Millennial-scale surface and subsurface paleothermometry from the northeast Atlantic, 55–8 ka BP (original) (raw)
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Millennial-scale climate variability in the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean during the late Pliocene
Paleoceanography, 2010
1] Large-amplitude millennial-scale climate oscillations have been identified in late Pleistocene climate archives from around the world. These oscillations appear to be of larger amplitude during times of enlarged ice sheets. This observation suggests the existence of a relationship between large-amplitude millennial variations in climate and extreme glacial conditions and therefore that the emergence of millennial-scale climate variability may be linked to the Pliocene intensification of northern hemisphere glaciation (iNHG). Here we test this hypothesis using new late Pliocene high-resolution (∼400 year) records of ice-rafted debris deposition and stable isotopes in planktic foraminiferal calcite (Globigerinoides ruber) generated from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1313 in the subpolar North Atlantic (a reoccupation of the classic Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 607). Our records span marine oxygen isotope stages (MIS) 103-95 (∼2600 to 2400 ka), the first interval during iNHG (∼3.5 to 2.5 Ma) in which large-amplitude glacial-interglacial cycles and inferred sea level changes occur. Our records reveal small-amplitude variability at periodicities of ∼1.8 to 6.2 kyr that prevails regardless of (inter)glacial state with no significant amplification during the glacials MIS 100, 98, and 96. These findings imply that the threshold for the amplification of such variability to the proportions seen in the marine archive of the last glacial was not crossed during the late Pliocene and, in view of all available data, likely not until the Mid-Pleistocene Transition.
Paleoceanography, 1995
Eight time slices of surface-water paleoceanography were reconstructed from stable isotope and paleotemperature data to evaluate late Quaternary changes in density, current directions, and sea-ice cover in the Nordic Seas and NE Atlantic. We used isotopic records from 110 deep-sea cores, 20 of which are accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)-14C dated and 30 of which have high (>8 cm/kyr) sedimentation rates, enabling a resolution of about 120 years. Paleotemperature estimates are based on species counts of planktonic foraminifera in 18 cores. The •5180 and •513C distributions depict three main modes of surface circulation: (1) The Holocene-style interglacial mode which largely persisted over the last 12.8 •4C ka, and probably during large parts of stage 3. (2) The peak glacial mode showing a cyclonic gyre in the, at least, seasonally ice-free Nordic Seas and a meltwater lens west of Ireland. Based on geostrophic forcing, it possibly turned clockwise, blocked the S-N flow across the eastern Iceland-Shetland ridge, and enhanced the Irminger current around west Iceland. It remains unclear whether surface-water density was sufficient for deepwater formation west of Norway. (3) A meltwater regime culminating during early glacial Termination I, when a great meltwater lens off northern Norway probably induced a clockwise circulation reaching south up to Faeroe, the northward inflow of Irminger Current water dominated the Icelandic Sea, and deepwater convection was stopped. In contrast to circulation modes two and three, the Holocene-style circulation mode appears most stable, even unaffected by major meltwater pools originating from the Scandinavian ice sheet, such as during •80 event 3.1 and the B611ing. Meltwater phases markedly influenced the European continental climate by suppressing the "heat pump" of the Atlantic salinity conveyor belt. During the peak glacial, melting icebergs blocked the eastward advection of warm surface water toward Great Britain, thus accelerating buildup of the great European ice sheets; in the early deglacial, meltwater probably induced a southward flow of cold water along Norway, which led to the Oldest Dryas cold spell. Introduction The circulation regime in the Nordic Seas has a strong impact on the climate of the adjacent continents. Today, the warm waters of the North Atlantic Drift, the Irminger Current, Paper number 95PA01453. 0883-8305/95/95PA-01453 $10.00
Subsurface water column dynamics in the subpolar North Atlantic were reconstructed in order to improve the understanding of the cause of abrupt IRD events during cold periods of the Early Pleistocene. We used Mg / Ca-based temperatures of deep-dwelling (Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral) planktonic foraminifera and paired Mg / Caδ 18 O measurements to estimate the subsurface temperatures and δ 18 O of seawater at Site U1314. Carbon isotopes on benthic and planktonic foraminifera from the same site provide information about the ventilation and water column nutrient gradient. Mg / Ca-based temperatures and δ 18 O of seawater suggest increased temperatures and salinities during ice-rafting, likely due to enhanced northward subsurface transport of subtropical waters during periods of AMOC reduction. Planktonic carbon isotopes support this suggestion, showing coincident increased subsurface ventilation during deposition of ice-rafted detritus (IRD). Warm waters accumulated at subsurface would result in basal warming and break-up of ice-shelves, leading to massive iceberg discharges in the North Atlantic. Release of heat and salt stored at subsurface would help to restart the AMOC. This mechanism is in agreement with modelling and proxy studies that observe a subsurface warming in the North Atlantic in response to AMOC slowdown during the MIS3.
2006
Marine sediment core MDO1-2461 recovered from the European Margin, SW of Ireland (51 45' N, 12 55' W) at a water depth of 1153m provides material for multi-decadal to centennial scale investigation into ice-ocean-climate variability during the period 60 to 8 kyrs BP. Particular focus is placed on the oceanic and climatic conditions under which periodic collapse of the North American Laurentide ice sheet (LIS) occurred, so called Heinrich (H) events, and the involvement of the NW European ice sheets (NWEIS) within episodes of abrupt climate change. Presented here are records of circum-North Atlantic ice sheet growth, dynamics and decline from lithological and geochemical analysis of ice-rafted debris. Paired Mg/Ca and 8180 data from the surface dwelling Globigerina bulloides and subsurface dwelling Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral are used to determine late-glacial variability of temperature, salinity and stratification of the upper water column, and benthic 813C records...
2011
In order to monitor the evolution of the British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) and its influence in surface ocean structure during marine isotopic stages (MIS) 2 and 3, we have analyzed the sediments recovered in core MD04-2829CQ (Rosemary Bank, north Rockall Trough, northeast Atlantic) dated between ∼41 and ∼18 ka B.P. Ice-rafted debris flux and composition, 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages of individual hornblende grains, multispecies planktonic stable isotope records, planktonic foraminifera assemblage data and faunal-based sea surface temperatures (SSTs) demonstrate a close interaction between BIIS dynamics and surface ocean structure and water properties in this region. The core location lies beneath the North Atlantic Current (NAC) and is ideal for monitoring the shifts in the position of its associated oceanic fronts, as recorded by faunal changes. These data reveal a succession of BIIS-sourced iceberg calving events related to low SST, usually synchronous with dramatic changes in the composition of the planktonic foraminifera assemblage and with variations in the stable isotope records of the taxa Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral coiling) and Globigerina bulloides. The pacing of the calving events, from typically Dansgaard-Oeschger millennial timescales during late MIS 3 to multicentennial cyclicity from ∼28 ka B.P., represents the build-up of the BIIS and its growing instability toward Heinrich Event (HE) 2 and the Last Glacial Maximum. Our data confirm the strong coupling between BIIS instabilities and the temperature and salinity of surface waters in the adjacent northeast Atlantic and demonstrate the BIIS's ability to modify the NAC on its flow toward the Nordic Seas. In contrast, subsurface water masses were less affected except during the Greenland stadials that contain HEs, when most intense water column reorganizations occurred simultaneously with the deposition of cream-colored carbonate sourced from the Laurentide Ice Sheet.
North Atlantic Deepwater Temperature Change During Late Pliocene and Late Quaternary Climatic Cycles
Science, 1995
Variations in the ratio of magnesium to calcium (Mg/Ca) in fossil ostracodes from Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 607 in the deep North Atlantic show that the change in bottom water temperature during late Pliocene 41,000-year obliquity cycles averaged 1.5^circC between 3.2 and 2.8 million years ago (Ma) and increased to 2.3^circC between 2.8 and 2.3 Ma, coincidentally with the intensification of Northern Hemisphere giaciation. During the last two 100,000-year glacial-to-interglacial climatic cycles of the Quaternary, bottom water temperatures changed by 4.5^circC. These results show that glacial deepwater cooling has intensified since 3.2 Ma, most likely as the result of progressively diminished deepwater production in the North Atlantic and of the greater influence of Antarctic bottom water in the North Atlantic during glacial periods. The ostracode Mg/Ca data also allow the direct determination of the temperature component of the benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotope record from Site 607, as well as derivation of a hypothetical sea-level curve for the late Pliocene and late Quaternary. The effects of dissolution on the Mg/Ca ratios of ostracode shells appear to have been minimal.
Surface temperatures of the Mid-Pliocene North Atlantic Ocean: implications for future climate
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 2009
The Mid-Pliocene is the most recent interval in the Earth's history to have experienced warming of the magnitude predicted for the second half of the twenty-first century and is, therefore, a possible analogue for future climate conditions. With continents basically in their current positions and atmospheric CO 2 similar to early twenty-first century values, the cause of Mid-Pliocene warmth remains elusive. Understanding the behaviour of the North Atlantic Ocean during the Mid-Pliocene is integral to evaluating future climate scenarios owing to its role in deep water formation and its sensitivity to climate change. Under the framework of the Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) sea surface reconstruction, we synthesize Mid-Pliocene North Atlantic studies by PRISM members and others, describing each region of the North Atlantic in terms of palaeoceanography. We then relate Mid-Pliocene sea surface conditions to expectations of future warming. The results...
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2002
We review the various methods which have been applied to estimate the change of seawater d 18 O (dw) between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the Holocene. The most accurate constraints on these estimates are provided by the measurement of pore waters d 18 O and by high resolution records of benthic foraminifer d 18 O in the high latitude oceans of both hemispheres. They show that the d 18 O of seawater in the deep ocean during the LGM was 1.0570.20% heavier than today, with significant regional variations. Constraints resulting from ice sheet models are less accurate, because both the volume and isotopic composition of each ice sheet are still poorly known. The amplitude of the benthic d 18 O change between the LGM and the Holocene, together with the d 18 O and d 13 C values of the benthic foraminifera genus Cibicides during the LGM, show that the Southern Ocean deep waters were extremely cold, close to the freezing point. During this time, deep waters of the South Atlantic and the Pacific oceans were at least 1.31C warmer than those of the Southern Ocean. Overall, the glacial deep ocean, below 2500 m, was characterized by extremely cold temperatures, everywhere lower than 01C. d 18 O values of benthic foraminifer from the North Atlantic are highly variable. This variability suggests that deep Atlantic waters were not homogeneous, probably because they resulted from the sinking of different surface water masses at various locations during winter. The deep waters in the North Atlantic were at most 21C warmer than in Southern Ocean. Alternatively, they could have been nearer the freezing point with a d 18 O value lighter than the mean ocean water. Brine formation during winter would preserve such light d 18 O values of the northern North Atlantic surface water.
1995
Eight time slices of surface-water paleoceanography were reconstructed from stable isotope and paleotemperature data to evaluate late Quaternary changes in density, current directions, and sea-ice cover in the Nordic Seas and NE Atlantic. We used isotopic records from 110 deep-sea cores, 20 of which are accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)-14C dated and 30 of which have high (>8 cm/kyr) sedimentation rates, enabling a resolution of about 120 years. Paleotemperature estimates are based on species counts of planktonic foraminifera in 18 cores. The •5180 and •513C distributions depict three main modes of surface circulation: (1) The Holocene-style interglacial mode which largely persisted over the last 12.8 •4C ka, and probably during large parts of stage 3. (2) The peak glacial mode showing a cyclonic gyre in the, at least, seasonally ice-free Nordic Seas and a meltwater lens west of Ireland. Based on geostrophic forcing, it possibly turned clockwise, blocked the S-N flow across the eastern Iceland-Shetland ridge, and enhanced the Irminger current around west Iceland. It remains unclear whether surface-water density was sufficient for deepwater formation west of Norway. (3) A meltwater regime culminating during early glacial Termination I, when a great meltwater lens off northern Norway probably induced a clockwise circulation reaching south up to Faeroe, the northward inflow of Irminger Current water dominated the Icelandic Sea, and deepwater convection was stopped. In contrast to circulation modes two and three, the Holocene-style circulation mode appears most stable, even unaffected by major meltwater pools originating from the Scandinavian ice sheet, such as during •80 event 3.1 and the B611ing. Meltwater phases markedly influenced the European continental climate by suppressing the "heat pump" of the Atlantic salinity conveyor belt. During the peak glacial, melting icebergs blocked the eastward advection of warm surface water toward Great Britain, thus accelerating buildup of the great European ice sheets; in the early deglacial, meltwater probably induced a southward flow of cold water along Norway, which led to the Oldest Dryas cold spell. Introduction The circulation regime in the Nordic Seas has a strong impact on the climate of the adjacent continents. Today, the warm waters of the North Atlantic Drift, the Irminger Current, Paper number 95PA01453. 0883-8305/95/95PA-01453 $10.00