UC Santa Cruz

Tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are a critical component of the global climate system with oceanic and atmospheric teleconnections through meridional and latitudinal heat transport. Understanding the climate drivers and dynamics of this region enables a better understanding of global climate. Orbital scale climate drivers for eastern and western Pacific SSTs have been studied; however, SSTs and thermocline structure have not been studied in the central equatorial Pacific (CEP). Studying temperature dynamics in the CEP upper water column can help determine which mechanisms control SST and thermocline structure and test previously proposed hypotheses. Here, I present CEP SST and subsurface temperature records from the Line Islands (ML1208-17PC) that span the last 380,000 years. Using two species of foraminifera, G. ruber and G. tumida, I respectively generated Mg/Ca based SST and subsurface temperature records and compared them to published records from the equatorial Pacific. This comparison indicates an expanded west pacific warm pool (WPWP) during interglacial periods but no expansion of the eastern Pacific cold tongue during glacial periods. Based on the thermocline depth proxy, the thermocline was deeper in glacial periods and shallower in interglacial periods. Cross-spectral analysis demonstrates which climate drivers are the likely forcings for CEP SST and thermocline behavior. The CEP SSTs are distinct from those to the east or the west as they are not directly driven by CO2 or insolation at orbital frequencies; instead, the CEP SST record is linked to subsurface temperature at eccentricity and obliquity bands. However, changes in thermocline conditions at the CEP are potentially driven by CO2 and Antarctic temperature changes. This study agrees and supports previous studies that indicate deeper thermocline depths in glacials and shallower depths in interglacials.