Biogeosciences www.biogeosciences.net 1726-4170 1726-4189 5 6 2008 10.5194/bg-5-1641-2008 http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/1641/2008/ http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/1641/2008/bg-5-1641-2008.html http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/1641/2008/bg-5-1641-2008.pdf 1641 1650 2008-12-06 North Pacific-wide spreading of isotopically heavy nitrogen during the last deglaciation: Evidence from the western Pacific S. J. Kao sjkao@gate.sinica.edu.tw K. K. Liu S. C. Hsu Y. P. Chang M. H. Dai Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica, Taiwan Institute of Hydrological Science, National Central University, Jung-Li, Taiwan Institute of Applied Geosciences, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China Sedimentary δ¹⁵ N records in two IMAGES cores (MD012404 and MD012403) retrieved from the Okinawa Trough (OT) in the western North Pacific reveal deglacial increases with two peaks occurring during the Bølling/Allerød and the Preboreal/early Holocene periods. These peaks are synchronous with previously reported δ¹⁵ N peaks in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific, although the amplitudes (from 3.8 to 5.8‰) are much smaller in the OT. 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