ALBERT

Description: Explanations of the Classic Maya civilization demise on the Yucatán Peninsula during the Terminal Classic Period (TCP; ~CE 750-1050) are controversial. Multiyear droughts are one likely cause, but the role of the Caribbean Sea, the dominant moisture source for Mesoamerica, remains largely unknown. Here we present bimonthly-resolved snapshots of reconstructed sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity (SSS) variability in the southern Caribbean from precisely dated fossil corals. The results indicate pronounced interannual to decadal SST and SSS variability during the TCP, which may be temporally coherent to precipitation anomalies on the Yucatán. Our results are best explained by changed Caribbean SST gradients affecting the Caribbean low-level atmospheric jet with consequences for Mesoamerican precipitation, which are possibly linked to changes in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation strength. Our findings provide a new perspective on the anomalous hydrological changes during the TCP that complement the oft-suggested southward displacement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. We advocate for a strong role of Caribbean SST and SSS condition changes and related ocean-atmosphere interactions that notably influenced the propagation and transport of precipitation to the Yucatán Peninsula during the TCP.

Description: High-resolution multi-proxy records from two lakes on the southern Tibetan Plateau, Nam Co and Tangra Yumco, are used to infer long-term variations in the Asian monsoon system. We examine the moisture evolution during the Late Glacial Maximum and Holocene using the trace element and stable isotope composition of ostracod shells. The sediment records covering the past 24 cal. ka BP and 18 cal. ka BP, respectively, demonstrate the suitability of ostracod shell chemistry as paleoenvironmental proxy. We analysed (i) Mg/Ca, Ba/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios as salinity proxies, (ii) Fe/Ca, Mn/Ca and U/Ca ratios representing redox conditions and microbial activity, and (iii) rare earth elements (REEs) reflecting weathering and changes in provenance.

Description: Within the last decade, the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) and its surroundings have experienced record high surface temperatures (Mote, 2007, doi:10.1029/2007GL031976; Box et al., 2010), ice sheet melt extent (Fettweis et al., 2011, doi:10.5194/tc-5-359-2011) and record-low summer sea-ice extent (Nghiem et al., 2007, doi:10.1029/2007GL031138). Using three independent data sets, we derive, for the first time, consistent ice-mass trends and temporal variations within seven major drainage basins from gravity fields from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE; Tapley et al., 2004, doi:10.1029/2004GL019920), surface-ice velocities from Inteferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR; Rignot and Kanagaratnam, 2006, doi:10.1126/science.1121381) together with output of the regional atmospheric climate modelling (RACMO2/ GR; Ettema et al., 2009, doi:10.1029/2009GL038110), and surface-elevation changes from the Ice, cloud and land elevation satellite (ICESat; Sorensen et al., 2011, doi:10.5194/tc-5-173-2011). We show that changing ice discharge (D), surface melting and subsequent run-off (M/R) and precipitation (P) all contribute, in a complex and regionally variable interplay, to the increasingly negative mass balance of the GrIS observed within the last decade. Interannual variability in P along the northwest and west coasts of the GrIS largely explains the apparent regional mass loss increase during 2002-2010, and obscures increasing M/R and D since the 1990s. In winter 2002/2003 and 2008/2009, accumulation anomalies in the east and southeast temporarily outweighed the losses by M/R and D that prevailed during 2003-2008, and after summer 2010. Overall, for all basins of the GrIS, the decadal variability of anomalies in P, M/R and D between 1958 and 2010 (w.r.t. 1961-1990) was significantly exceeded by the regional trends observed during the GRACE period (2002-2011).

Description: This dataset presents benthic foraminiferal δ¹⁸O chronostratigraphies for International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1541, Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1090 and ODP Site 980-981 based on different tuning targets including LR04 (Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005), LR09 (Lisiecki and Raymo, 2009), CENOGRID (Westerhold et al., 2020) and Probstack (Ahn et al., 2017) obtained by Middleton et al. (2024). The benthic foraminiferal δ¹⁸O record for IODP Site U1541 (54°13'S, 125°25'W) recently recovered from the central South Pacific on IODP Expedition 383 (Winckler et al., 2021) is shown for the first time and is published in Middleton et al. (2024). All data records are based on Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi and Cibicides kullenbergi, or combinations thereof. The dataset provides the basis for investigating and discussing the uncertainties of benthic foraminiferal δ¹⁸O stratigraphies for conventional manual and automated tuning techniques and evaluate their impact on sedimentary age models over the past 3.5 Myr (Middleton et al., 2024).

Description: In July 2022 within the framework of an Alfred-Wegener-Institute-managed expedition and the Nunataryuk project, sediment cores were taken at three locations, off the coast of Herschel Island, Canada, using a hand corer: YC22_MR_6: 69°34'23.12N, 138°54'37.76W; 3 m water depth; July 6th 2022 YC22_MR_7: 69°34'23.53N, 138°56'37.66W, 6 m water depth; July 7th 2022 YC22_MR_8: 69°30'22.75''N, 138°53'21.69''W; 45 m water depth; July 24th 2022 Data sets were obtained to investigate carbon feedback from the sediments to the water column and atmosphere, using DIC concentrations and isotopic values. The local sediments are supplied primarily by organic carbon previously stored in adjacent permafrost soils (biomarker and bulk data), which erode and redeposit quickly (age model) on the ocean floor. The acquired data includes: 1) Sediment data: Bulk total organic carbon content (Lamping et al., 2021) and its isotopic values for 13C (Brodie et al., 2011; Werner & Brand, 2001) and 14C (Mollenhauer et al., 2021) and Biomarker data: Quantifying alkanes (CPI) , and fatty acids (TAR ratio) as described by Wei et al. (2020), Glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs basis for BIT-Index) after Hopmans et al. (2016), Hopanes (fßß) following instructions by Meyer et al., (2019), and Sterols (Dinosterol) after Dauner et al. (2022). 2) Porewater was extracted from the cores using rhizomes and quantified as described in Oni et al., (2015). Dissolved inorganic carbon isotope signatures were determined as CO2 for 13C (Torres et al., 2005) and 14C (Mollenhauer et al., 2021). 3) Intact polar lipid fatty acids were extracted from the sediments, purified, and 14C analysis was performed as described in Ruben et al. (2023). The 13C isotopy was determined with GC-IRMS (Elvert et al., 2003). The respective precursor lipids of the polar fraction used for isotope analysis were quantified following the method described in Wörmer et al. (2013). Datasets are to be found at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.966262 and doi:/10.1594/PANGAEA.966264. 4) Sedimentary age model of core YC22_MR_7 assuming constant rate of supply (CRS) model (Appleby, 2001), based on data obtained with a HPGe gamma detector.

Description: We present results of Th/U dating, stable isotope and trace element data from a speleothem from Puerto Rico. Th/U dating was performed using isotope dilution MC-ICPMS. Activity ratios were corrected for initial Th assuming an detrital weight ratio 232Th/238U = 0.154 ± 0.038 (corresponding to an activity ratio of the detritus in secular equilibrium of (230Th/232Th)detr = 19.79 ± 4.93), and secular equilibrium of the detritus. Ages are calculated using the decay constants by Cheng et al. (2000)). Uncertainties are given as 2σ- range, and do not include half-life uncertainties. Th/U dating shows that stalagmite PR-LA-1 covers the period from 15.4 to 46.2 ka with a growth interruption between 35.5 and 41.1 ka. Stable isotope samples were drilled with a spatial resolution of 1 mm and measured using an IRMS equipped with a Gasbench. Element/Calcium ratios of the speleothem were measured by laser ablation ICPMS and were reduced to the resolution of the stable isotope records.

Description: Here we present 230Th/U, 231Pa/U as well as 226Ra/230Th isotope ratios from five fossil reef corals of Last Interglacial origin from the Gulf of Aqaba, Northern Red Sea. The results show clear evidence for open-system behaviour with strongly elevated δ234U values and U concentrations indicating post-depositional U addition. The combined application of all isotope systems enables us to better constrain the nature and timing of the open-system processes than only based on the 230Th/U data. Quantitative modelling of the diagenetic processes allowed us to reproduce the trends in the isotope ratios. Two of the five corals were probably affected by two separate phases of U addition with different δ234U values. The trends observed for two other corals can be explained by U addition followed by U loss. The fifth coral shows signs of both U gain and loss at the same time in the more recent past. The timing of the diagenetic processes is remarkably similar for the five corals and can be constrained to approx. 1 and 6 thousand years (ka) and 100 and 102 ka after coral growth, respectively. Based on the modelling results, we suggest that conventional 231Pa/230Th ages provide the best estimate for the true age of four of the five corals, which range from 109.1 to 114.1 ka. This implies a late Last Interglacial time of deposition. For the fifth coral, the most reliable age estimate is the conventional 230Th/U age of one of the subsamples (117.3 ka), based on a concordia diagram for all subsamples. The timing of the modelled open-system processes suggests that the early event of U addition was associated with interaction of the corals with 234U-enriched seawater or saline groundwater. The later open-system event can be described as U redistribution within the coral reef, since some corals apparently lost U while others gained U. The timing of the second event is broadly consistent with the Bølling-Allerød interstadial, which was probably characterised by enhanced wetness in this typically hyper-arid region.

Description: Although sea-ice extent in the Bellingshausen-Amundsen (BA) seas sector of the Antarctic has shown significant decline over several decades, there is not enough data to draw any conclusion on sea-ice thickness and its change for the BA sector, or for the entire Southern Ocean. This paper presents our results of snow and ice thickness distributions from the SIMBA 2007 experiment in the Bellingshausen Sea, using four different methods (ASPeCt ship observations, downward-looking camera imaging, ship-based electromagnetic induction (EM) sounding, and in situ measurements using ice drills). A snow freeboard and ice thickness model generated from in situ measurements was then applied to contemporaneous ICESat (satellite laser altimetry) measured freeboard to derive ice thickness at the ICESat footprint scale. Errors from in situ measurements and from ICESat freeboard estimations were incorporated into the model, so a thorough evaluation of the model and uncertainty of the ice thickness estimation from ICESat are possible. Our results indicate that ICESat derived snow freeboard and ice thickness distributions (asymmetrical unimodal tailing to right) for first-year ice (0.29 ± 0.14 m for mean snow freeboard and 1.06 ± 0.40 m for mean ice thickness), multi-year ice (0.48 ± 0.26 and 1.59 ± 0.75 m, respectively), and all ice together (0.42 ± 0.24 and 1.38 ± 0.70 m, respectively) for the study area seem reasonable compared with those values from the in situ measurements, ASPeCt observations, and EM measurements. The EM measurements can act as an appropriate supplement for ASPeCt observations taken hourly from the ship's bridge and provide reasonable ice and snow distributions under homogeneous ice conditions. Our proposed approaches: (1) of using empirical equations relating snow freeboard to ice thickness based on in situ measurements and (2) of using isostatic equations that replace snow depth with snow freeboard (or empirical equations that convert freeboard to snow depth), are efficient and important ways to derive ice thickness from ICESat altimetry at the footprint scale for Antarctic sea ice. Spatial and temporal snow and ice thickness from satellite altimetry for the BA sector and for the entire Southern Ocean is therefore possible.

Description: We compared the suitability of two skeletal materials of the Atlantic brain coral Diploria strigosa for 230Th/U-dating: the commonly used bulk material comprising all skeletal elements and the denser theca wall material. Eight fossil corals of presumably Last Interglacial age from Bonaire, southern Caribbean Sea, were investigated, and several sub-samples were dated from each coral. For four corals, both the ages and the activity ratios of the bulk material and theca wall agree within uncertainty. Three corals show significantly older ages for their bulk material than for their theca wall material as well as substantially elevated 232Th content and (230Th/238U) ratios. The bulk material samples of another coral show younger ages and lower (230Th/238U) ratios than the corresponding theca wall samples. This coral also contains a considerable amount of 232Th. The application of the available open-system models developed to account for post-depositional diagenetic effects in corals shows that none of the models can successfully be applied to the Bonaire corals. The most likely explanation for this observation is that the assumptions of the models are not fulfilled by our data set. Comparison of the theca wall and bulk material data enables us to obtain information about the open-system processes that affected the corals. The corals showing apparently older ages for their bulk material were probably affected by contamination with a secondary (detrital) phase. The most likely source of the detrital material is carbonate sand. The higher (230Th/232Th) ratio of this material implies that detrital contamination would have a much stronger impact on the ages than a contaminant with a bulk Earth (230Th/232Th) ratio and that the threshold for the commonly applied 232Th reliability criterion would be much lower than the generally used value of 1 ng g^-1. The coral showing apparently younger ages for its bulk material was probably influenced by more than one diagenetic process. A potential scenario is a combination of detrital contamination and U addition by secondary pore infillings. Our results show that the dense theca wall material of D. strigosa is generally less affected by post-depositional open-system behaviour and better suited for 230Th/U-dating than the bulk material. This is also obvious from the fact that all ages of theca wall material reflect a Last Interglacial origin (~125 ka), whereas the bulk material samples are either substantially older or younger. However, for some corals, the 230Th/U-ages and activity ratios of the bulk material and the theca wall samples are similar. This shows that strictly reliable 230Th/U-ages can also be obtained from bulk material samples of exceptionally well-preserved corals. However, the bulk material samples more frequently show elevated activity ratios and ages than the corresponding theca wall samples. Our findings should be generally applicable to brain corals (Mussidae) that are found in tropical oceans worldwide and may enable reliable 230Th/U-dating of fossil corals with similar skeletal architecture, even if their bulk skeleton is altered by diagenesis. The 230Th/U-ages we consider reliable (120–130 ka), along with a recently published age of 118 ka, provide the first comprehensive dating of the elevated lower reef terrace at Bonaire (118–130 ka), which is in agreement in timing and duration with other Last Interglacial records.

Description: Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) occur within drylands throughout the world, covering ~12% of the global terrestrial soil surface. Their occurrence in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula has rarely been reported and their spatial distribution, diversity, and microbial composition remained largely unexplored. We investigated biocrusts at six different locations in the coastal and central deserts of Oman. The biocrust types were characterized, and the bacterial and fungal community compositions of biocrusts and uncrusted soils were analysed by amplicon sequencing. For each sample two different libraries were prepared: one for the V3V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene (bacteria), and the other for the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1; fungi). Sequences were processed in R using dada2. The code for sequence processing as well as statistical analysis, final OTU and taxonomy tables were archived on PANGAEA alongside the environmental information.