What is it about?
This study focuses on the impact of rapid climatic changes (multidecadal timescale) on the ocean off Peru over the last millennium. The analysis of three marine sediment cores gave access to information on biological production in surface waters, on the consumption of oxygen deeper in the water column as well as rainfall on the nearby continent.
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Why is it important?
This work is the one of the first providing information on the intensity of past variations in primary production, rainfall and oxygen consumption in the Peruvian system. We here demonstrate for the first time that the intensity of multidecadal climatic variations in this region did not depend on the mean state of the Pacific Ocean (i.e. on the predominance of La Niña or El Niño-like conditions).
Perspectives
These results represent a first attempt to quantify the intensity of rapid climatic variations in the Peruvian system, an area which did not provide as many palaeoclimatic records at high temporal resolutions as other regions such as the Western and Central Pacific. The Peruvian margin has however a great potential for the study of rapid climatic changes since it is strongly impacted by phenomena such as El Niño events and provides well-preserved sediment cores.
Dr Sophie Fleury
Hanyang University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Pervasive multidecadal variations in productivity within the Peruvian Upwelling System over the last millennium, Quaternary Science Reviews, October 2015, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.08.006.
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