Mid-depth circulation in the northwest Pacific during the last deglaciation: Evidence from foraminiferal radiocarbon ages

Sediment cores (MR01-K03 PC4/PC5, 1366 m water depth) collected from off northern Japan were studied using coexisting planktonic and benthic foraminiferal radiocarbon measurements to reconstruct the history of mid-depth circulation in the northwest Pacific. Reconstructed ventilation ages indicate that, consistent with data from a previous radiocarbon study at a shallower site, there was significant variation in mid-depth circulation during the last deglaciation, especially in the Bolling-Allerod (13-15 ka) and Younger Dryas (11.5-13 ka) intervals. Our record indicates that the ventilation changes in the North Pacific were antiphase to those of the North Atlantic, suggesting that atmospheric moisture transport associated with the Asian Monsoon might have played a great role in millennium-scale ventilation changes in the North Pacific during the last deglaciation.