ALBERT

Beschreibung: Global climate underwent a major reorganization when the Antarctic ice sheet expanded ~14 million years ago (Ma) ( 1 ). This event affected global atmospheric circulation, including the strength and position of the westerlies and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), and, therefore, precipitation patterns ( 2 – 5 ). We present new shallow-marine sediment records from the continental shelf of Australia (International Ocean Discovery Program Sites U1459 and U1464) providing the first empirical evidence linking high-latitude cooling around Antarctica to climate change in the (sub)tropics during the Miocene. We show that Western Australia was arid during most of the Middle Miocene. Southwest Australia became wetter during the Late Miocene, creating a climate gradient with the arid interior, whereas northwest Australia remained arid throughout. Precipitation and river runoff in southwest Australia gradually increased from 12 to 8 Ma, which we relate to a northward migration or intensification of the westerlies possibly due to increased sea ice in the Southern Ocean ( 5 ). Abrupt aridification indicates that the westerlies shifted back to a position south of Australia after 8 Ma. Our midlatitude Southern Hemisphere data are consistent with the inference that expansion of sea ice around Antarctica resulted in a northward movement of the westerlies. In turn, this may have pushed tropical atmospheric circulation and the ITCZ northward, shifting the main precipitation belt over large parts of Southeast Asia ( 4 ).

Beschreibung: Within a 5.5 m thick succession of Upper Burdigalian (Karpatian) sediments in the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB; Austria), dated to CNP-zone NN4, a high-resolution section was logged continuously. One hundred samples were taken with a resolution of ~10 mm (approximating ~17 years) per layer and analyzed using an integrated multi-proxy approach. Earlier analyses of geochemistry and calcareous nannoplankton assemblages hint at small-scale, short-term variations in paleoenvironmental conditions, such as water-column stratification, primary productivity, organic matter flux, bottom-water oxygenation, freshwater influx, and changes in relative sea level. The results indicate a highly dynamic shallow marine setting that was subject to high-frequency environmental changes on a decadal to centennial scale. Time-series analyses on nine different proxy data sets using REDFIT analysis and wavelet spectra were applied to resolve a possible cyclic nature of these variations. Analyses revealed that different proxies for precipitation, upwelling intensity, and overall productivity were likely controlled by different cyclicities. A best-fit adjustment of the likely sedimentation rates within the high-resolution section resulted in periodicities fitting well with the Lower (~65 years) and Upper (~113 years) Gleissberg cycle as well as the Suess/de Vries cycle (~211 years). The section covers a time span of ~1190 years based on the correlation with solar cycles, which resulted in an estimated sedimentation rate of 575 mm kyr−1. For the first time, short-term climate variability on a decadal to centennial scale is resolved in Lower Miocene shallow marine laminated sediments in a land-based section. The results hint at a close relationship between climate variability and solar forcing during the Late Burdigalian. Moreover, accepting that these cyclicities are indeed of solar origin, this would indicate that precipitation was driven by the two Gleissberg cycles, while upwelling was driven by the Suess cycle. Furthermore, proxies for primary productivity were influenced by both cycles, although the Suess cycle exerts dominant control, reflecting a stronger influence of upwelling on primary productivity.

Beschreibung: Within a 5.5 m-thick succession of Upper Burdigalian (Karpatian) sediments in the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB; Austria), dated to CNP-zone NN4, a high-resolution section was logged continuously. 100 samples were taken with a resolution of ~10 mm per layer and analysed using an integrated multi-proxy approach. Earlier analyses of geochemistry and calcareous nannoplankton assemblages hint at small-scale, short-term variations in palaeoenvironmental conditions, such as water-column stratification, primary productivity, organic matter flux, bottom-water oxygenation, freshwater influx and changes in relative sea-level. The results indicate a highly dynamic shallow marine setting that was subject to high frequency environmental changes on a decadal to centennial scale. Time-series analyses on nine different proxy-datasets using REDFIT-analysis and Wavelet spectra were applied to resolve a possible cyclic nature of these variations. Analyses revealed that different proxies for precipitation, upwelling intensity, and over all productivity likely were controlled by different cyclicities. A best-fit adjustment of the likely sedimentation rates within the high-resolution section resulted in periodicities fitting well with the Lower (~65 yr) and Upper (~113 yr) Gleissberg cycle as well as the Suess/de Vries cycle (~211 yr). The section covers a timespan of ~1190 yr based on the correlation with solar cycles, which resulted in an estimated sedimentation rate of 575 mm kyr−1. For the first time, short-term climate variability on a decadal to centennial scale is resolved in Lower Miocene shallow marine laminated sediments in a land-based section. The results hint at a close relationship between climate variability and solar forcing during the Late Burdigalian. Moreover, accepting that these cyclicities are indeed of solar origin, this would indicate that precipitation was driven by the two Gleissberg cycles, while upwelling was driven by the Suess cycle. Furthermore, proxies for primary productivity were influenced by both cycles, although the Suess cycle exerts dominant control, reflecting a stronger influence of upwelling on primary productivity.