Geosciences Journal Vol. 8, No. 1, p.

43 49, March 2004

Low sea surface salinity in the East Sea during the last glacial maximum: review on freshwater supply
Eunil Lee* Seungil Nam
Department of Oceanography, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Korea Petroleum and Marine Resources Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources, Daejeon 305-350, Korea

ABSTRACT: Low sea surface salinity event in the East Sea during the LGM (last glacial maximum) has been critically and thoroughly reviewed based on previous studies, but freshwater source for this low paleosalinity still remains to a great extent questionable. This paper presents that the Korea Strait was partially open during the LGM, transporting the paleo-Water (0.52.11012 m3/yr) to the East Sea. The paleo-Water, presumably a mixture of high amount of freshwater and the paleo-Tsushima Current, might not be enough to explain the decrease of sea surface salinity (SSS) in the surface layer (79.751012 m3) of the LGM East Sea. Assuming that the paleo-Water is entire freshwater, it could only lower less than 1.1 of surface salinity. Moreover, differences in SSS (between 20 of the LGM and the present 34 in the East Sea) and planktonic foraminiferal 18O (between the regional East Sea and the global Pacific Ocean during the LGM) are approximately 14 and 3.84.1, respectively. According to general trend that 1 salinity decrease correponds to about 0.5 lowering of 18O (Broecker, 1989), 3.84.1 decrease in 18O could lower 7.68.2 in salinity, resulting in 25.826.4 of the SSS in the LGM East Sea. This SSS (25.826.4) is still much saline than 20. Furthermore, about 5.86.4 of salinity difference needs to be explained, and further indicates freshwater dilution in the LGM East Sea. Therefore, these semi-quantitative calculations evidence additional freshwater supply to the East Sea, lowering sea surface salinity during the LGM. Potentially additional source for freshwater might have been the Amur River inflow into the East Sea. Key words: The East Sea, last glacial maximum, paleosalinity, stable oxygen isotope, freshwater supply

1. INTRODUCTION The East Sea is a nearly enclosed marginal sea with its surface area of about 1,000,000 km2 between 35oN and 50oN, and its maximum depth is down to approximately 3,900 m. The East Sea is connected with the East China Sea via the Korea (Tsushima) Strait (a sill depth of about 140 m), with the Pacific Northwest via the Tsugaru Strait (130 m), with the Sea of Okhotsk via the Soya (55 m) and Tatar (12 m) straits (Fig. 1). The Tsushima Current is a dominant surface current in the East Sea, delivering relatively warm, saline water (12106 m3/s) through the Korea Strait. This surface water flows out the sea mostly through the Tsugaru and Soya straits (Toba et al., 1982; Lim and An, 1985; Isobe,
*Corresponding author: elee@cnu.ac.kr

1999; Isobe et al., 2002). However, oceanographic conditions in the present East Sea are largely different from those in the last glacial maximum (LGM) which is characterized by globally about 130 m lowering of sea level (e.g., Fairbanks, 1989; Pirazzoli, 1996; Yokoyama et al., 2000). Lowered sea level in the LGM East Sea may result in the closure of the three seaways (Tsugaru, Soys and Tatar straits) with sills of less than 130 m. In contrast, the Korea Strait seems to have been open to a limited extent, partially submerged in the western area (Morley et al., 1986; Tada, 1999; Gorbarenko and Southon, 2000; Park et al., 2000). The sealevel drop during the LGM reduced a cross-sectional area of the strait, minimizing the paleo-Tsushima Current influx to the East Sea. In particular, the East Sea is characterized by low sea surface salinity (SSS) during the LGM. The low SSS is explained to have resulted from huge amount of freshwater input through precipitation (Keigwin and Gorbarenko, 1992; Tada, 1999; Gorbarenko and Southon, 2000), and/or through surrounding fluvial systems (Oba et al., 1991; Tada et al., 1999; Gorbarenko and Southon, 2000). Moreover, this decreased surface salinity might have caused the abnormally light 18O values of planktonic foraminifera (Oba et al., 1991; Gorbarenko and Southon, 2000), which is opposite to heavier 18O signals in typically open oceans (Emiliani, 1955; Shackleton, 1967; Dansgaard and Tauber, 1969; Labeyrie et al., 1987; Ruddiman, 2001). It, nevertheless, is still unclear that how much freshwater influx by precipitation and/or river discharge from the nearby landmass contributed to reduction of sea surface salinity in the LGM East Sea. This study attempts to elucidate the contribution of volume transport via the Korea Strait to the decrease of the sea surface salinity during the LGM. For this study, previously published literature related to the late Quaternary paleoceanography of the East Sea has been thoroughly reviewed, particularly focusing on changes in oxygen isotope composition of planktonic foraminifera and sea surface salinity recorded in the East Sea sediment cores. 2. BACKGROUND AND PREVIOUS WORK There are two freshwater sources for low surface salinity responsible for negative 18O excursion in the East Sea dur-

44

Eunil Lee and Seungil Nam

Fig. 1. The East Sea and adjacent continent and islands with four straits (Korea, Tsugaru, Soya, and Tatar). Solid circles are core locations (C-3 and J-11) from previous studies (Oba et al., 1991, 1995; Gorbarenko and Southon, 2000). The Tsushima Current predominates in surface layer of the sea. Bathymetry is in meters.

ing the LGM; (1) precipitation, (2) river runoff from the adjacent land. Firstly, precipitation is suggested to have been an important freshwater source, generating low surface salinity during the LGM (Keigwin and Gorbarenko, 1992; Tada et al., 1999; Tada, 1999; Gorbarenko and Southon, 2000). According to these studies, the East Sea was almost isolated during the LGM and its surface layer became less saline due to increased precipitation relative to evaporation. However, evaporation is known to exceed precipitation over the ocean surface (Berner and Berner, 1987; Pickard and Emery, 1988). Generally, temperature decrease leads to a precipitation reduction. In addition, stronger wind system during glacial times may have created an enhanced evaporation. For these reasons, surface evaporation might have been higher than precipitation in the LGM East Sea. In fact, paleoclimate modeling exhibits that evaporation around the East Sea may have exceeded precipitation during the LGM (Rind and Peteet, 1985; Crowley and North, 1991; Wright et al., 1993). Recent simulation results (Kim et al., 2003) present that sea surface temperature (SST) around the Japanese islands during the LGM was about 6o lower than that during the Holocene. Additionally, temperature in the

Japan was reported to have been reduced by 68o during the LGM (Ono, 1984). Consequently, this further indicates that precipitation over the East Sea might not be such a critical factor lowering sea surface salinity during the LGM. Secondly, the lowering of sea surface salinity has been accounted for mainly by freshwater discharged from the adjacent river systems (Oba et al., 1991; Tada et al., 1999; Gorbarenko and Southon, 2000). Sea-level drop during the last glacial period subaerially exposed most parts of the Yellow Sea, and then coastline migrated southward, shifting the Yellow River mouth (Oba et al., 1991; Tada et al., 1999; Tada, 1999). As a result, freshwater by the Yellow River may have emptied directly into the northeastern East China Sea, ultimately flowing into the East Sea via the Korea Strait. Subsequently, river water influx through the Korea Strait to the East Sea might have contributed to the surface salinity decrease during the period of sea-level lowstand. Recently, Lee and Nam (2003) suggest that the Korean fluvial systems in the southeastern Korea might additionally contribute freshwater supply to the Korea Strait region during the lowstand of sea level. Particularly, total volume transport (0.52.11012 m3/yr) of the paleo-Water passing

Low sea surface salinity in the East Sea during the LGM

45

through the Korea Strait during the LGM has been estimated, based on seismic reflection profiles and present current data (Lee et al., 2004, under revision). 3. DISCUSSION 3.1. Oxygen Stable Isotopes and Sea Surface Salinity Stable oxygen isotope is a useful proxy to reconstruct past climate changes, especially the late Quaternary cycles of interglacials and glacials. Oxygen isotope traces of calcareous foraminifera generally vary with the isotopic composition of sea water in response to changes in continental ice volume, and with sea water temperature (Emiliani, 1954, 1955; Shackleton, 1967; Dansgaard and Tauber, 1969; Labeyrie et al., 1987; Broecker, 2000; Ruddiman, 2001; Schrag et al., 2002). The global 18O values recorded in deep sea sediments are heavier (more positive) during glacials rather than during interglacial periods. Normally, 18O values of planktonic foraminifera (18Op.f.) are fluctuated with not only global continental ice volume, but local factors (e.g., sea temperature, salinity and upwelling effects) (Mix, 1987; Bard et al., 1987; Broecker, 1989; Duplessy et al., 1991; Patience and Kroon, 1991) while 18O signals of benthic foraminifera are dependent upon primarily global changes of continental ice volume (Dansgaard and Tauber, 1969; Duplessy, 1978; Mix, 1987). Mean glacial-interglacial variations of 18Op.f. are about 1.63.0 in the Atlantic and 1.21.5 in the Pacific (MaManus et al., 1999; Schrag et al., 2002). The 18Op.f. value in the East Sea is about 2.6 lighter during the LGM than during the Holocene (Oba et al., 1991, 1995; Fig. 2a). This anomalously light 18Op.f. is opposite to heavy isotopic values estimated in well-preserved, open deep-sea core sediments, as previously mentioned. The 18Op.f. differences between the East Sea sediments and the Pacific deep-sea cores (1.21.5 as noted earlier) are actually 3.84.1 during the LGM. These differences indicate that oxygen isotopic composition in surface water of the East Sea must have been affected highly by local effect (freshwater influx) rather than global controlling factors (continental ice volume, cooling temperature) during the LGM. On the other hand, using the oxygen isotope data (Oba et al., 1991, 1995), Tada (1999) reconstructed that surface salinity in the LGM East Sea remarkably decreased down to 20 (Fig. 2a), when compared with modern values (about 34). Hence, unusually light 18O values in the East Sea during the LGM might have closely related to low surface salinity triggered by freshwater dilution. 3.2. Additional Freshwater Supply and Further Suggestions In the East Sea, surface layer is assumed to be about 100 m in thickness because planktonic foraminifera mostly inhabit

Fig. 2. Downcore variations in 18Op.f. and salinity. (a) 18Op.f. (Oba et al., 1995) and salinity (Tada, 1999) are extracted from Core C-3 with calendar ages. Open circles for salinity. Closed ones for 18Op.f.. (b) 18Op.f. trends are based on Core J-11 with 14C age dates (Gorbarenko and Southon, 2000). The shaded areas show the periods of low sea surface salinity and light 18Op.f. with different chronological determination.

in water depths ranging from sea surface to 75150 m (Haq and Boersma, 1978). Surface layer in the East Sea during the LGM would have lain between 130 m and 230 m in present water depths. The surface water amounts (79.75 1012 m3) during the LGM are assessed, by using Chois data (2001). When the SSS was about 20 in the LGM East Sea (Tada, 1999), the surface layer is supposed to have consisted of water (78.161012 m3) and salt (1.591012 m3). On the other hand, the Korea Strait during the LGM must have been the unique passage of the paleo-Water due to the closure of other three shallower straits (Tsugaru, Soya and Tatar). This paleo-Water might have been a mixture of the paleo-Tsushima Current and freshwater derived from the adjacent river systems (e.g., Yellow, Nakdong and Seomjin rivers) during the LGM (Oba et al., 1991; Tada et al., 1999; Park et al., 2000; Lee and Nam, 2003). When compared with the volume transport (0.52.11012 m3/yr) at the paleo-

46

Eunil Lee and Seungil Nam

Fig. 3. Simplified diagram illustrates the surface water volume of the LGM East Sea and paleo-Water inflow through the Korea Strait. If the paleoWater is entirely freshwater (nonsaline), it could only decrease less than 1.1 of the sea surface salinity. This further indicates additional freshwater supply to lower sea surface salinity, presumably by the Amur River discharge. Evaporation is also considered as a part of the outflow unrelated to opening and closing of the straits.

Korea Strait, the freshwater amount (78.161012 m3) in the surface layer of the LGM East Sea is fairly immense. Even if the paleo-Water is entirely 100% freshwater during the LGM, it could only decrease less than 1 of salinity in 100 m-thick surface layer of the East Sea. Subsequently, the paleo-Water influx itself would be too low to justify the salinity difference of about 14 in the LGM East Sea (Fig. 3). This further attests large supply of freshwater to the East Sea by additional river discharge. Estimated differences in SSS and in 18O records in the East Sea are approximately 14 (between the LGM and the Holocene) and 3.84.1 (between the East Sea and the Pacific Ocean), respectively. Generally, 1 decrease in salinity results in 0.5 lowering of 18O in open oceans (Broecker, 1989). According to this relation, about 3.84.1 decrease in 18O could lower 7.68.2 in salinity, resulting in 25.8 26.4 of sea surface salinity in the LGM East Sea. This SSS (25.826.4), however, is still much higher than 20 (e.g., Oba et al., 1991, 1995; Tada, 1999). There is still about 5.86.4 of salinity difference which needs to be further explained. Thus, this estimate on salinity difference is another evidence for freshwater dilution by rivers to the East Sea, excluding the Yellow, Nakdong and Seomjin rivers. The Amur Basin in the Russian Far East is about 1,730,000 km2 (Nijssen, et al., 2001). The freshwater derived from the Amur River presently flows into the northern part of the East Sea along the Russian coast through the Tatar Strait. Southward transport of freshwater from the Amur River has been measured about 2600 m3/s at a channel around the Tatar Strait (Yakunin, 1975). Moreover, recent climate model by Kim et al. (2003) simulates that freshwater discharge by the Amur River increased by about 80% during the LGM, while the Yangtze River discharge decreased by 25% during that time period. Therefore, this reasonably suggests that the Amur River could be an additional freshwater source to the (northern) East Sea during the LGM, further decreasing sea surface salinity (Fig. 3).

Finally, it needs to be considered whether timings of the LGM and low sea surface salinity related to the light 18O peak were concurrent. Anomalously negative 18Op.f. values were measured in sediment layer deposited between 22,200 and 19,600 14C yrs B.P. in the East Sea (Oba et al., 1991). These 14C ages were converted for the same cores, and chronology for the negative 18Op.f. peak is between 19 and 17 calendar (cal) kyrs B.P. (Oba et al., 1995; Fig. 4). However, Gorbarenko and Southon (2000) presented that negative 18Op.f. minima occurred at the period of 17.314.8 14C kyrs B.P. (see Fig. 2b), when sea level was the lowest. Tada (1999) also reconstructed that time interval for low sea surface salinity associated with light 18Op.f. record could be between 19,000 and 16,000 cal yrs B.P. Addtionally, Matsui et al. (1998) reported that low surface salinity was about 19,000 cal yrs B.P., corresponding to the lowest stand of sea level. These different timings of negative 18O excursion related to low surface salinity may have been caused by different age determinations (e.g., 14C ages, calendar ages) and/ or by accuracy problem. In comparison of age ranges (19,000 to 16,000 cal yrs B.P. by Tada, 1999) with the global LGM interval (23,000 to 19,000 cal yrs B.P. by Mix et al., 2001), low sea surface salinity coupled with negative planktonic foraminiferal 18O record in the East Sea seems to have practically initiated around at the end (presumably 19,000 cal yrs B.P.) of the global LGM. This time period might postdate the lowest time (21,200 to 22,400 cal yrs B.P.) of sea level (Fairbanks, 1989; Bard et al., 1990; Fleming et al., 1998). However, the timing of low paleosalinity reasonably corresponds to the regional LGM interval (19,000 to 18,000 cal yrs B.P. by Oba et al., 1995) around the East Sea. 4. CONCLUSIONS The LGM paleosalinity associated with abnormally light 18O record of planktonic foraminifera was about 20 which is about 14 less saline than the Holocene value in

Low sea surface salinity in the East Sea during the LGM

47

Fig. 4. Low sea surface salinity (SSS) along with light 18Op.f. occurred between 19 and 16 cal ka B.P. (Oba et al., 1995; Tada, 1999). This time period seems to be subsequent to the global LGM interval (2319 cal ka B.P. by Mix et al., 2001). The regional LGM event (1918 cal ka B.P. by Oba et al., 1995) and the lowest sea level (around 19 cal ka B.P. by Oba et al., 1995; Matsui et al., 1998) around the East Sea followed global LGM and lowest sea level (2221 cal ka B.P. by Fleming et al., 1998). The time interval of negative 18Op.f. ranges from about 17 to 15 14C ka B.P. (Gorbarenko and Southon, 2000; see Fig. 2b). These 14C ages are reasonably correlated with about 20 to 18 cal ka B.P., when compared with age calibration curve (Stuiver et al., 1998).

the East Sea. This low sea surface salinity can not be fully accounted for only by precipitation and freshwater influx from Chinese and Korean rivers to the East Sea. The minimized volume transport via the Korea Strait was not enough to significantly decrease sea surface salinity in the LGM East Sea, further indicating additional freshwater supply. Moreover, semi-quantitative calculations on the basis of the relation between 18Op.f. records and salinity suggest that there is about 5.86.4 of salinity difference unexplained. Consequently, this evidences a huge freshwater dilution by additional river runoff. In this paper, the Amur River is proposed to have contributed to lowering surface salinity in the LGM East Sea. However, further detailed study is indispensible with analyses of well-preserved sediment cores and adequate age determainations. This study also leaves questions about timings of sea-level minima associated with low sea surface salinity. Low paleosalinity event associated with negative

18Op.f. values in the East Sea seems to have occurred posterior to the globally lowest period of sea level, presumably around at the end of the LGM. This may imply that there is a lag time between global phenomena and local event, such as the LGM interval and timing of the lowest sea level.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: We thank two anonymous reviewers for their critical and useful comments. Provision of hydrographic data about the East Sea by Kim Eung (at the Oceanography of the Chungnam National University) is greatfully acknowledged.

REFERENCES
Bard, E., Arnold, M., Duprat, J. and Duplessy, J.C., 1987, Reconstruction of the last deglaciation: deconvolved records of 18O profiles, micropaleontological variations and accelerator mass spectrometric 14C dating. Climate Dynamics, 1, 101112. Bard, E., Hamelin, B. and Fairbanks, R.G., 1990, U/Th ages obtained by mass spectrometry in corals from Barbados: sea level during

48

Eunil Lee and Seungil Nam

the past 130,000 years. Nature, 346, 456458. Berner, E.K and, Berner, R.A., 1987, The Global Water Cycle: Geochemistry and Environment. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 397 p. Broecker, W.S., 1989, The salinity contrast between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during glacial time. Paleoceanography, 4, 207212. Broecker, W.S., 2000, Abrupt climate change: causal constraints provided by the paleoclimate record. Earth-Science Reviews, 51, 137154. Choi, B.H., 2001, Grided digital topography and bathymetry. In: Choi, B.H., Lie, H.J., Go, Y.B., Lee, J.H., Lee, J.C. and Noh, Y. (eds), Proceedings the 11th PAMS/JECSS Workshop extra CDROM, Cheju, April 1113. Crowley, T.J. and North, G.R., 1991, Paleoclimatology. Oxford University Press, New York, 339 p. Dansgaard, W. and Tauber, H., 1969, Glacier Oxygen-18 content and Pleistocene ocean temperature. Science, 166, 499502. Duplessy, J.C., 1978, Isotope studies. In: Gribbin, J. (ed.), Climatic change. Cambridge University Press, New York, p. 4667. Duplessy, J.C., Labeyrie, L., Juillet-Leclerc, A., Maitre, F., Duprat, J. and Sarnthein, M., 1991, Surface salinity reconstruction of the North Atlantic Ocean during the last glacial maximum. Oceanologica Acta, 14, 311324. Emiliani, C., 1954, Depth habitat of some species of planktonic foraminifera as indicated by oxygen isotope ratios. American Journal of Sciences, 252, 149158. Emiliani, C., 1955, Pleistocene temperatures. Journal of Geology, 63, 538578. Fairbanks, R.G., 1989, A 17,000-year glacio-eustatic sea level record: Influence of glacial melting rates on the Younger Dryas event and deep-ocean circulation. Nature, 342, 637642. Fleming, K., Johnston, P., Zwartz, D., Yokoyama, Y., Lambeck, K. and Chappell, J., 1998, Refining the eustatic sea-level curve since the last glacial maximum using far- and intermediate-field sites. Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters, 163, 327342. Gorbarenko, S.A. and Southon, J.R., 2000, Detailed Japan Sea paleoceanography during the last 25 kyr: constraints from AMS dating and 18O of planktonic foraminifera. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, 156, 177193. Haq, B.U. and Boersma, A., 1978, Introduction to marine micropaleontology. Elsevier, New York, 374 p. Isobe, A., 1999, On the origin of the Tsushima Warm Current and its seasonality. Continental Shelf Research, 19, 117133. Isobe, A., Ando, M., Watanabe, T., Senjyu, T., Sugihara, S. and Manda, A., 2002, Freshwater and temperature transports through the Tsushima-Korea Straits. Journal of Geophysical Research, 107 (C7), 10.1029/2000JC000702. Keigwin, L.D. and Gorbarenko, S.A., 1992, Sea level, surface salinity of Dryas event in the Northwestern Pacific ocean. Quaternary Research, 37, 346360. Kim, S.J., Flato, G. and Boer, G., 2003, A coupled climate model simulation of the Last Glacial Maximum, Part 2: approach to equilibrium. Climate Dynamics, 20, 635661. Labeyrie, L.D., Duplessy, J.C. and Blanc, P.L., 1987, Variations in mode of formation and temperature of oceanic deep waters over the past 125,000 years. Nature, 327, 477482. Lee, E. and Nam, S., 2003, Fresh-water supply by the Korean rivers to the East Sea during the last glacial maximum: a review and new evidences from the Korea Strait region. Geo-Marine Letters, 23, 16. Lee, E., Nam, S. and Park, S.C., 2004, Paleo-Tsushima Water influx to the East Sea and its implications on low surface salinity during

the last glacial maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews (under revision). Lim, C.H. and An, H.S., 1985, The comparison of the volume transport in the Korea Strait and in the Middle of the East Sea (Japan Sea). Journal of the Korea Society of Oceanography, 29, 5055. Matsui, H., Tada, R. and Oba, T., 1998, Low-salinity isolation event of the Japan Sea in response to eustatic sea-level drop durting the LGM: Reconstruction based on salinity-balance model. The Quaternary Research, 37, 221233. McManus, J.F., Oppo, D.W. and Cullen, J.L., 1999, A 0.5-millionyear record of millennial-scale climate variability in the North Atlantic. Science, 283, 971975. Mix, A.C., 1987, The oxygen-isotope record of glaciation. In: Ruddiman, W.F. and Wright, H. (eds.), The geology of North America. Geological Society of America, Boulder, p. 111135. Mix, A.C., Bard, E. and Schneider, R., 2001, Environmental processes of the ice age: land, oceans, glaciers (EPILOG). Quaternary Science Reviews, 20, 627657. Morley, J.J., Heuser, L.E. and Sarro, T., 1986, Latest Pleistocene and Holocene paleoenvironment of Japan and its marginal sea. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 53, 349358. Nijssen, B., ODonnell, G.M., Hamlet, A.F. and Lettenmaier, D.P., 2001, Hydrologic sensitivity of global rivers to climate change. Climatic Change, 50, 143175. Oba, T., Kato, M., Kitazato, H., Koizumi, I., Omura, A., Sakai, T. and Takayama, T., 1991, Paleoenvironmental changes in the Japan Sea during the last 85,000 years. Paleoceanography, 6, 499518. Oba, T., Murayama, M., Matsumoto, E. and Nakamura, T., 1995, AMS 14C ages of Japan Sea cores from the Oki Ridge. The Quaternary Research, 34, 289296. Ono, Y., 1984, Last glacial paleoclimate reconstructed from glacial and periglacial landforms in Japan. Geographical Review of Japan, 57B(1), 87100. Park, S.C., Yoo, D.G., Lee, C.W. and Lee, E.I., 2000, Last glacial sea-level changes and paleogeography of the Korea (Tsushima) Strait. Geo-Marine Letters, 20, 6471. Patience, A.J. and Kroon, D., 1991, Oxygen isotope chronostratigraphy. In: Smart, P.L. and Frances, P.D. (eds.), Quaternary dating methods-a users guide, Technical guide 4, Quaternary Research Association, Cambridge, p. 199228. Pickard, G.L. and Emery, W.J., 1988, Descriptive physical oceanography. Pergamon Press, New York, 249 p. Pirazzoli, P.A., 1996, Sea-Level Changes: The Last 20,000 Years. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 211 p. Rind, D. and Peteet, D., 1985, Terrestrial conditions at the Last Glacial Maximum and CLIMAP sea-surface temperature estimates: Are they consistent? Quaternary Research, 24, 122. Ruddiman, W.F., 2001, Earths climate: past and future. W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, 465 p. Schrag, D.P., Adkins, J.F., McIntyre, K., Alexander, J.L., Hodell, D.A., Charles, C.D. and McManus, J.F., 2002, The oxygen isotopic composition of seawater during the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Review, 21, 331342. Shackleton, N.J., 1967, Oxygen isotope analyses and Pleistocene temperatures re-assessed. Nature, 215, 1517. Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Beck, J.W., Burr, G.S., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, G., van der Plicht, J. and Spurk, M., 1998, INTCAL98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24,000-0 cal BP. Radiocarbon, 40, 10411083. Tada, R., 1999, Late Quaternary Paleoceanography of the Japan Sea: An Update. The Quaternary Research, 38, 216222.

Low sea surface salinity in the East Sea during the LGM

49

Tada, R., Irino, T. and Koizumi, I., 1999, Land-ocean linkages over orbital and millennial timescales recorded in late Quaternary sediments of the Japan Sea. Paleoceanography, 14, 236247. Toba, Y., Tomizawa, K., Kurasawa, Y. and Hanawa, K., 1982, Seasonal and year-to-year variability of the Tsushima-Tsugaru Warm Current system with its possible cause. La mer, 20, 4151. Wright, H.E., Kutzbatch, J.E., Webb III, T., Ruddiman, W.E.F., Street-Perrott, F.A. and Bartlein, P.J., 1993, Global Climates Since the Last Glacial Maximum. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 569 p.

Yakunin, L.P., 1975, On the reliable Amur river discharge through the new channel. Bulletin of Far Eastern Scientific Research, Hydrometeorological Institute, 55, 6164. Yokoyama, Y., Lambeck, K., Deckker, P., Johnston, P. and Fifield, L.K., 2000, Timing of the Last Glacial Maximum from observed sea-level minima. Nature, 406, 713716. Manuscript received September 27, 2003 Manuscript accepted January 17, 2004