Postglacial North Pacific

Abstract

Postglacial North Pacific paleoceanography is dominated by the ENSO system, which can acquire for centuries to thousands of years an El Niño-like or a La Niña-like dominant state. A La Niña-like (negative Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO)) to El Niño-like (positive PDO) state evolved from the early-middle to the late Holocene. Accordingly, the ITCZ changed from a northern to a southern location, thus reducing the strength of the Kuroshio and California Currents. In addition to this pattern, there are regional differences imposed by the interaction between the monsoons in the western Pacific and the PDO in the northeastern Pacific. Evidence is becoming robust for teleconnections between the Asian monsoons, the California Current, and the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, modulated by solar insolation and ice sheet dynamics. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.