(Table 2) Trace metal ratios of various benthic foraminifera shells

Benthic foraminiferal d13C and Cd/Ca studies suggest that deep Atlantic circulation during the Last Glacial Maximum was very different from today, with high-nutrient (low d13C, high Cd) deep Southern Ocean Water (SOW) penetrating far into the North Atlantic. However, if some glacial d13C values are biased by productivity artifacts and/or air-sea exchange processes, then the existing d13C data may be consistent with the continual dominance of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi Cd/Ca results presented here indicate that the glacial North Atlantic was strongly enriched in dissolved Cd below ~2500 m depth. If NADW formation was still vigorous relative to SOW formation, these data could be explained by either increased preformed nutrient levels in the high-latitude North Atlantic or by increased organic matter remineralization within lower NADW. High glacial Zn/Ca values in the same samples, however, are best explained by a substantially increased mixing with Zn-rich SOW. The cause was most likely a partial replacement of NADW by less dense Glacial North Atlantic Intermediate Water. This reorganization also lowered deep North Atlantic [CO3]2- concentrations by perhaps 10 to 15 µmol/kg.

Grain size analysis of ODP Site 162-984

Past changes in the freshwater balance of the surface North Atlantic Ocean are thought to have influenced the rate of deep-water formation, and consequently climate (Broecker and Denton, 1989, doi:10.1016/0016-7037(89)90123-3; Manabe and Stouffer, 1996; doi:10.1038/378165a0). Although water-mass proxies are generally consistent with an impact of freshwater input on meridional overturning circulation (Boyle and Keigwin, 1987, doi:10.1038/330035a0), there has been little dynamic evidence to support this linkage. Here we present a 25,000 year record of variations in sediment grain size from south of Iceland, which indicates vigorous bottom-water currents during both the last glacial maximum and the Holocene period. Together with reconstructions of North Atlantic water-mass distribution, vigorous bottom currents suggest a shorter residence time of northern-source waters during the last glacial maximum, relative to the Holocene period. The most significant reductions in flow strength occur during periods that have been associated with freshening of the surface North Atlantic. The short-term deglacial oscillations in bottom current strength are closely coupled to changes in Greenland air temperature, with a minimum during the Younger Dryas cold reversal and a maximum at the time of rapid warming at the onset of the Holocene. Our results support a strong connection between ocean circulation and rapid climate change.

(Table 2) Age determination of Florida Straits sediment cores

The waters passing through the Florida Straits today reflect both the western portion of the wind-driven subtropical gyre and the northward flow of the upper waters which cross the equator, compensating North Atlantic Deep Water export as part of the large-scale Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. It has been postulated from various lines of evidence that the overturning circulation was weaker during the Younger Dryas cold event of the last deglaciation. We show here that the contrast in the oxygen isotopic composition of benthic foraminiferal tests across the Florida Current is reduced during the Younger Dryas. This most likely reflects a decrease in the density gradient across the channel and a decrease in the vertical shear of the Florida Current. This reduced shear is consistent with the postulated reduction in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. We find that the onset of this change in density structure and flow at the start of the Younger Dryas is very abrupt, occurring in less than 70 years.

(Table 1) Age determination of sediment cores OCE205-2-100GGGC and KNR166-2-31

Benthic foraminiferal Cd/Ca from a Florida Current sediment core documents the history of the northward penetration of southern source waters within the surface return flow of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). Cd seawater estimates (CdW) indicate that intermediate-depth southern source waters crossed the equator and contributed to the Florida Current during the Bølling-Allerød warm period of the last deglaciation, consistent with evidence of only a modest AMOC reduction compared to today. The CdW estimates also provide the first paleoceanographic evidence of a reduction in the influence of intermediate-depth southern source waters within the Florida Current during the Younger Dryas, a deglacial cold event characterized by a weak North Atlantic AMOC. Our results reveal a close correspondence between the northward penetration of intermediate-depth southern source waters and the influence of North Atlantic Deep Water, suggesting a possible link between intermediate-depth southern source waters and the strength of the Atlantic AMOC.