktonic foraminiferal δ¹⁸O on five glacial-interglacial transitions. Comparison of temperature records from the Southern and Northern Hemispheres indicated a more Southern Hemisphere-like pattern for the temperature variation in the SCS. Strong precession and semiprecession signals in the spectra of our SST record manifest the tropical phenomena.