What is it about?

We here provide evidence for the existence of six periods marked with stronger primary production off Peru and dry conditions on the continent. Each of these periods coincide with intensified atmospheric circulation in the tropical Pacific Ocean, as observed today over La Niña events.

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Why is it important?

This work presents the first record of diatom assemblages off Peru at the decadal scale and spanning several millennia. The ocean off Peru is the most productive region of the world ocean and is highly sensitive to rapid climatic changes such as El Niño events. However, most studies focus on the impact of these rapid climatic changes on precipitations but rarely on primary productivity.

Perspectives

I managed to provide the record shown in this paper after identifying, sampling and analyzing individual laminations. The results demonstrate that this time-consuming approach enables to provide information on various parameters (primary production, nutrient cycle, terrigenous input,...) at shorter timescales than those usually reached in marine sediment cores.

Dr Sophie Fleury
Hanyang University

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Centennial-scale variations in diatom productivity off Peru over the last 3000 years, The Holocene, November 2015, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0959683615612589.
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