Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Reduced North Atlantic Deep Water flux to the glacial Southern Ocean inferred from neodymium isotope ratios

Nature volume 405, pages 935–938 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

The global circulation of the oceans and the atmosphere transports heat around the Earth. Broecker and Denton1 suggested that changes in the global ocean circulation might have triggered or enhanced the glacial–interglacial cycles. But proxy data for past circulation taken from sediment cores in the South Atlantic Ocean have yielded conflicting interpretations of ocean circulation in glacial times—δ13C variations in benthic foraminifera2,3,4,5,6 support the idea of a glacial weakening or shutdown of North Atlantic Deep Water production, whereas other proxies, such as Cd/Ca, Ba/Ca and 231Pa/230Th ratios, show little change from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene epoch7,8,9. Here we report neodymium isotope ratios from the dispersed Fe–Mn oxide component of two southeast Atlantic sediment cores. Both cores show variations that tend towards North Atlantic signatures during the warm marine isotope stages 1 and 3, whereas for the full glacial stages 2 and 4 they are closer to Pacific Ocean signatures. We conclude that the export of North Atlantic Deep Water to the Southern Ocean has resembled present-day conditions during the warm climate intervals, but was reduced during the cold stages. An increase in biological productivity may explain the various proxy data during the times of reduced North Atlantic Deep Water export.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: 143Nd/144Nd ratios of Fe–Mn leachates and benthic foraminiferal δ13C versus age.
Figure 2: Dissolved silica versus Nd isotope ratios.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Broecker, W. S. & Denton, G. H. The role of ocean-atmosphere reorganizations in glacial cycles. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 53, 2465–2501 ( 1989).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Curry, W. B. & Lohmann, G. P. Reduced advection into Atlantic Ocean deep eastern basins during last glaciation maximum. Nature 308, 317–342 ( 1983).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Oppo, D. W. & Fairbanks, R. G. Variability in the deep and intermediate water circulation of the Atlantic Ocean during the past 25,000 years: Northern Hemisphere modulation of the Southern Ocean. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 86, 1–15 (1987).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Charles, C. D. & Fairbanks, R. G. Evidence from Southern Ocean sediments for the effect of North Atlantic deep-water flux on climate. Nature 355, 416–419 ( 1992).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Labeyrie, L. et al. Hydrographic changes of the Southern Ocean (southeast Indian sector) over the last 230 kyr. Paleoceanography 11, 57–76 (1996).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Charles, C. D., Lynch-Stieglitz, J., Ninnemann, U. S. & Fairbanks, R. G. Climate connections between the hemisphere revealed by deep sea sediment core/ice core correlations. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 142, 19–27 (1996).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Lea, D. W. & Boyle, E. A. Foraminiferal reconstruction of barium distributions in water masses of the glacial ocean. Paleoceanography 5, 719–742 ( 1990).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Boyle, E. A. Cadmium and δ13C paleochemical ocean distributions during the Stage 2 glacial maximum. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 20, 245–87 (1992).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Yu, E. -F., Francois, R. & Bacon, M. P. Similar rates of modern and last glacial ocean thermohaline circulation inferred from radiochemical data. Nature 379, 689–694 (1996).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Albarède, F. & Goldstein, S. L. World map of Nd isotopes in sea-floor ferromanganese deposits. Geology 20, 761–761 (1992).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Albarède, F., Goldstein, S. L. & Dautel, D. The neodymium isotopic composition of manganese nodules from the Southern and Indian oceans, the global oceanic neodymium budget, and their bearing on deep ocean circulation. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 61, 1277–1291 ( 1997).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Piepgras, D. J. & Wasserburg, G. J. Isotopic composition of neodymium in waters from the Drake Passage. Science 217, 207–214 ( 1982).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Jeandel, C. Concentration and isotopic composition of Nd in the South Atlantic Ocean. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 117, 581– 591 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Stordal, M. C. & Wasserburg, G. J. Neodymium isotopic study of Baffin Bay water: sources of REE from very old terranes. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 77, 259– 272 (1986).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Piepgras, D. J. & Wasserburg, G. J. Rare earth element transport in the western North Atlantic inferred from Nd isotopic observations. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 51, 1257–1271 (1987).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Piepgras, D. J. & Jacobsen, S. B. The isotopic composition of neodymium in the North Pacific. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 52, 1373–1381 ( 1988).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Levitus, S., Burgett, R. & Boyer, T. World Ocean Atlas 1994: Nutrients (US Department of Commerce, Washington DC, 1994).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Tucholke, B. E. & Embley, R. W. in Interregional Unconformities and Hydrocarbon Acumulation (ed. Schlee, J. S.) 145–164 (American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, 1984).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Boyle, E. A. & Keigwin, L. North Atlantic thermohaline circulation during the past 20,000 years linked to high-latutude surface temperature. Nature 350, 35–40 (1987).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Matsumoto, K. & Lynch-Stieglitz, J. Similar glacial and Holocene deep water circulation inferred from southeast Pacific benthic foraminiferal carbon isotope composition. Paleoceanography 14, 149–163 (1999).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Pudsey, C. J. & Howe, J. A. Quaternary history of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current: evidence from the Scotia Sea. Mar.Geol. 148, 83–112 (1998).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Petit, J. R. et al. Palaeoclimatological and chronological implications of the Vostok core dust record. Nature 343, 56– 58 (1990).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Basile, I. et al. Patagonian origin of glacial dust deposited in East Antarctica (Vostok and Dome C) during glacial stages 2, 4 and 6. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 146, 573–589 (1997).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Jones, C. E., Halliday, A. N., Rea, D. K. & Owen, R. M. Neodymium isotopic variations in North Pacific modern silicate sediment and the insignificance of detrital REE contributions to seawater. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 127, 55–66 (1994).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Jeandel, C., Bishop, J. K. & Zindler, A. Exchange of neodymium and its isotopes between seawater and small and large particles in the Sargasso Sea. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 59, 535–547 ( 1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Fowler, S. W. et al. Rapid removal of Chernobyl fallout from Mediterranean surface waters by biological activity. Nature 329, 56–58 (1987).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Abouchami, W., Goldstein, S. L., Galer, S. J. G., Eisenhauer, A. & Mangini, A. Secular changes of Pb and Nd isotopes in central Pacific seawater as recorded by a Mn crust. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 61, 3957– 3974 (1997).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Broecker, W. S. & Peng, T.-H. Tracers in the Sea (Eldigio, Palisades, New York, 1982).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Schmitz, W. On the World Ocean Circulation: the Pacific and Indian Oceans (Technical Report WHOI 96–08, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1996).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Lea, D. W. A trace metal perspective on the evolution of Antarctic Circumpolar Deep Water Chemistry. Paleoceanography 4, 733– 747 (1995).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  31. Mackensen, A., Hubberten, H. -W., Bickert, T., Fischer, G. & Futterer, D. K. The δ13C in benthic foraminiferal tests of Fontbiotia Wuellerstorfi (Schwager) relative to the δ13C of dissolved inorganic carbon in Southern Ocean deep water: implications for glacial ocean circulation models. Paleoceanography 8, 587–610 (1993).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  32. McCorckle, D. C. Evidence of a dissolution effect on benthic foraminiferal shell chemistry: δ13C, Cd/Ca, Ba/Ca, and Sr/Ca results from the Ontong Java Plateau. Paleoceanography 10, 699– 714 (1995).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  33. Kumar, N. et al. Increased biological productivity and export production in the glacial Southern Ocean. Nature 378, 675– 679 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Asmus, T. et al. Variations of biogenic particle flux in the southern Atlantic section of the Subantarctic Zone during the late Quaternary: evidence from 231Paex and 230Thex. Mar. Geol. 159, 63–78 ( 1998).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank R. Anderson, W. Broecker, L. Burckle and N. Frank for discussions; J. Lynch-Stieglitz for providing the benthic δ13C stratigraphy of RC11-83; and D. Hodell for sharing the stratigraphy of TNO57-6PC. R.R. thanks M. Fleisher, G. Hemming, M. Klas-Mendelson, and G. Mandal for help in the laboratory. We also thank A.N. Halliday for comments on the manuscript. This work was partly supported by the NSF and NOAA.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Randye L. Rutberg

    Present address: Department of Geography, Hunter College of CUNY, 695 Park Avenue, New York, New York, 10021, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, Palisades, 10964, New York, USA

    Randye L. Rutberg, Sidney R. Hemming & Steven L. Goldstein

Authors
  1. Randye L. Rutberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sidney R. Hemming
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Steven L. Goldstein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven L. Goldstein.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rutberg, R., Hemming, S. & Goldstein, S. Reduced North Atlantic Deep Water flux to the glacial Southern Ocean inferred from neodymium isotope ratios. Nature 405, 935–938 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35016049

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35016049

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing