ALBERT

Description: © The Authors, 2010. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. The definitive version was published in Climate of the Past 6 (2010): 531-552, doi:10.5194/cp-6-531-2010.

Description: Stable isotope and ice-rafted debris records from three core sites in the mid-latitude North Atlantic (IODP Site U1313, MD01-2446, MD03-2699) are combined with records of ODP Sites 1056/1058 and 980 to reconstruct hydrographic conditions during the middle Pleistocene spanning Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 9–14 (300–540 ka). Core MD03-2699 is the first high-resolution mid-Brunhes record from the North Atlantic's eastern boundary upwelling system covering the complete MIS 11c interval and MIS 13. The array of sites reflect western and eastern basin boundary current as well as north to south transect sampling of subpolar and transitional water masses and allow the reconstruction of transport pathways in the upper limb of the North Atlantic's circulation. Hydrographic conditions in the surface and deep ocean during peak interglacial MIS 9 and 11 were similar among all the sites with relative stable conditions and confirm prolonged warmth during MIS 11c also for the mid-latitudes. Sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions further reveal that in the mid-latitude North Atlantic MIS 11c is associated with two plateaus, the younger one of which is slightly warmer. Enhanced subsurface northward heat transport in the eastern boundary current system, especially during early MIS 11c, is denoted by the presence of tropical planktic foraminifer species and raises the question how strongly it impacted the Portuguese upwelling system. Deep water ventilation at the onset of MIS 11c significantly preceded surface water ventilation. Although MIS 13 was generally colder and more variable than the younger interglacials the surface water circulation scheme was the same. The greatest differences between the sites existed during the glacial inceptions and glacials. Then a north – south trending hydrographic front separated the nearshore and offshore waters off Portugal. While offshore waters originated from the North Atlantic Current as indicated by the similarities between the records of IODP Site U1313, ODP Site 980 and MD01-2446, nearshore waters as recorded in core MD03-2699 derived from the Azores Current and thus the subtropical gyre. Except for MIS 12, Azores Current influence seems to be related to eastern boundary system dynamics and not to changes in the Atlantic overturning circulation.

Description: The Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the PORTO (PDCT/MAR/58282/2004) and SEDPORT projects (PDCTM/ 40017/2003), and postdoctoral (SFRH/BPD/21691/2005) and PhD (SFRH/BP/13749/2003) fellowships funded A. V. and T. R. Additional funding to T. R. and J. G. was provided by the Consolider-Ingenio 2100 Project CE-CSD2007-0067.

Description: © The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Climate of the Past 9 (2013): 2073-2084, doi:10.5194/cp-9-2073-2013.

Description: The overflow of deep water from the Nordic seas into the North Atlantic plays a critical role in global ocean circulation and climate. Approximately half of this overflow occurs via the Iceland–Scotland (I–S) overflow, yet the history of its strength throughout the Holocene (~ 0–11 700 yr ago, ka) is poorly constrained, with previous studies presenting apparently contradictory evidence regarding its long-term variability. Here, we provide a comprehensive reconstruction of I–S overflow strength throughout the Holocene using sediment grain size data from a depth transect of 13 cores from the Iceland Basin. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that the main axis of the I–S overflow on the Iceland slope was shallower during the early Holocene, deepening to its present depth by ~ 7 ka. Our results also reveal weaker I–S overflow during the early and late Holocene, with maximum overflow strength occurring at ~ 7 ka, the time of a regional climate thermal maximum. Climate model simulations suggest a shoaling of deep convection in the Nordic seas during the early and late Holocene, consistent with our evidence for weaker I–S overflow during these intervals. Whereas the reduction in I–S overflow strength during the early Holocene likely resulted from melting remnant glacial ice sheets, the decline throughout the last 7000 yr was caused by an orbitally induced increase in the amount of Arctic sea ice entering the Nordic seas. Although the flux of Arctic sea ice to the Nordic seas is expected to decrease throughout the next century, model simulations predict that under high emissions scenarios, competing effects, such as warmer sea surface temperatures in the Nordic seas, will result in reduced deep convection, likely driving a weaker I–S overflow.

Description: Funding was provided by NERC RAPID grant NER/T/S/2002/00436 to I. N. McCave, and a WHOI OCCI post-doctoral scholarship to D. J. R. Thornalley. Work on EW9302 cores was supported by NSF grant OCE01- 18001 to D. W. Oppo and J. F. McManus. The contributions of J. F. McManus and S. Praetorius were also supported in part by the Comer Research and Education Foundation. M. Blaschek,F. J. Davies and H. Renssen are supported by the European Community’s 7th Framework Programme FP7 2007/2013, Marie-Curie Actions, under Grant Agreement No. 10 238111 CASE ITN.

Description: The response of the tropical climate in the Indian Ocean realm to abrupt climate change events in the North Atlantic Ocean is contentious. Repositioning of the intertropical convergence zone is thought to have been responsible for changes in tropical hydroclimate during North Atlantic cold spells1, 2, 3, 4, 5, but the dearth of high-resolution records outside the monsoon realm in the Indian Ocean precludes a full understanding of this remote relationship and its underlying mechanisms. Here we show that slowdowns of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during Heinrich stadials and the Younger Dryas stadial affected the tropical Indian Ocean hydroclimate through changes to the Hadley circulation including a southward shift in the rising branch (the intertropical convergence zone) and an overall weakening over the southern Indian Ocean. Our results are based on new, high-resolution sea surface temperature and seawater oxygen isotope records of well-dated sedimentary archives from the tropical eastern Indian Ocean for the past 45,000 years, combined with climate model simulations of Atlantic circulation slowdown under Marine Isotope Stages 2 and 3 boundary conditions. Similar conditions in the east and west of the basin rule out a zonal dipole structure as the dominant forcing of the tropical Indian Ocean hydroclimate of millennial-scale events. Results from our simulations and proxy data suggest dry conditions in the northern Indian Ocean realm and wet and warm conditions in the southern realm during North Atlantic cold spells.

Description: Evidence from geologic archives suggests that there were large changes in the tropical hydrologic cycle associated with the two prominent northern hemisphere deglacial cooling events, Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1; ~19 to 15 kyr BP; kyr BP = 1000 yr before present) and the Younger Dryas (~12.9 to 11.7 kyr BP). These hydrologic shifts have been alternatively attributed to high and low latitude origin. Here, we present a new record of hydrologic variability based on planktic foraminifera-derived d18O of seawater (d18Osw) estimates from a sediment core from the tropical Eastern Indian Ocean, and using 12 additional d18Osw records, construct a single record of the dominant mode of tropical Eastern Equatorial Pacific and Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) hydrologic variability. We show that deglacial hydrologic shifts parallel variations in the reconstructed interhemispheric temperature gradient, suggesting a strong response to variations in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the attendant heat redistribution. A transient model simulation of the last deglaciation suggests that hydrologic changes, including a southward shift in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) which likely occurred during these northern hemisphere cold events, coupled with oceanic advection and mixing, resulted in increased salinity in the Indonesian region of the IPWP and the eastern tropical Pacific, which is recorded by the d18Osw proxy. Based on our observations and modeling results we suggest the interhemispheric temperature gradient directly controls the tropical hydrologic cycle on these time scales, which in turn mediates poleward atmospheric heat transport.

Description: Mg/Ca and stable oxygen isotope compositions (d18O) of planktic foraminifera tests are commonly used as proxies to reconstruct past ocean conditions including variations in the vertical water column structure. Accurate proxy calibrations require thorough regional studies, since parameters such as calcification depth and temperature of planktic foraminifera depend on local environmental conditions. Here we present radiocarbon-dated, modern surface sediment samples and water column data (temperature, salinity, and seawater d18O) from the Western Pacific Warm Pool. Seawater d18O (d18OSW) and salinity are used to calculate individual regressions for western Pacific surface and thermocline waters (d18OSW = 0.37 × S-12.4 and d18OSW = 0.33 × S-11.0). We combine shell d18O and Mg/Ca with water column data to estimate calcification depths of several planktic foraminifera and establish regional Mg/Ca-temperature calibrations. Globigerinoides ruber, Globigerinoides elongatus, and Globigerinoides sacculifer reflect mixed layer conditions. Pulleniatina obliquiloculata and Neogloboquadrina dutertrei and Globorotalia tumida preserve upper and lower thermocline conditions, respectively. Our multispecies Mg/Ca-temperature calibration (Mg/Ca = 0.26exp0.097*T) matches published regressions. Assuming the same temperature sensitivity in all species, we propose species-specific calibrations that can be used to reconstruct upper water column temperatures. The Mg/Ca temperature dependencies of G. ruber, G. elongatus, and G. tumida are similar to published equations. However, our data imply that calcification temperatures of G. sacculifer, P. obliquiloculata, and N. dutertrei are exceptionally warm in the western tropical Pacific and thus underestimated by previously published calibrations. Regional Mg/Ca-temperature relations are best described by Mg/Ca = 0.24exp0.097*T for G. sacculifer and by Mg/Ca = 0.21exp0.097*T for P. obliquiloculata and N. dutertrei.

Description: Surface and thermocline conditions of the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) reflect changes in regional and basin scale ocean and atmosphere circulations and in turn may affect climate globally. Previous studies suggest that a range of factors influences the WPWP on different timescales, however the precise forcings and mechanisms are unclear. Combining surface and thermocline records from sediment cores offshore Papua New Guinea we explore the influence of local and remote processes on the WPWP in response to astronomical forcing and changing glacial-interglacial boundary conditions over the past 110 kyr. We find that thermocline temperatures change with variations in Earth's obliquity with higher temperatures coinciding with high obliquity, which is attributed to variations in subduction and advection of the South Pacific Tropical Water. In contrast, rainfall variations associated with meridional migrations of the Intertropical Convergence Zone are primarily driven by changes in insolation due to precession. Records of bulk sedimentary Ti/Ca and foraminiferal Nd/Ca indicate an additional influence of obliquity, which, however, cannot unambiguously be related to changes in precipitation. Finally, our results suggest a thermocline deepening during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). A compilation of available proxy records illustrates a dipole-like pattern of LGM thermocline depth anomalies with a shoaling (deepening) in the northern (southern) WPWP. A comparison of the proxy compilation with an ensemble of Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project (PMIP) climate model simulations reveals that the spatial pattern of LGM thermocline depth anomalies is mainly attributable to a contraction of the Pacific Walker circulation on its western side.

Description: Instrumental data suggest that major shifts in tropical Pacific atmospheric dynamics and hydrology have occurred within the past century, potentially in response to anthropogenic warming. To better understand these trends, we use the hydrogen isotopic ratios of terrestrial higher plant leaf waxes (DDwax) in marine sediments from southwest Sulawesi, Indonesia, to compile a detailed reconstruction of central Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) hydrologic variability spanning most of the last two millennia. Our paleodata are highly correlated with a monsoon reconstruction from Southeast Asia, indicating that intervals of strong East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) activity are associated with a weaker Indonesian monsoon (IM). Furthermore, the centennial-scale oscillations in our data follow known changes in Northern Hemisphere climate (e.g., the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period) implying a dynamic link between Northern Hemisphere temperatures and IPWP hydrology. The inverse relationship between the EASM and IM suggests that migrations of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and associated changes in monsoon strength caused synoptic hydrologic shifts in the IPWP throughout most of the past two millennia.

Description: Sea surface temperature (SST) and seawater d18O (d18Ow) were reconstructed in a suite of sediment cores from throughout the Arabian Sea for four distinct time intervals (0 ka, 8 ka, 15 ka, and 20 ka) with the aim of understanding the history of the Indian Monsoon and the climate of the Arabian Sea region. This was accomplished through the use of paired Mg/Ca and d18O measurements of the planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber. By analyzing basin-wide changes and changes in cross-basinal gradients, we assess both monsoonal and regional-scale climate changes. SST was colder than present for the majority of sites within all three paleotime slices. Furthermore, both the Indian Monsoon and the regional Arabian Sea mean climate have varied substantially over the past 20 kyr. The 20 ka and 15 ka time slices exhibit average negative temperature anomalies of 2.5°-3.5°C attributable, in part, to the influences of glacial atmospheric CO2 concentrations and large continental ice sheets. The elimination of the cross-basinal SST gradient during these two time slices likely reflects a decrease in summer monsoon and an increase in winter monsoon strength. Changes in d18Ow that are smaller than the d18O signal due to global ice volume reflect decreased evaporation and increased winter monsoon mixing. SSTs throughout the Arabian Sea were still cooler than present by an average of 1.4°C in the 8 ka time slice. These cool SSTs, along with lower d18Ow throughout the basin, are attributed to stronger than modern summer and winter monsoons and increased runoff and precipitation. The results of this study underscore the importance of taking a spatial approach to the reconstruction of processes such as monsoon upwelling.

Description: Core top samples from Atlantic (Little Bahama Banks (LBB)) and Pacific (Hawaii and Indonesia) depth transects have been analyzed in order to assess the influence of bottom water temperature (BWT) and aragonite saturation levels on Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios in the aragonitic benthic foraminifer Hoeglundina elegans. Both the Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios in H. elegans tests show a general decrease with increasing water depth. Although at each site the decreasing trends are consistent with the in situ temperature profile, Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios in LBB are substantially higher than in Indonesia and Hawaii at comparable water depths with a greater difference observed with increasing water depth. Because we find no significant difference between results obtained on "live" and "dead" specimens, we propose that these differences are due to primary effects on the metal uptake during test formation. Evaluation of the water column properties at each site suggests that in situ CO3 ion concentrations play an important role in determining the H. elegans Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios. The CO3 ion effect is limited, however, only to aragonite saturation levels ([DeltaCO3]aragonite) below 15 µmol/kg. Above this level, temperature exerts a dominant effect. Accordingly, we propose that Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca in H. elegans tests can be used to reconstruct thermocline temperatures only in waters oversaturated with respect to the mineral aragonite using the following relationships: Mg/Ca = (0.034 ± 0.002)BWT + (0.96 ± 0.03) and Sr/Ca = (0.060 ± 0.002)BWT + (1.53 ± 0.03) (for [DeltaCO3]aragonite 〉 15 µmol/kg). The standard error associated with these equations is about ±1.1°C. Reconstruction of deeper water temperatures is complicated because in undersaturated waters, changes in Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios reflect a combination of changes in [CO3] and BWT. Overall, we find that Sr/Ca, rather than Mg/Ca, in H. elegans may be a more accurate proxy for reconstructing paleotemperatures.

Description: Benthic foraminiferal Cd/Ca from an intermediate depth, western South Atlantic core documents the history of southward penetration of North Atlantic Intermediate Water (NAIW). Cd seawater estimates (CdW) for the last glacial are consistent with the production of NAIW and its export into the South Atlantic. At ~14.5 ka concurrently with the onset of the Bølling-Allerød to Younger Dryas cooling, the NAIW contribution to the South Atlantic began to decrease, marking the transition from a glacial circulation pattern to a Younger Dryas circulation. High CdW in both the deep North Atlantic and the intermediate South Atlantic imply reduced export of deep and intermediate water during the Younger Dryas and a significant decrease in northward oceanic heat transport. A modern circulation was achieved at ~9 ka, concurrently with the establishment of Holocene warmth in the North Atlantic region, further supporting a close linkage between deepwater variability and North Atlantic climate.