Elevated foraminifera-bound nitrogen isotopic composition during the last ice age in the South China Sea and its global and regional implications

[1] We report a new foraminifera-boundδ¹⁵N (FB-δ¹⁵N) record from the South China Sea (SCS) extending back to 42 ka. This record shows a ∼1.2‰ glacial-to-interglacialδ¹⁵N decrease, with a deglacial δ¹⁵N maximum similar to that observed in many bulk sedimentary δ¹⁵N records and in a Caribbean FB-δ¹⁵N record. The glacial-to-interglacialδ¹⁵N decrease is smaller than in the Caribbean record, indicating that at least half of the Caribbean δ¹⁵N decrease into the Holocene was regional, not global, supporting the interpretation of a Holocene increase in Atlantic nitrogen fixation. At the same time, the glacial-to-interglacialδ¹⁵N decrease observed in the SCS may also be explained as a regional signal of increasing nitrogen fixation into the Holocene. Other aspects of the SCS record suggest an effect of physical circulation on FB-δ¹⁵N. FB-δ¹⁵N starts to increase toward its deglacial maximum before the last ice age ends, and it continues to decrease through the later Holocene, in contrast to the more pure glacial/deglacial/interglacial steps in the Caribbean record. These changes have parallels in other Pacific δ¹⁵N records, precessionally driven East Asian monsoon records, and the slow Holocene warming of SCS surface waters. In addition, the SCS record exhibits two one-point high-δ¹⁵N spikes in multiple foraminiferal species that coincide with apparent hydrographic events. Thinning or weakening of the thermocline, in the late glacial and early Holocene as well as during the noted events, may have yielded a higher δ¹⁵N for thermocline nitrate and thus a higher FB-δ¹⁵N.