Subcentennial-Scale Climatic and Hydrologic Variability in the Gulf of Mexico During the Early Holocene

An early Holocene record from the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) reveals climatic and hydrologic changes during the interval from 10.5 to 7 thousand calendar years before present from paired analyses of Mg/Ca and δ18O on foraminiferal calcite. The sea surface temperature record based on foraminiferal Mg/Ca contains six oscillations and an overall ∼1.5°C warming that appears to be similar to the September–March insolation difference. The δ18O of seawater in the GOM (δ18OGOM) record contains six oscillations, including a −0.8‰ excursion that may be associated with the “8.2 ka climate event” or a broader climate anomaly. Faunal census records from three GOM cores exhibit similar changes, suggesting subcentennial‐scale variability in the incursions of Caribbean waters into the GOM. Overall, our results provide evidence that the subtropics were characterized by decadal‐ to centennial‐scale climatic and hydrologic variability during the early Holocene