ALBERT

Description: Cold-water corals (CWCs) constitute important deep-water ecosystems that are under increasing environmental pressure due to ocean acidification and global warming. The sensitivity of these deep-water ecosystems to environmental change is demonstrated by abundant paleorecords drilled through CWC mounds that reveal characteristic alterations between rapid formation and dormant or erosive phases. Previous studies have identified several central parameters for driving or inhibiting CWC growth such as food supply, oxygenation, and the carbon saturation state of bottom water, yet there are still large uncertainties about the relative importance of the different environmental parameters. To advance this debate we have performed a multiproxy study on a sediment core retrieved from the 25 m high Bowie Mound, located at 866 m water depth on the continental slope off southeastern Brazil, a structure built up mainly by the CWC Solenosmilia variabilis. Our results indicate a multifactorial control on CWC growth at Bowie Mound during the past ∼ 160 kyr, which reveals distinct formation pulses during northern high-latitude glacial cold events (Heinrich stadials, HSs) largely associated with anomalously strong monsoonal rainfall over the continent. The ensuing enhanced runoff elevated the terrigenous nutrient and organic-matter supply to the continental margin and likely boosted marine productivity. The dispersal of food particles towards the CWC colonies during HSs was facilitated by the highly dynamic hydraulic conditions along the continental slope that prevailed throughout glacial periods. These conditions caused the emplacement of a pronounced nepheloid layer above Bowie Mound, thereby aiding the concentration and along-slope dispersal of organic matter. Our study thus emphasizes the impact of continental climate variability on a highly vulnerable deep-marine ecosystem.

Description: Highlights • Prominent North Atlantic sea surface cooling and freshening of ~3.5 °C and ~0.7‰ during ~3.65–3.5 Ma. • Surface cooling and freshening inline with a decrease of benthic δ13C records from South Atlantic Ocean sites. • Surface cooling and freshening at the same time as sea ice extension in the Arctic Ocean. Abstract The North Atlantic Current (NAC) as part of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is the major supplier of heat into the northern North Atlantic. Pliocene changes of AMOC strength were speculated to either have amplified or diminished the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation (NHG) 2.7 million years ago (Ma). However, from the North Atlantic, little evidence is known about AMOC changes at around 3.6 Ma. At this time the intensification of NHG started and culminated in the first major glacial M2 event at 3.3 Ma. To elaborate the climatic effects of variations in the NAC during this early stage of NHG, we here present millennial-scale resolved records from Deep Sea Drilling (DSDP) Site 610A in the northern North Atlantic. Our data of planktic foraminiferal Mg/Ca-based sea surface temperatures (SSTMg/Ca) and ice volume corrected salinity approximations (δ18OIVC-seawater) span the critical time period 4–3.3 Ma. From 3.65 to 3.5 Ma, we observe a distinct ~3.5 °C cooling and ~0.7‰ freshening of the sea surface, which we interpret to reflect a weakened NAC. At the same time Arctic sea ice grew and benthic δ13C in the South Atlantic suggest a weakened AMOC. We conclude that the weakened NAC in response to a sluggish AMOC fostered sea ice formation in the Arctic Ocean and high-latitude North Atlantic, which might have preconditioned the climate for subsequent continental glaciations.

Description: Despite its great ecological importance, the main factors governing tree cover in tropical savannas as well as savanna-forest boundaries are still largely unknown. Here we address this issue by investigating marine sediment records of long-chain n-alkane stable carbon (δ13Cwax) and hydrogen (δDwax) isotopes from a core collected off eastern tropical South America spanning the last ca. 45 thousand years. While δ13Cwax is a proxy for the main photosynthetic pathway of terrestrial vegetation, tracking the relative proportion of C3 (mainly trees) versus C4 (mainly grasses) plants, δDwax is a proxy for continental precipitation, tracking the intensity of rainfall. The investigated core was collected off the mouth of the São Francisco River drainage basin, a tropical savanna-dominated region with dry austral autumn, winter and spring. On top of millennial-scale changes, driven by anomalies in the amount of precipitation associated with Heinrich Stadials, we identify a marked obliquity control over the expansion and contraction of tree and grass cover. During periods of maximum (minimum) obliquity, trees (grasses) reached maximum coverage. We suggest that maximum (minimum) obliquity decreased (increased) the length of the dry season allowing (hampering) the expansion of tree-dominated vegetation. Periods of maximum obliquity induced an anomalous heating (cooling) of the summer (winter) hemisphere that in combination with a delayed response of the climate system slightly increased autumn precipitation over the São Francisco River drainage basin, through a shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone towards or further into the anomalously heated hemisphere. We found that atmospheric CO2 concentration has only a secondary effect on tree cover. Our results underline the importance of the dry season length as a governing factor in the long-term control of tree cover in tropical landscapes.

Description: Highlights • Tobago Basin subsurface temperature and salinity records from ~37 to 30 ka BP. • Cumulative tropical Atlantic upper ocean-atmosphere interactions crucial to functioning of North Brazil Current and Subtropical Gyre. • Rapid re-organizations of the tropical Atlantic upper ocean-atmosphere system at ~32.8 ka BP and ~ 21.8 ka BP. • Thresholds for southward dispersal of Salinity Maximum Water not set during the glacial time period of abrupt climate fluctuations. Abstract Ocean-atmosphere simulations corroborate the relationship between tropical Atlantic subsurface heat and salt storage driven by Salinity Maximum Water (SMW) and deglacial perturbations of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Whether AMOC variability of the last glacial cycle affected SMW export into the tropical West Atlantic remained yet elusive. In order to assess the sensitivity of the tropical hydrography during abrupt and rapid glacial climatic and oceanic perturbations, we present century-resolving foraminifera-based subsurface (~200 m water depth) temperature and salinity reconstructions from Tobago Basin core M78/1–235-1. The proxy records were interpreted in terms of the closely related development of the North Brazil Current (NBC) and the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre (STG) from ~37 to 30 ka BP, and in relation to their deglacial developments. Prior to ~32.8 ka BP, the cyclic variations in subsurface conditions were attributed to the NBC, which acted in line with a recurrent intensification and relaxation of the trade winds, subtle migrations of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, and the related moisture transport across Central America. Major and rapid re-organizations of the tropical Atlantic upper ocean-atmosphere system took place at ~32.8 ka BP and ~ 21.8 ka BP, unmirrored by major AMOC changes. Thresholds for sufficient heat and salinity accumulation in the STG to allow for formation and intensified subsurface dispersal of SMW were not achieved before late HS1, when AMOC weakening, according tropical heat backlog and surface warming by maximum Northern Hemisphere insolation acted together.

Description: The modern precipitation balance in southeastern (SE) Brazil is regulated by the South American summer Monsoon and threatened by global climate change. On glacial-interglacial timescales, monsoon intensity was strongly controlled by precession-forced changes in insolation. To date, relatively little is known about the spatiotemporal distribution of tropical precipitation in SE Brazil and the resulting variability of fluvial discharge on glacial-interglacial timescales. Here, we present X-ray diffraction-derived mineralogical data for the 150–70 ka period (marine isotope stage (MIS) 6 to MIS 5) from the Doce River basin. This area was sensitive to changes in monsoonal precipitation intensity due to its proximity to the South Atlantic Convergence Zone. The data, obtained from a marine sediment core (M125-55–7) close to the Doce river mouth (20°S), show pronounced changes in the Doce River suspension load’s mineralogical composition on glacial-interglacial and precessional timescales. While the ratio of silicates to carbonates displays precession-paced changes, the mineralogical composition of the carbonate-free fraction discriminates between two assemblages which strongly vary between glacial and interglacial time scales, with precession-forced variability only visible in MIS 5. The first assemblage, dominated by high contents of kaolinite and gibbsite, indicates intensified lowland erosion of mature tropical soils. The second one, characterized by higher contents of the well-ordered illite, quartz and albite, points to intensified erosion of immature soils in the upper Doce Basin. High kaolinite contents in the silicate fraction prevailed in late MIS 6 and indicate pronounced lowland soil erosion along a steepened topographic gradient. The illite-rich mineral assemblage was more abundant in MIS 5, particularly during times of high austral summer insolation, indicating strong monsoonal rainfall and intense physical erosion in the upper catchment. When the summer monsoon weakened in times of lower insolation, the mineral assemblage was dominated by kaolinite again, indicative of lower precipitation and runoff in the upper catchment and dominant lowland erosion.

Description: Precipitation extremes with devastating socioeconomic consequences within the South American Monsoon System (SAMS) are expected to become more frequent in the near future. The complexity in SAMS behavior, however, poses severe challenges for reliable future projections. Thus, robust paleomonsoon records are needed to constrain the high spatiotemporal variability in the response of SAMS rainfall to different climatic drivers. This study uses Ti/Ca ratios from X‐ray fluorescence scanning of a sediment core retrieved off eastern Brazilian to trace precipitation changes over the past 322 Kyr. The results indicate that despite the spatiotemporal complexity of the SAMS, insolation forcing is the primary pacemaker of variations in the monsoonal system. Additional modulation by atmospheric p CO 2 suggests that SAMS intensity over eastern Brazil will be suppressed by rising CO 2 emissions in the future. Lastly, our record reveals an unprecedented strong and persistent wet period during Marine Isotope Stage 6 driven by anomalously strong trade winds.

Description: During the last deglaciation abrupt millennial‐scale perturbations of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation massively altered the interhemispheric heat distribution affecting, for example, continental ice volume and hydroclimate. If and how the related cross‐equatorial heat transport was controlled by the interplay between the southward‐flowing Brazil Current (BC) and northward‐flowing North Brazil Current (NBC) remains controversial. To assess the role of tropical heat transport during the last deglaciation, we obtained a high‐resolution foraminiferal Mg/Ca‐based sea surface temperature (SST) record from the BC domain at 21.5°S. The data reveal a yet undocumented warming of at least 4.6°C of the BC during Heinrich Stadial 1 at ∼16 ka indicating massive oceanic heat accumulation in the tropical South Atlantic. Simultaneously, a strongly diminished NBC prevented the release of this excess heat into the northern tropics. The observed magnitude of heat accumulation substantially exceeds numerical model simulations, stressing the need to further scrutinize atmospheric and oceanic heat transport during extreme climatic events.

Description: This data set contains results of analyses performed on core M125-34-2 (retrieved during R/V METEOR Expeditin M125 in Spring 2016) from the cold water coral-bearing Bowie Mound, located off Cabo Frio, Eastern Brazil. Analyses were performed to determine the paleoenvironmental conditions that favored or prevented coral growth. The data comprises cold water coral contents and bioturbation index based on CT-scanning, benthic foraminiferal isotopes (C and O), 13C of organic material, sortable silt, elemental ratios based on XRF core-scanning, mineral content based on Rietveld refinement of XRD data, as well as bulk TOC content and Corganic/Ntotal ratios. For comparison an off-mound site (M125-50-3) was analyzed for benthic foraminiferal isotopes (C and O) and sortable silt.

Description: The percent of fine sand in combination with planktonic foraminifer oxygen isotope analyses from IODP site U1389 were used to investigate changes in strength of the Mediterranean Overflow over the last 250 kyr. MOW velocity was high at times of Earth's precession maxima and weak during precession minima. Benthic carbon isotopes were measured to analyse the chemical properties of the MOW. Low benthic d13C were recorded at times of weak Mediterranean overturning, specially at times of sapropel deposition in the Eastern Mediterranean. low %fine sand in the middle of Heinrich stadials probably indicate a deepening of the MOW due to lower vertical density gradients in the Atlantic.