Holocene Mg/Ca, alkenones, and light stable isotope measurements on the outer North Iceland shelf, sediment core MD99-2269

We present new Holocene century to millennial-scale proxies for the well-dated piston core MD99-2269 from Húnaflóadjúp on the North Iceland Shelf. The core is located in 365 mwd and lies close to the fluctuating boundary between Atlantic and Arctic/Polar waters. The proxies are: alkenone-based SST°C, and Mg/Ca SST°C estimates and stable d13C and d18O values on planktonic and benthic foraminifera. The data were converted to 60 yr equi-spaced time-series. Significant trends in the data were extracted using Singular Spectrum Analysis and these accounted for between 50% and 70% of the variance. A comparison between these data with previously published climate proxies from MD99-2269 was carried out on a data set which consisted of 14-variable data set covering the interval 400-9200 cal yr BP at 100 yr time steps. This analysis indicated that the 1st two PC axes accounted for 57% of the variability with high loadings clustering primarily into "nutrient" and "temperature" proxies. Clustering on the 100 yr time-series indicated major changes in environment at ~6350 and ~3450 cal yr BP, which define early, mid- and late Holocene climatic intervals. We argue that a pervasive freshwater cap during the early Holocene resulted in warm SST°s, a stratified water column, and a depleted nutrient supply. The loss of the freshwater layer in the mid-Holocene resulted in high carbonate production, and the late Holocene/neoglacial interval was marked by significantly more variable sea surface conditions.

Compilation of 220 sediment core d13C data from the glacial Atlantic Ocean

We compare a compilation of 220 sediment core d13C data from the glacial Atlantic Ocean with three-dimensional ocean circulation simulations including a marine carbon cycle model. The carbon cycle model employs circulation fields which were derived from previous climate simulations. All sediment data have been thoroughly quality controlled, focusing on epibenthic foraminiferal species (such as Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi or Planulina ariminensis) to improve the comparability of model and sediment core carbon isotopes. The model captures the general d13C pattern indicated by present-day water column data and Late Holocene sediment cores but underestimates intermediate and deep water values in the South Atlantic. The best agreement with glacial reconstructions is obtained for a model scenario with an altered freshwater balance in the Southern Ocean that mimics enhanced northward sea ice export and melting away from the zone of sea ice production. This results in a shoaled and weakened North Atlantic Deep Water flow and intensified Antarctic Bottom Water export, hence confirming previous reconstructions from paleoproxy records. Moreover, the modeled abyssal ocean is very cold and very saline, which is in line with other proxy data evidence.

Chemical composition of volcanic glass of some tephra layers in Northeastern Pacific Ocean

Five widespread upper Cenozoic tephra layers that are found within continental sediments of the western United States have been correlated with tephra layers in marine sediments in the Humboldt and Ventura basins of coastal California by similarities in major-and trace-element abundances; four of these layers have also been identified in deep-ocean sediments at DSDP sites 34, 36, 173, and 470 in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. These layers, erupted from vents in the Yellowstone National Park area of Wyoming and Idaho (Y), the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest (C), and the Long Valley area, California (L), are the Huckleberry Ridge ash bed (2.0 Ma, Y), Rio Dell ash bed (ca. 1.5 Ma, C), Bishop ash bed (0.74 Ma, L), Lava Creek B ash bed (0.62 Ma, Y), and Loleta ash bed (ca. 0.4 Ma, C). The isochronous nature of these beds allows direct comparison of chronologic and climatic data in a variety of depositional environments. For example, the widespread Bishop ash bed is correlated from proximal localities near Bishop in east-central California, where it is interbedded with volcanic and glacial deposits, to lacustrine beds near Tecopa, southeastern California, to deformed on-shore marine strata near Ventura, southwestern California, to deep-ocean sediments at site 470 in the eastern Pacific Ocean west of northern Mexico. The correlations allow us to compare isotopic ages determined for the tephra layers with ages of continental and marine biostratigraphic zones determined by magnetostratigraphy and other numerical age control and also provide iterative checks for available age control. Relative age variations of as much as 0.5 m.y. exist between marine biostratigraphic datums [for example, highest occurrence level of Discoaster brouweri and Calcidiscus tropicus (= C. macintyrei)], as determined from sedimentation rate curves derived from other age control available at each of several sites. These discrepancies may be due to several factors, among which are (1) diachronism of the lowest and highest occurrence levels of marine faunal and floral species with latitude because of ecologic thresholds, (2) upward reworking of older forms in hemipelagic sections adjacent to the tectonically active coast of the western United States and other similar analytical problems in identification of biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic datums, (3) dissolution of microfossils or selective diagenesis of some taxa, (4) lack of precision in isotopic age calibration of these datums, (5) errors in isotopic ages of tephra beds, and (6) large variations in sedimentation rates or hiatuses in stratigraphic sections that result in age errors of interpolated datums. Correlation of tephra layers between on-land marine and deep-ocean deposits indicates that some biostratigraphic datums (diatom and calcareous nannofossil) may be truly time transgressive because at some sites, they are found above and, at other sites, below the same tephra layers.

Sea surface temperature variations in the western Mediterranean Sea

A high-resolution sea surface temperature (SST) reconstruction of the western Mediterranean was accomplished using two independent, algae-based molecular organic proxies, i.e. the UK'37 index based on long-chain unsaturated ketones and the novel long-chain diol index (LDI) based on the relative abundances of C28 and C30 1,13- and 1,15-diols. Two marine records, from the western and eastern Alboran Sea basin, spanning the last 14 and 20 kyr, respectively, were studied. Results from the surface sediments suggest that the two proxies presently reflect seasons with similar SST, or simply annual mean SST. Both proxy records reveal the transition from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene in the eastern Alboran Sea with an SST increase of ca. 7 °C for UK'37 and 9 °C for LDI. Minimum SSTs (10-12 °C) are reached at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum and during the last Heinrich event with a subsequent rapid SST increase in LDI-SST towards the beginning of the Bölling period (20 °C), while UK'37-SST remains constantly low (~12 °C). The Bölling-Alleröd is characterized by a rapid increase and subsequent decrease in UK'37-SST, while the LDI-SST decrease continuously. Short-term fluctuations in UK'37-SST are probably related to availability of nutrients and seasonal changes. The Younger Dryas is recorded as a short cold interval followed by progressively warmer temperatures. During the Holocene, the general lower UK'37-derived temperature values in the eastern Alboran (by ca. 1.5-2 °C) suggest a southeastward cold water migration by the western Alboran gyre and divergence in the haptophyte blooming season between both basins.

Magnesium/Calcium ratios in benthic foraminifera from surface sediments

We used modern epibenthic foraminifer tests of Cibicidoides mundulus and Planulina wuellerstorfi from South Atlantic core top sediments in order to establish Mg/Ca-temperature relationships for the temperature range from 0 to 15°C. We obtained the following calibrations: Mg/Ca (mmol/mol) = 0.830*exp(0.145*BWT (°C)) for P. wuellerstorfi, and Mg/Ca (mmol/mol) = 0.627*exp(0.143*BWT (°C)) for C. mundulus. However, a number of tests, especially those bathed in North Atlantic Deep Water, revealed higher Mg/Ca ratios than predicted from the calibration. Our data suggest that d[CO3 2-] of bottom water exerts a significant control on dMg/Ca (temperature-corrected) of C. mundulus (dMg/Ca = 0.017*d[CO3 2-] -0.14), while dMg/Ca of P. wuellerstorfi is more likely to be governed by TCO2 (dMg/Ca = -0.007*TCO2 + 15). Since both d[CO3 2-] and TCO2 are closely linked to [CO3 2-], it is inferred that carbonate ion acts as secondary control, after temperature, on benthic shell Mg/Ca below -4°C. A drop in [CO3 2-] by 25 ?mol/kg at 4 km water depth, as suggested for the Last Glacial Maximum, would decrease Mg/Ca by up to 0.4 mmol/mol, which leads to an underestimation of bottom water temperature by -3.5°C. Therefore our results indicate that the Mg/Ca thermometer should be used cautiously for benthic foraminifers where changes in the carbonate chemistry are present in the paleoceanographic record.

Long chain alkyl diol distribution in Arabian Sea surface sediments

Oxygen exposure has a large impact on lipid biomarker preservation in surface sediments and may affect the application of organic proxies used for reconstructing past environmental conditions. To determine its effect on long chain alkyl diol and keto-ol based proxies, the distributions of these lipids was studied in nine surface sediments from the Murray Ridge in the Arabian Sea obtained from varying water depths (900 to 3000 m) but in close lateral proximity and, therefore, likely receiving a similar particle flux. Due to substantial differences in bottom water oxygen concentration (<3 to 77 µmol/L) and sedimentation rate, substantial differences exist in the time the biomarker lipids are exposed to oxygen in the sediment. Long chain alkyl diol and keto-ol concentrations in the surface sediments (0-0.5 cm) decreased progressively with increasing oxygen exposure time, suggesting increased oxic degradation. The 1,15-keto-ol/diol ratio (DOXI) increased slightly with oxygen exposure time as diols had apparently slightly higher degradation rates than keto-ols. The ratio of 1,14- vs. 1,13- or 1,15-diols, used as upwelling proxies, did not show substantial changes. However, the C30 1,15-diol exhibited a slightly higher degradation rate than C28 and C30 1,13-diols, and thus the Long chain Diol Index (LDI), used as sea surface temperature proxy, showed a negative correlation with the maximum residence time in the oxic zone of the sediment, resulting in ca. 2-3.5 °C change, when translated to temperature. The UK'37 index did not show significant changes with increasing oxygen exposure. This suggests that oxic degradation may affect temperature reconstructions using the LDI in oxic settings and where oxygen concentrations have varied substantially over time.

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.

Data compilation on the biological response to ocean acidification: environmental and experimental context of data sets and related literature

The exponential growth of studies on the biological response to ocean acidification over the last few decades has generated a large amount of data. To facilitate data comparison, a data compilation hosted at the data publisher PANGAEA was initiated in 2008 and is updated on a regular basis (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.149999). By January 2015, a total of 581 data sets (over 4 000 000 data points) from 539 papers had been archived. Here we present the developments of this data compilation five years since its first description by Nisumaa et al. (2010). Most of study sites from which data archived are still in the Northern Hemisphere and the number of archived data from studies from the Southern Hemisphere and polar oceans are still relatively low. Data from 60 studies that investigated the response of a mix of organisms or natural communities were all added after 2010, indicating a welcomed shift from the study of individual organisms to communities and ecosystems. The initial imbalance of considerably more data archived on calcification and primary production than on other processes has improved. There is also a clear tendency towards more data archived from multifactorial studies after 2010. For easier and more effective access to ocean acidification data, the ocean acidification community is strongly encouraged to contribute to the data archiving effort, and help develop standard vocabularies describing the variables and define best practices for archiving ocean acidification data.

Benthic (C. wuellerstorfi) d18O, d13C and Cd/Ca in sediment core NEAP 4K across the last deglaciation

We present evidence that the characteristic chemical signature (based on coupled benthic foraminiferal Cd/Ca and d13C) of Antarctic Intermediate waters (AAIW) penetrated throughout the intermediate depths of the Atlantic basin to the high-latitude North Atlantic during the abrupt cooling events of the last deglaciation: Heinrich 1 and the Younger Dryas. AAIW may play the dynamic counterpart to the "bipolar seesaw" when near-freezing salty bottom waters from the Antarctic (AABW) sluggishly ventilate the deep ocean. Our data reinforce the concept that interglacial circulation is stabilized by salinity feedbacks between salty northern sourced deep waters (NADW) and fresh southern sourced waters (AABW and AAIW). Further, the glacial ocean may be susceptible to the more finely balanced relative densities of NADW and AAIW, due to either freshwater input or a reversal of the salinity gradient, such that the ocean is poised for NADW collapse via a negative salinity feedback. The unstable climate of the glacial period and its termination may arise from the closer competition for ubiquity at intermediate depths between northern and southern sourced intermediate waters.

Great Barrier Reef coral element/Ca and stable isotope data and U-Th ages from IODP Expedition 325

Tropical south-western Pacific temperatures are of vital importance to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), but the role of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the growth of the GBR since the Last Glacial Maximum remains largely unknown. Here we present records of Sr/Ca and d18O for Last Glacial Maximum and deglacial corals that show a considerably steeper meridional SST gradient than the present day in the central GBR. We find a 1-2 °C larger temperature decrease between 17° and 20°S about 20,000 to 13,000 years ago. The result is best explained by the northward expansion of cooler subtropical waters due to a weakening of the South Pacific gyre and East Australian Current. Our findings indicate that the GBR experienced substantial meridional temperature change during the last deglaciation, and serve to explain anomalous deglacial drying of northeastern Australia. Overall, the GBR developed through significant SST change and may be more resilient than previously thought.

Dinoflagellate cyst assemblages, oxygen isotope records of foraminifera, and alkenone and Mg/Ca-based SST estimates for the time interval 3.40-3.18 Ma (Late Pliocene) from five North Atlantic and Caribbean sediment cores

The early Late Pliocene (3.6 to ~3.0 million years ago) is the last extended interval in Earth's history when atmospheric CO2 concentrations were comparable to today's and global climate was warmer. Yet a severe global glaciation during marine isotope stage (MIS) M2 interrupted this phase of global warmth ~3.30 million years ago, and is seen as a premature attempt of the climate system to establish an ice-age world. Our geochemical and palynological records from five marine sediment cores along a Caribbean to eastern North Atlantic transect show that increased Pacific-to-Atlantic flow via the Central American Seaway weakened the North Atlantic Current (NAC) and attendant northward heat transport prior to MIS M2. The consequent cooling of the northern high latitude oceans permitted expansion of the Greenland ice sheet during MIS M2, despite near-modern atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Before and after MIS M2, heat transport via the NAC was crucial in maintaining warm climates comparable to those predicted for the end of this century.

Stable oxygen isotope record and Sr/Ca ratios of corals from IODP Holes M0009D and M0023A

We present monthly resolved records of strontium/calcium (Sr/Ca) and oxygen isotope (d18O) ratios from well-preserved fossil corals drilled during the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 310 'Tahiti Sea Level' and reconstruct sea surface conditions in the central tropical South Pacific Ocean during two time windows of the last deglaciation. The two Tahiti corals examined here are uranium/thorium (U/Th)-dated at 12.4 and 14.2 ka, which correspond to the Younger Dryas (YD) cold reversal and the Bølling-Allerød (B-A) warming of the Northern Hemisphere, respectively. The coral Sr/Ca records indicate that annual average sea surface temperature (SST) was 2.6-3.1 °C lower at 12.4 ka and 1.0-1.6 °C lower at 14.2 ka relative to the present, with no significant changes in the amplitude of the seasonal SST cycle. These cooler conditions were accompanied by seawater d18O (d18Osw) values higher by ~0.8 per mill and ~0.6 per mill relative to the present at 12.4 and 14.2 ka, respectively, implying more saline conditions in the surface waters. Along with previously published coral Sr/Ca records from the island [Cohen and Hart (2004), Deglacial sea surface temperatures of the western tropical Pacific: A new look at old coral. Paleoceanography 19, PA4031, doi:10.1029/2004PA001084], our new Tahiti coral records suggest that a shift toward lower SST by ~1.5 °C occurred from 13.1 to 12.4 ka, which was probably associated with a shift toward higher d18Osw by ~0.2 per mill. Along with a previously published coral Sr/Ca record from Vanuatu [Corrège et al. (2004), Interdecadal variation in the extent of South Pacific tropical waters during the Younger Dyras event. Nature 428, 927-929], the Tahiti coral records provide new evidence for a pronounced cooling of the western to central tropical South Pacific during the Northern Hemisphere YD event.

Ground truthing the Cd/Ca-carbon isotope relationship in foraminifera of the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian Seas

In order to examine whether the paleoceanographic nutrient proxies, d13C and cadmium/calcium in foraminiferal calcite, are well coupled to nutrients in the region of North Atlantic Deep Water formation, we present da ta from two transects of the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian Seas. Along Transect A (74.3°N, 18.3°E to 75.0°N, 12.5°W, 15 stations), we measured phosphate and Cd concentrations of modern surface sea water. Along Transect B (64.5°N, 0.7°W to 70.4°N, 18.2°W, 14 stations) we measured Cd/Ca ratios and d13C of the planktonic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral in core top sediments. Our results indicate that Cd and phosphate both vary with surface water mass and are well correlated along Transect A. Our planktonic foraminiferal d13C data indicate similar nutrient variation with water mass along Transect B. Our Cd/Ca data hint at the same type of nutrient variability, but interpretations are hampered by low values close to the detection limit of this technique and therefore relatively large error bars. We also measured Cd and phosphate concentrations in water depth profiles at three sites along Transect A and the d13C of the benthic foraminifera Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi along Transect B. Modern sea water depth profiles along Transect A have nutrient depletions at the surface and then constant values at depths greater than 100 meters. The d13C of planktonic and benthic foraminifera from Transect B plotted versus depth also reflect surface nutrient depletion and deep nutrient enrichment as seen at Transect A, with a small difference between intermediate and deep waters. Overall we see no evidence for decoupling of Cd/Ca ratio and d13C in foraminiferal calcite from water column nutrient concentrations along these transects in a region of North Atlantic Deep Water formation.