Program     Evolution of Deep Sea Processes in the South China Sea       Poster Carbonate factory turnovers influenced by the Monsoon (Xisha Islands, South China Sea) P-SPS6-08-S Feng Wu* , China University of Geosciences Xinong Xie, China University of Geosciences Xushen Li, Zhanjiang Branch of China National Offshore Oil Corporation Christian Betzler, Universität Hamburg Zhilei Shang, Presenter Email: finncug@hotmail.com Carbonate factory turnovers can be the integrated results of climatic, oceanographic and biological controls. As an important part of the global climate system, the monsoon has a significant potential to influence such turnovers (Betzler et al. 2009, 2016). Sedimentological, geochemical and paleontological data from core XK-1 drilled in the Xisha Islands, South China Sea, reveal that photozoan to heterozoan carbonate factory turnovers during the Early and Middle Miocene in isolated carbonate platforms were mainly caused by changes in the upwelling regime. A heterozoan open bank association thrived in tropical shallow water under conditions of nutrient excess, indicated by high Ln(Cu/Ti) and Ln(Ba/Ti), and by the increased abundances of rhodoliths and some foraminifer genera. During the Early and Middle Miocene, episodes characterized by a heterozoan carbonate production correlate with times of East Asian Summer Monsoon strengthening, especially from 21.2 to 17.3 Ma and from 15.6 to 11.6 Ma (Clift, 2006; Clift et al., 2014). This study thus provides new insights into the variability of shallow water carbonate deposition in monsoon-influenced areas and also shows that shallow carbonate factory turnovers can help to reconstruct the monsoon evolution in monsoon-affected regions elsewhere.