Monsoon-driven paleoproductivity changes in the central Red Sea during MIS 4 - MIS 6
Abstract
The Red Sea is an elongated and desert-enclosed basin with very limited connections to the global ocean. As a consequence the effects of atmospheric forcing on its marine environment are amplified. Previous studies of planktonic microfossil assemblages suggested that paleoproductivity in the Red Sea was elevated during boreal winter insolation maxima1, reflecting enhanced Indian NE monsoon-driven exchange with the Indian Ocean. However, the plankton-based reconstructions are overprinted by nuisance variables in the surface waters and cannot be applied to glacial times. To assess how Red Sea productivity changed on glacial-interglacial timescales and test the monsoon driver hypothesis, we generated an independent and continuous record of paleoproductivity based on the accumulation of benthic foraminifera