Coral oxygen isotope and Sr/Ca data from the Northern Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea)

The last interglacial period (about 125,000 years ago) is thought to have been at least as warm as the present climate (Kukla et al., 2002, doi:10.1006/qres.2001.2316). Owing to changes in the Earth's orbit around the Sun, it is thought that insolation in the Northern Hemisphere varied more strongly than today on seasonal timescales (Berger, 1987, doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1978)035<2362:LTVODI>2.0.CO;2), which would have led to corresponding changes in the seasonal temperature cycle (Montoya et al., 2000, doi:10.1175/1520-0442(2000)013<1057:CSFKBW>2.0.CO;2). Here we present seasonally resolved proxy records using corals from the northernmost Red Sea, which record climate during the last interglacial period, the late Holocene epoch and the present. We find an increased seasonality in the temperature recorded in the last interglacial coral. Today, climate in the northern Red Sea is sensitive to the North Atlantic Oscillation (Felis et al., 2000 doi:10.1029/1999PA000477; Rimbu et al., 2001, doi:10.1029/2001GL013083), a climate oscillation that strongly influences winter temperatures and precipitation in the North Atlantic region. From our coral records and simulations with a coupled atmosphere-ocean circulation model, we conclude that a tendency towards the high-index state of the North Atlantic Oscillation during the last interglacial period, which is consistent with European proxy records (Zagwijn, 1996, doi:10.1016/0277-3791(96)00011-X; Aalbersberg and Litt, 1998, doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1417(1998090)13:5<367::AID-JQS400>3.0.CO;2-I; Klotz et al., 2003, doi:10.1016/S0921-8181(02)00222-9), contributed to the larger amplitude of the seasonal cycle in the Middle East.

Grain size analyses, Ca/Ti and other selected elemental ratios from XRF core scanning of sediment cores from the Apulian Margin

An extensive, high-resolution, sedimentological-geochemical survey was done using geo-acoustics, XRF-core scans, ICP-AES, AMS 14C-dating and grain size analyses of sediments in 11 cores from the Gulf of Taranto, the southern Adriatic Sea, and the central Ionian Sea spanning the last 16 cal. ka BP. Comparable results were obtained for cores from the Gallipoli Shelf (eastern Gulf of Taranto), and the southern Adriatic Sea suggesting that the dominant provenance of Gallipoli Shelf sediments is from the western Adriatic mud belt. The 210Pb and 14C-dated high-accumulation-rate sediments permit a detailed reconstruction of climate variability over the last 16 cal. ka BP. Although, the Glacial-Interglacial transition is generally dry and stable these conditions are interrupted by two phases of increased detrital input during the Bølling-Allerød and the late Younger Dryas. The event during the Younger Dryas period is characterized by increased sediment inputs from southern Italian sources. This suggests that run-off was higher in southern- compared to northern Italy. At approximately ~ 7 cal. ka BP, increased detrital input from the Adriatic mud belt, related to sea level rise and the onset of deep water formation in the Adriatic Sea, is observed and is coincident with the end of sapropel S1 formation in the southern Adriatic Sea. During the mid-to-late Holocene we observed millennial-scale events of increased detrital input, e.g. during the Roman Humid Period, and of decreased detrital input, e.g., Medieval Warm Period. These dry/wet spells are consistent with variability in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). A negative state of the NAO and thus a more advanced penetration of the westerlies into the central Mediterranean, that result in wet conditions in the research area concord with events of high detrital input e.g., during the Roman Humid Period. In contrast, a positive state of the NAO, resulting in dry conditions in the Mediterranean, dominated during events of rapid climate change such as the Medieval Warm Period and the Bronze Age.

Calibration and application of B/Ca, Cd/Ca, and d11B in Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral)

The North Atlantic and Norwegian Sea are prominent sinks of atmospheric CO2 today, but their roles in the past remain poorly constrained. In this study, we attempt to use B/Ca and d11B ratios in the planktonic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral variety) to reconstruct subsurface water pH and pCO2 changes in the polar North Atlantic during the last deglaciation. Comparison of core-top results with nearby hydrographic data shows that B/Ca in N. pachyderma (s) is mainly controlled by seawater [B(OH)4]?/[HCO3]? with a roughly constant partition coefficient (KD =([B/Ca]of CaCO3)/([B(OH)4]-/[HCO3]-)of seawater) of 1.48 ± 0.15 * 10**-3 (2sigma), and d11B in this species is offset below d11B of the borate in seawater by 3.38 ± 0.71 per mil (2sigma). These values represent our best estimates with the sparse available hydrographic data close to our core-tops. More culturing and sediment trap work is needed to improve our understanding of boron incorporation into N. pachyderma (s). Application of a constant KD of 1.48 * 10**-3 to high resolution N. pachyderma (s) B/Ca records from two adjacent cores off Iceland shows that subsurface pCO2 at the habitat depth of N. pachyderma (s) (~50 m) generally followed the atmospheric CO2 trend but with negative offsets of ~10-50 ppmv during 19-10 ka. These B/Ca-based reconstructions are supported by independent estimates from low-resolution d11B measurements in the same cores. We also calibrate and apply Cd/Ca in N. pachyderma (s) to reconstruct nutrient levels for the same down cores. Like today's North Atlantic, past subsurface pCO2 variability off Iceland was significantly correlated with nutrient changes that might be linked to surface nutrient utilization and mixing within the upper water column. Because surface pCO2 (at 0 m water depth) is always lower than at deeper depths and if the application of a constant KD is valid, our results suggest that the polar North Atlantic has remained a CO2 sink during the calcification seasons of N. pachyderma (s) over the last deglaciation.

Sable oxygen isotope and Mg/Ca ratios of planktonic foraminifera from DSDP Hole 31-292

This study presents new evidence of when and how the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) was established in its present form. We analyzed planktic foraminifera, oxygen isotopes, and Mg/Ca ratios in upper Miocene through Pleistocene sediments collected at Deep Sea Drilling Program (DSDP) Site 292. These data were then compared with those reported from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 806. Both drilling sites are located in the western Pacific Ocean. DSDP Site 292 is located in the northern margin of the modern WPWP and ODP Site 806 near the center of the WPWP. Three stages of development in surface-water conditions are identified in the region using planktic foraminferal data. During the initial stage, from 8.5 to 4.4 Ma, Site 806 was overlain by warm surface water but Site 292 was not, as indicated by the differences in faunal compositions and sea-surface temperature (SST) between the two sites. In addition, the vertical thermal gradient at Site 292 was weak during this period, as indicated by the small differences in the delta18O values between Globigerinoides sacculifer and Pulleniatina spp. During stage two, from 4.4 to 3.6 Ma, the SST at Site 292 rapidly increased to 27 °C, but the vertical thermal gradient had not yet be strengthened, as shown by Mg/Ca ratios and the presence of both mixed-layer dwellers and thermocline dwellers. Finally, a warm mixed layer with a high SST ca. 28 °C and a strong vertical thermal gradient were established at Site 292 by 3.6 Ma. This event is marked by the dominance of mixed-layer dwellers, a high and stable SST, and a larger differences in the delta18O values between G. sacculifer and Pulleniatina spp. Thus, evidence of surface-water evolution in the western Pacific suggests that Site 292 came under the influence of the WPWP at 3.6 Ma. The northward expansion of the WPWP from 4.4 to 3.6 Ma and the establishment of the modern WPWP by 3.6 Ma appear to be closely related to the closure of the Indonesian and Central American seaways.

Mg/Ca ratios of Cenozoic benthic foraminifera from the Indian and South Atlantic Ocean

We investigate the evolution of Cenozoic climate and ice volume as evidenced by the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater (delta18Osw) derived from benthic foraminiferal Mg/Ca ratios to constrain the temperature effect contained in foraminiferal delta18O values. We have constructed two benthic foraminiferal Mg/Ca records from intermediate water depth sites (Ocean Drilling Program sites 757 and 689 from the subtropical Indian Ocean and the Weddell Sea, respectively). Together with the previously published composite record of Lear et al. (2002, doi:10.1126/science.287.5451.269) and the Neogene record from the Southern Ocean of Billups and Schrag (2002, doi:10.1029/2000PA000567), we obtain three, almost complete representations of the delta18Osw for the past 52 Myr. We discuss the sensitivity of early Cenozoic Mg/Ca-derived paleotemperatures (and hence the delta18Osw) to assumptions about seawater Mg/Ca ratios. We find that during the middle Eocene (~ 49-40 Ma), modern seawater ratios yield Mg/Ca-derived temperatures that are in good agreement with the oxygen isotope paleothermometer assuming ice-free conditions. Intermediate waters cooled during the middle Eocene reaching minimum temperatures by 40 Ma. The corresponding delta18Osw reconstructions support ice growth on Antarctica beginning by at least 40 Ma. At the Eocene/Oligocene boundary, Mg/Ca ratios (and hence temperatures) from Weddell Sea site 689 display a well-defined maximum. We caution against a paleoclimatic significance of this result and put forth that the partitioning coefficient of Mg in benthic foraminifera may be sensitive to factors other than temperature. Throughout the remainder of the Cenozoic, the temporal variability among delta18Osw records is similar and similar to longer-term trends in the benthic foraminiferal delta18O record. An exception occurs during the Pliocene when delta18Osw minima in two of the three records suggest reductions in global ice volume that are not apparent in foraminiferal delta18O records, which provides a new perspective to the ongoing debate about the stability of the Antarctic ice sheet. Maximum delta18Osw values recorded during the Pleistocene at Southern Ocean site 747 agree well with values derived from the geochemistry of pore waters (Schrag et al., 1996, doi:10.1126/science.272.5270.1930) further highlighting the value of the new Mg/Ca calibrations of Martin et al. (2002, doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(02)00472-7) and Lear et al. (2002, doi:10.1016/S0016-7037(02)00941-9) applied in this study. We conclude that the application of foraminiferal Mg/Ca ratios allows a refined view of Cenozoic ice volume history despite uncertainties related to the geochemical cycling of Mg and Ca on long time scales.

Dinoflagellate cyst assemblages, Mg/Ca based reconstructed temperatures, stable carbon isotopes, and geochemical parameters of sediment core GeoB9508-5

In order to investigate a possible connection between tropical northeast (NE) Atlantic primary productivity, Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), and drought in the Sahel region during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1), we used dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) assemblages, Mg/Ca based reconstructed temperatures, stable carbon isotopes (d13C) and geochemical parameters of a marine sediment core (GeoB 9508-5) from the continental slope offshore Senegal. Our results show a two-phase productivity pattern within HS1 that progressed from an interval of low marine productivity between ~ 19 and 16 kyr BP to a phase with an abrupt and large productivity increase from ~ 16 to 15 kyr BP. The second phase is characterized by distinct heavy planktonic d13C values and high concentrations of heterotrophic dinocysts in addition to a significant cooling signal based on reconstructions of past sea surface temperatures (SST). We conclude that productivity variations within HS1 can be attributed to a substantial shift of West African atmospheric processes. Taken together our results indicate a significant intensification of the North East (NE) trade winds over West Africa leading to more intense upwelling during the last millennium of HS1 between ~ 16 and 15 kyr BP, thus leaving a strong imprint on the dinocyst assemblages and sea surface conditions. Therefore, the two-phase productivity pattern indicates a complex hydrographic setting suggesting that HS1 cannot be regarded as uniform as previously thought.