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Coincident with the intensification of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation (WIG) around 2.73 million years (Ma) ago, sediment cores from both the open subarctic North Pacific and the Antarctic indicate a rapid decline in diatom opal accumulation flux to the seabed, representing one of the most abrupt and dramatic changes in the marine sediment record associated with the development of Pleistocene glacial cycles. In the North Pacific, bulk sediment nitrogen isotope data and alkenone-derived sea surface temperature (SST) estimates suggest that the productivity decline was driven by reduced exchange between surface and deep water, due to weaker wind-driven upwelling and/or a strengthening of the halocline (i.e. "stratification"). In this study of the 2.73 Ma transition at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 882 in the western subarctic North Pacific, diatom-bound nitrogen isotopes (delta N-15(db)), alkenone mass accumulation rate, and alkenone- and archaeal tetraether-based SST reconstructions support the stratification hypothesis, indicating perennially lower export production, generally higher nitrate consumption, and greater inter-seasonal variation in SST after the 2.73 Ma transition. In addition, the delta N-15(db) of large and small size fractions of Coscinodiscus spp. suggest that these diatoms grew mostly during the spring bloom during the late Pliocene, switching to their current fall-to-winter growth period at the 2.73 Ma transition; this view is consistent with their decline in dominance and provides further evidence for increased stratification (reduced vertical exchange) in the North Pacific after 2.73 Ma. The delta N-15(db) data indicate that, over the similar to 100 kyr period after the 2.73 Ma transition studied here, nitrate consumption did not reach late Pleistocene ice age levels and that nitrate consumption in post-2.73 Ma warm stages was similar to that before the transition, even though productivity was greatly reduced. We tentatively attribute this to relatively weak dust-borne iron inputs in the early post-2.73 Ma period.
Here we present orbitally-resolved records of terrestrial higher plant leaf wax input to the North Atlantic over the last 3.5 Ma, based on the accumulation of long-chain n-alkanes and n-alkanl-1-ols at IODP Site U1313. These lipids are a major component of dust, even in remote ocean areas, and have a predominantly aeolian origin in distal marine sediments. Our results demonstrate that around 2.7 million years ago (Ma), coinciding with the intensification of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation (NHG), the aeolian input of terrestrial material to the North Atlantic increased drastically. Since then, during every glacial the aeolian input of higher plant material was up to 30 times higher than during interglacials. The close correspondence between aeolian input to the North Atlantic and other dust records indicates a globally uniform response of dust sources to Quaternary climate variability, although the amplitude of variation differs among areas. We argue that the increased aeolian input at Site U1313 during glacials is predominantly related to the episodic appearance of continental ice sheets in North America and the associated strengthening of glaciogenic dust sources. Evolutional spectral analyses of the n-alkane records were therefore used to determine the dominant astronomical forcing in North American ice sheet advances. These results demonstrate that during the early Pleistocene North American ice sheet dynamics responded predominantly to variations in obliquity (41 ka), which argues against previous suggestions of precession-related variations in Northern Hemisphere ice sheets during the early Pleistocene.
Dust has the potential to modify global climate by influencing the radiative balance of the atmosphere and by supplying iron and other essential limiting micronutrients to the ocean(1,2). Indeed, dust supply to the Southern Ocean increases during ice ages, and 'iron fertilization' of the subantarctic zone may have contributed up to 40 parts per million by volume (p. p. m. v.) of the decrease (80-100 p. p. m. v.) in atmospheric carbon dioxide observed during late Pleistocene glacial cycles(3-7). So far, however, the magnitude of Southern Ocean dust deposition in earlier times and its role in the development and evolution of Pleistocene glacial cycles have remained unclear. Here we report a high-resolution record of dust and iron supply to the Southern Ocean over the past four million years, derived from the analysis of marine sediments from ODP Site 1090, located in the Atlantic sector of the subantarctic zone. The close correspondence of our dust and iron deposition records with Antarctic ice core reconstructions of dust flux covering the past 800,000 years (refs 8, 9) indicates that both of these archives record large-scale deposition changes that should apply to most of the Southern Ocean, validating previous interpretations of the ice core data. The extension of the record beyond the interval covered by the Antarctic ice cores reveals that, in contrast to the relatively gradual intensification of glacial cycles over the past three million years, Southern Ocean dust and iron flux rose sharply at the Mid-Pleistocene climatic transition around 1.25 million years ago. This finding complements previous observations over late Pleistocene glacial cycles(5,8,9), providing new evidence of a tight connection between high dust input to the Southern Ocean and the emergence of the deep glaciations that characterize the past one million years of Earth history.
Interannual rainfall variations in equatorial East Africa are tightly linked to the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with more rain and flooding during El Nino and droughts in La Nina years, both having severe impacts on human habitation and food security. Here we report evidence from an annually laminated lake sediment record from southeastern Kenya for interannual to centennial-scale changes in ENSO-related rainfall variability during the last three millennia and for reductions in both the mean rate and the variability of rainfall in East Africa during the Last Glacial period. Climate model simulations support forward extrapolation from these lake sediment data that future warming will intensify the interannual variability of East Africa's rainfall.
Severely negative Delta(14)C anomalies from the mid-depth Pacific and the Arabian Sea have been taken as support for the hypothesized deglacial release of a previously isolated, extremely (14)C-deplete deep ocean carbon reservoir. We report box model simulations that cast doubt on both the existence of the hypothesized deep reservoir and its ability to explain the mid-depth Delta(14)C anomalies. First, the degree of ice age isolation needed to substantially reduce the deep Delta(14)C of the deep reservoir causes anoxia and the trapping of alkalinity from CaCO(3) dissolution, the latter increasing atmospheric CO(2). Second, even with a completely (14)C-free deep reservoir, achieving the mid-depth Delta(14)C anomalies of observed duration requires ad hoc stifling of aspects of deep circulation to prevent rapid dissipation of the anomalous (14)C-free carbon to the rest of the ocean and the atmosphere. We suggest that the mid-depth anomalies do not record basin-scale Delta(14)C changes but are instead local phenomena.
Hudson Strait (HS) Heinrich Events, ice-rafting events in the North Atlantic originating from the Laurentide ice sheet (LIS), are among the most dramatic examples of millennial-scale climate variability and have a large influence on global climate. However, it is debated as to whether the occurrence of HS Heinrich Events in the (eastern) North Atlantic in the geological record depends on greater ice discharge, or simply from the longer survival of icebergs in cold waters. Using sediments from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1313 in the North Atlantic spanning the period between 960 and 320 ka, we show that sea surface temperatures (SSTs) did not control the first occurrence of HS Heinrich(-like) Events in the sedimentary record. Using mineralogy and organic geochemistry to determine the characteristics of ice-rafting debris (IRD), we detect the first HS Heinrich(-like) Event in our record around 643 ka (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 16), which is similar as previously reported for Site U1308. However, the accompanying high-resolution alkenone-based SST record demonstrates that the first HS Heinrich(-like) Event did not coincide with low SSTs. Thus, the HS Heinrich(-like) Events do indicate enhanced ice discharge from the LIS at the end of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, not simply the survivability of icebergs due to cold conditions in the North Atlantic.
Unraveling the processes responsible for Earth's climate transition from an "El Nino-like state" during the warm early Pliocene into a modern-like "La Nina-dominated state" currently challenges the scientific community. Recently, the Pliocene climate switch has been linked to oceanic thermocline shoaling at similar to 3 million years ago along with Earth's final transition into a bipolar icehouse world. Here we present Pliocene proxy data and climate model results, which suggest an earlier timing of the Pliocene climate switch and a different chain of forcing mechanisms. We show that the increase in North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation between 4.8 and 4.0 million years ago, initiated by the progressive closure of the Central American Seaway, triggered overall shoaling of the tropical thermocline. This preconditioned the turnaround from a warm eastern equatorial Pacific to the modern equatorial cold tongue state about 1 million years earlier than previously assumed. Since similar to 3.6-3.5 million years ago, the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation resulted in a strengthening of the trade winds, thereby amplifying upwelling and biogenic productivity at low latitudes.
Global climate and the atmospheric partial pressure of carbon dioxide (p(CO2atm)) are correlated over recent glacial cycles, with lower p(CO2atm) during ice ages, but the causes of the p(CO2atm) changes are unknown. The modern Southern Ocean releases deeply sequestered CO2 to the atmosphere. Growing evidence suggests that the Southern Ocean CO2 'leak' was stemmed during ice ages, increasing ocean CO2 storage. Such a change would also have made the global ocean more alkaline, driving additional ocean CO2 uptake. This explanation for lower ice-age p(CO2atm), if correct, has much to teach us about the controls on current ocean processes.
In piston cores from the open subarctic Pacific and the Okhotsk Sea, diatom-bound delta N-15 (delta N-15(db)), biogenic opal, calcium carbonate, and barium were measured from coretop to the previous glacial maximum (MIS 6). Glacial intervals are generally characterized by high delta N-15(db) (similar to 8 parts per thousand) and low productivity, whereas interglacial intervals have a lower delta N-15(db) (5.7-6.3 parts per thousand) and indicate high biogenic productivity. These data extend the regional swath of evidence for nearly complete surface nutrient utilization during glacial maxima, consistent with stronger upper water column stratification throughout the subarctic region during colder intervals. An early deglacial decline in delta N-15(db) of 2 parts per thousand at similar to 17.5 ka, previously observed in the Bering Sea, is found here in the open subarctic Pacific record and arguably also in the Okhotsk, and a case can be made that a similar decrease in delta N-15(db) occurred in both regions at the previous deglaciation as well. The early deglacial delta N-15(db) decrease, best explained by a decrease in surface nutrient utilization, appears synchronous with southern hemisphere-associated deglacial changes and with the Heinrich 1 event in the North Atlantic. This delta N-15(db) decrease may signal the initial deglacial weakening in subarctic North Pacific stratification and/or a deglacial increase in shallow subsurface nitrate concentration. If the former, it would be the North Pacific analogue to the increase in vertical exchange inferred for the Southern Ocean at the time of Heinrich Event 1. In either case, the lack of any clear change in paleoproductivity proxies during this interval would seem to require an early deglacial decrease in the iron-to-nitrate ratio of subsurface nutrient supply or the predominance of light limitation of phytoplankton growth during the deglaciation prior to Bolling-Allerod warming.
To calibrate delta O-18 time-series from speleothems in the eastern Indian summer monsoon (ISM) region of India, and to understand the moisture regime over the northern Bay of Bengal (BoB) we analyze the delta O-18 and delta D of rainwater, collected in 2007 and 2008 near Cherrapunji, India. delta D values range from + 18.5 parts per thousand to 144.4 parts per thousand, while delta O-18 varies between +0.8 parts per thousand and 18.8 parts per thousand. The Local Meteoric Water Line (LMWL) is found to be indistinguishable from the Global Meteoric Water Line (GMWL). Late ISM (September-October) rainfall exhibits lowest delta O-18 and delta D values, with little relationship to the local precipitation amount. There is a trend to lighter isotope values over the course of the ISM, but it does not correlate with the patterns of temperature and rainfall amount delta O-18 and delta D time-series have to be interpreted with caution in terms of the 'amount effect' in this subtropical region. We find that the temporal trend in delta O-18 reflects increasing transport distance during the ISM, isotopic changes in the northern BoB surface waters during late ISM, and vapor re-equilibration with rain droplets. Using an isotope box model for surface ocean waters, we quantify the potential influence of river runoff on the isotopic composition of the seasonal freshwater plume in the northern BoB. Temporal variations in this source can contribute up to 25% of the observed changes in stable isotopes of precipitation in NE India. To delineate other moisture sources, we use backward trajectory computations and find a strong correlation between source region and isotopic composition. Palaeoclimatic stable isotope time-series from northeast Indian speleothems likely reflect changes in moisture source and transport pathway, as well as the isotopic composition of the BoB surface water, all of which in turn reflect ISM strength. Stalagmite records from the region can therefore be interpreted as integrated measures of the ISM strength.