Comparison of Alkenone Equations for Surface Water Temperature Estimation in the Eastern South Sea and Southern East Sea, Korea

A series of long chain unsaturated ketone (alkenone) was identified in the particulate organic matter sampled from surface water of the eastern South Sea, Korea. The seawater temperature based on the $C_{37}$ alkenone was calculated by using several different equations of unsaturation index( ${U^{K'}}_{37}$ ), compared with in situ CTD temperature. Among the previously reported equations, the equation(0.044T-0.204) which was proposed by Sawada et al.(1996) seems to be the most useful for the calculation of $C_{37}$ alkenone temperature, showing average $0.51^{\circ}C$ difference between ${U^{K'}}_{37}$ temperature and in situ CTD temperature. This result suggest that alkenone should be a useful molecular biomarker for reconstructing paleo-environmental change in the South and East Sea, Korea. However, it is required to establish more reliable equation for the calculation of $C_{37}$ alkenone temperature.