(Table 1) Distribution of calcareous nannofossils in ODP Hole 167-1017E sediments

Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1017E (34°32.10'N, 121°6.43'W; 955.5 m water depth) is located on Santa Lucia Slope, ~50 km west of Point Arguello. The location of Hole 1017E, influenced by the California Current and associated coastal upwelling systems, is the best field to monitor paleoclimate change in the North Pacific. Living coccolithophorid is generally restricted in the photic zone and is one of the major primary producers in modern oceans. Thus, fossil coccolith assemblages can be used for paleoceanographic reconstruction in the surface waters. Winter (1985, doi:10.1016/0377-8398(85)90007-6) reported that the living coccolithophore flora in the California Current system of Southern California has significant variability in community structure, diversity, and standing crop. Wei and Peleo-Alampay (1995, doi:10.2973/odp.proc.sr.146-2.305.1995) reported that nannofossil diversity is low during oxygen isotope Stages 1-6 in the Santa Barbara Basin. These studies indicate that the low temperature and upwelling in the California Current system are responsible for the dominance of nannofossil flora in the California Borderland. However, very little is known about the paleoceanographic interpretation of nannofossil flora off Point Conception. The purpose of this report is to document the change in calcareous nannofossil assemblages for the last 27 k.y. in relation to the past surface water conditions at Hole 1017E.