Subsurface North Atlantic warming as a trigger of rapid cooling events: evidences from the Early Pleistocene (MIS 31–19) (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Holocene, 2014
Holocene sea surface temperatures in the eastern Fram Strait are reconstructed based on Mg/Ca ratios measured on the planktic foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sin). The reconstructed sub sea surface temperatures (sSSTMg/Ca) fluctuate markedly during the earliest Holocene at ~11.7-10.5 ka BP. This probably is in response to the varying presence of sea ice and deglacial melt water. Between ~10.5-7.9 ka BP the sSSTMg/Ca values are relatively high (~4°C) and more stable reflecting high insolation and intensified poleward advection of Atlantic water. After 7.9 ka BP the sSSTMg/Ca decline to an average of ~3°C throughout the mid-Holocene. These changes can be attributed to a combined effect of reduced poleward oceanic heat advection and a decline in insolation as well as a gradually increased influence of eastward migrating Arctic Water. The sSSTMg/Ca increase and vary between 2.1-5.8°C from ~2.7 ka BP to the present. This warming is in contrast to declining late Holocene insolation and may instead be explained by factors including increased advection of oceanic heat to the Arctic region possibly insulated beneath a widening freshwater layer in the northern North Atlantic in conjunction with a shift in calcification season and/or depth habitat of N. pachyderma (sin).
2013
Surface nitrate concentration is a potentially useful diagnostic in reconstructing the past circulation of high-latitude North Atlantic waters. Moreover, nutrient consumption in the North Atlantic surface impacts the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. To reconstruct nutrient conditions in the subpolar North Atlantic region during the last ice age, a record of foraminifera-bound d 15 N was measured in Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sin.) from core V28-73 south of Iceland (57.2 N, 20.9 W). Foraminifera-bound d 15 N is up to 2% lower during the last ice age than during the Holocene, suggesting as much as~25% less complete nitrate consumption during the former. This is consistent with stronger light limitation associated with a deeper summer surface mixed layer, perhaps related to the formation of Glacial North Atlantic Intermediate Water previously suggested to have occurred near the core site. However, three single-point maxima in d 15 N in the glacial section and the sharp deglacial d 15 N rise coincide with Heinrich event layers. This suggests that increased water column stratification during Heinrich events, presumably due to surface freshening, reduced the nutrient supply from below and led to nearly complete nitrate consumption in the summertime mixed layer. The Heinrich layers in V28-73 are not accompanied by d 18 O minima in either N. pachyderma (sin.) or Globigerinoides bulloides, which we tentatively attribute to extreme mixed-layer shoaling. The reconstructed subpolar North Atlantic upper water column changes-both glacial/interglacial and millennial-are inverse to those inferred for the Antarctic.
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2013
Past changes in the surface flow regime of two main eastern North Atlantic warm water pathways toward the Nordic seas were reconstructed based on faunal analyses in combination with carbon and oxygen stable isotope measurements in planktic foraminifera. The investigated sites, in the surroundings of the Faroe Islands, are located in the transitional area where surface waters of subpolar and subtropical origin mix before entering the Arctic Mediterranean. In these areas, large-amplitude millennial variability in the characteristics of the upper-water column appears modulated by changes in the intensity of the Subpolar Gyre circulation. From 7.8 to 6 ka BP, faunal records indicate a deep mixed-layer which, in conjunction with lighter d 18 O values, suggest that the inflowing Atlantic waters were dominated by a relatively cooler and fresher water mass, reflecting a strengthening of the Subpolar Gyre under conditions of enhanced positive NAO-like forcing and reduced meltwater input. A shift in the hydrographic conditions occurred during the Mid-Holocene (centered at 5 ka BP). At this time, increasing upper water column stratification and the incipient differentiation of the stable isotopic signal of the IcelandeFaroe and FaroeeShetland surface water masses, suggest increasing influx of warmer, more saline surface waters from the Subtropical Gyre, as Subpolar Gyre circulation weakened. The mid-Holocene decline in Subpolar Gyre strength is presumably related to a shift toward a low state of the NAO-like forcing associated with decreased solar irradiance. Later in the Holocene, from 4 ka BP to present, the increased frequency and reduced amplitude of the surface hydrographic changes reflect corresponding fluctuations in Subpolar Gyre circulation. These high frequency oscillations in Subpolar Gyre strength suggest increased surface circulation sensitivity to moderate freshwater fluxes to the LabradoreIrminger Sea basin, highlighting the importance of the salinity balance in modulating Subpolar Gyre dynamics, particularly under conditions of low NAO atmospheric forcing.
Marine sediments from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Project (IODP) Site U1314 (56.36°N, 27.88°W), in the subpolar North Atlantic, were studied for their planktonic foraminifera, calcium carbonate content, and Neogloboqudrina pachyderma sinistral (sin.) δ13C records in order to reconstruct surface and intermediate conditions in this region during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT). Variations in the palaeoceanography and regional dynamics of the Arctic Front were estimated by comparing CaCO3 content, planktonic foraminiferal species abundances, carbon isotopes and ice-rafted debris (IRD) data from Site U1314 with published data from other North Atlantic sites. Site U1314 exhibited high abundances of the polar planktonic foraminifera N. pachyderma sin. and low CaCO3 content until Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 26, indicating a relatively southeastward position of the Arctic Front (AF) and penetration of colder and low-salinity surface arctic water-masses. Changing conditions after MIS 2...
Millennial-scale surface and subsurface paleothermometry from the northeast Atlantic, 55–8 ka BP
2008
We present high-resolution records of upper ocean temperatures derived from Mg/Ca ratios of surfacedwelling Globigerina bulloides and subsurface-dwelling Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral and the relative abundance of N. pachyderma sinistral for the period 55-8 ka BP from NE Atlantic sediment core MD01-2461. Millennial-scale temporal variability and longer-term trends in these records enable us to develop a detailed picture of past ocean conditions such as a weakening of thermocline intensity from marine isotope stage 3 (MIS 3) to the last glacial maximum (LGM). The correspondence of all temperature proxies and convergence of paired oxygen isotope (d 18 O) records from both planktonic species implies a breakdown in the thermocline and year-round mixing of the upper water column through the LGM, perhaps related to decreasing insolation and additional cooling in association with the expansion of the circum-North Atlantic ice sheets. Millennialscale divergence in surface and subsurface temperatures and d 18 O across the last glacial correspond to meltwater release and the development of a strong halocline associated with both Heinrich (H) events and instabilities of the NW European ice sheet. During such episodes, G. bulloides Mg/Ca appears to record ambient, even warming summer sea surface temperatures across H events while the other proxies record maximum cooling.
Paleoceanography, 2012
Early and Mid-Pleistocene climate, ocean hydrography and ice sheet dynamics have been reconstructed using a high-resolution data set (planktonic and benthic d 18 O time series, faunal-based sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions and ice-rafted debris (IRD)) record from a high-deposition-rate sedimentary succession recovered at the Gardar Drift formation in the subpolar North Atlantic (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Leg 306, Site U1314). Our sedimentary record spans from late in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 31 to MIS 19 (1069-779 ka). Different trends of the benthic and planktonic oxygen isotopes, SST and IRD records before and after MIS 25 ($940 ka) evidence the large increase in Northern Hemisphere ice-volume, linked to the cyclicity change from the 41-kyr to the 100-kyr that occurred during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT). Beside longer glacial-interglacial (G-IG) variability, millennial-scale fluctuations were a pervasive feature across our study. Negative excursions in the benthic d 18 O time series observed at the times of IRD events may be related to glacio-eustatic changes due to ice sheets retreats and/or to changes in deep hydrography. Time series analysis on surface water proxies (IRD, SST and planktonic d 18 O) of the interval between MIS 31 to MIS 26 shows that the timing of these millennial-scale climate changes are related to half-precessional (10 kyr) components of the insolation forcing, which are interpreted as cross-equatorial heat transport toward high latitudes during both equinox insolation maxima at the equator.
Early and Mid-Pleistocene climate, ocean hydrography and ice sheet dynamics have been reconstructed using a high-resolution data set (planktonic and benthic d 18 O time series, faunal-based sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions and ice-rafted debris (IRD)) record from a high-deposition-rate sedimentary succession recovered at the Gardar Drift formation in the subpolar North Atlantic (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Leg 306, Site U1314). Our sedimentary record spans from late in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 31 to MIS 19 (1069-779 ka). Different trends of the benthic and planktonic oxygen isotopes, SST and IRD records before and after MIS 25 ($940 ka) evidence the large increase in Northern Hemisphere ice-volume, linked to the cyclicity change from the 41-kyr to the 100-kyr that occurred during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT). Beside longer glacial-interglacial (G-IG) variability, millennial-scale fluctuations were a pervasive feature across our study. Negative excursions in the benthic d 18 O time series observed at the times of IRD events may be related to glacio-eustatic changes due to ice sheets retreats and/or to changes in deep hydrography. Time series analysis on surface water proxies (IRD, SST and planktonic d 18 O) of the interval between MIS 31 to MIS 26 shows that the timing of these millennial-scale climate changes are related to half-precessional (10 kyr) components of the insolation forcing, which are interpreted as cross-equatorial heat transport toward high latitudes during both equinox insolation maxima at the equator.
Holocene evolution of the North Atlantic subsurface transport
Climate of the Past Discussions
Previous studies suggested that short term freshening events in the subpolar gyre can be counterbalanced by interactions with the subtropical gyre and thus stabilize the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). However, little is known about the intergyre transport pathways. Here, we reconstruct surface and subsurface transport between the subtropical and polar North Atlantic during the last 10000 years, by combining new temperature and salinity reconstructions obtained from surface and subsurface dwelling foraminifera with published data from the tropical and subpolar North Atlantic and published foraminiferal abundance data from the subtropical North Atlantic. These observations imply an overall stable warm surface water transport. Subsurface warm water transport started at about 8 ka with subtropical heat storage, and reached its full strength at about 7 ka, probably associated with the onset of the modern AMOC mode. Comparison of different potential forc...
"Surface water conditions at the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1314 (Southern Gardar Drift, 56º 21.8’ N, 27º 53.3’ W, 2820 m depth) were inferred using planktic foraminifer assemblages between Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 19 and 11 (ca. 800–400 ka). Factor analysis of the planktic foraminifer assemblages suggests that the assemblage was controlled by three factors. The first factor (which explained 49% of the variance) is dominated by transitional and subpolar species and points to warm and salty surface water conditions (Atlantic water). The second factor (37%) is dominated by Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sin and has been associated with the presence of cold and low saline surface waters (Arctic water). Finally, the third factor (9%), linked to a significant presence of Turborotalita quinqueloba, reflects the closeness of the Arctic front (the boundary between Atlantic and Arctic water). The position of the Arctic and Polar fronts has been estimated across the glacial-interglacial cycles studied according to planktic foraminifer abundances from Site U1314 (and their factor analysis) combined with a synthesis of planktic foraminifer and diatom data from other North Atlantic sites. Regarding at the migrations of the Arctic front and the surface water masses distribution across each climatic cycle we determined five phases of development. Furthermore, deep ocean circulation changes observed in glacial-interglacial cycles have been associated with each phase. The high abundance of transitional-subpolar foraminifers (above 65% at Site U1314) during the early interglacial phase indicated that the Arctic front position and surface water masses distribution were similar to present conditions. During the late interglacial phase, N. pachyderma sin and T. quinqueloba slightly increased indicating that winter sea ice slightly expanded southwestwards whereas the ice volume remained stable or was still decreasing. N. pachyderma sin increased rapidly (above 65% at Site U1314) at the first phase of glacial periods indicating the expansion of the Arctic waters in the western subpolar North Atlantic. During the second phase of glacial periods the transitional-subpolar assemblage throve again in the central subpolar North Atlantic associated with strong warming events that followed ice-rafting events. The third phase of glacial periods corresponds to full glacial conditions in which N. pachyderma sin dominated the assemblage for the whole subpolar North Atlantic. This division in phases may be applied to the last four climatic cycles."
Marine …, 2003
Two piston cores, DS97-2P from the Reykjanes Ridge in the central North Atlantic Ocean (1685 m water depth) and ENAM33 from southwest of the Faeroe Islands in the NE Atlantic (1217 m water depth), have been investigated for their planktic and benthic foraminiferal content. DS97-2P is situated near the Subarctic Front and productivity measured by accumulation rates of benthic and planktic foraminifera has been generally high during the Holocene. The productivity shows a clear decrease from an early Holocene maximum to a late Holocene minimum. Coeval changes in the benthic faunas indicate that the food supply changed from large, irregular pulses during the early Holocene to a more sustained flux during the late Holocene. Presumably in concert with decreasing bottom current activity oxygen conditions in the bottom water became poorer. Another feature of the late Holocene is an increasing instability of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation regime. Nevertheless, the changes in faunal composition and productivity during the Holocene were gradual as compared to the discontinuous distribution patterns and abrupt productivity shifts during the glacial. The glacial shifts were on a millennial time scale and correlate with the interstadial^stadial phases of the Dansgaard^Oeschger cycles in the Greenland ice cores. The faunas of the warm interstadial phases resembled the Holocene faunas, and both surface and bottom productivity was high. The faunas suggest that the interstadial circulation pattern was very similar to the modern system with convection in the Nordic seas and generation of North Atlantic Deep Water. The planktic faunas during the cold stadials and Heinrich events were completely dominated by the polar species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma s, and surface conditions were cold and the productivity low. The benthic faunas were dominated by species that presently thrive in areas with a low amount of food and reduced oxygen content. The water column was probably stratified with low saline, cold surface water overlying poorly aerated, intermediate water masses. 0377-8398 / 02 / $^see front matter ß 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 3 7 7 -8 3 9 8 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 1 1 5 -9