Late Miocene carbon isotope and paleoproductivity record

We examine whether or not a relationship exists between the late Miocene carbon isotope shift (~7.6-6.6 Ma) and marine productivity at four sites from the Indian and Pacific Oceans (Ocean Drilling Program Sites 721, 1146, 1172, and 846). We use a multiproxy approach based on benthic foraminiferal accumulation rates, elemental ratios, and dissolution indices, and we compare these data to benthic foraminiferal d13C values measured on the same samples. Although some of these sites have been targeted previously in studies of either the late Miocene/early Pliocene "biogenic bloom" (Sites 721 and 846) or the late Miocene carbon isotope shift (Site 1172), our records are the first to establish paired proxy records of carbon isotopes and paleoproductivity allowing a direct assessment of a potential link. Our results indicate that at all sites, productivity increased sometime during the d13C shift; at three sites (721, 1146, and 846), productivity increased at the beginning of the shift. The correlation coefficients derived from linear regression between micropaleontologically derived productivity and foraminiferal d13C values are relatively high during the time interval containing the late Miocene d13C shift (and statistically significant at three of the sites). Carbon flux and isotope mass balance considerations illustrate that transfer of organic matter between the terrestrial and marine reservoirs together with enhanced oceanic upwelling best approximates observed changes in carbon isotope records and paleoproductivity. We note that long-term trend in the Site 846 paleoproductivity record can be correlated to the long-term trend in the Site 848 eolian flux reconstructions of Hovan (1995, doi:10.2973/odp.proc.sr.138.132.1995) hinting at a link between strengthened wind regime and productivity during the late Miocene.

Biomarker and radiogenic isotopes from sediment core POS362-2_33

The termination of the African Humid Period in northeastern Africa during the early Holocene was marked by the southward migration of the rain belt and the disappearance of the Green Sahara. This interval of drastic environmental changes was also marked by the initiation of food production by North African huntergatherer populations and thus provides critical information on human-environment relationships. However, existing records of regional climatic and environmental changes exhibit large differences in timing and modes of the wet/dry transition at the end of the African Humid Period. Here we present independent records of changes in river runoff, vegetation and erosion in the Nile River watershed during the Holocene obtained from a unique sedimentary sequence on the Nile River fan using organic and inorganic proxy data. This high-resolution reconstruction allows to examine the phase relationship between the changes of these three parameters and provides a detailed picture of the environmental conditions during the Paleolithic/Neolithic transition. The data show that river runoff decreased gradually during the wet/arid transition at the end of the AHP whereas rapid shifts of vegetation and erosion occurred earlier between 8.7 and about 6 ka BP. These asynchronous changes are compared to other regional records and provide new insights into the threshold responses of the environment to climatic changes. Our record demonstrates that the degradation of the environment in northeastern Africa was more abrupt and occurred earlier than previously thought and may have accelerated the process of domestication in order to secure sustainable food resources for the Neolithic African populations.

Carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of benthic foraminifers from ODP Leg 167 sites

Three sites, drilled during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 167, were chosen for detailed late Pleistocene paleoceanographic studies of intermediate water along the California margin. These sites are Site 1011 (Animal Basin, 31°17'N, 117°38'W, 2033 m water depth, 1600 m sill depth), Site 1012 (East Cortez Basin, 32°17'N, 118°23'W, 1783 m water depth, 1415 m sill depth), and Site 1018 (Guide Seamount, 36°59'N, 123°17'W, 2476 m water depth). Here we present carbon and oxygen isotopic measurements of benthic foraminifers from these three sites. We made 135 measurements from Site 1011, 387 measurements from Site 1012, and 231 measurements from Site 1018. This data report includes an explanation of the methods used to generate these isotopic records and the age models for each site. Detailed paleoceanographic interpretations of the isotopic records are currently under way.

Coral Sr/Ca records from Bonaire Holocene corals

Proxy reconstructions of tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) that extend beyond the period of instrumental observations have primarily focused on centennial to millennial variability rather than on seasonal to multidecadal variability. Here we present monthly-resolved records of Sr/Ca (a proxy of SST) from fossil annually-banded Diploria strigosa corals from Bonaire (southern Caribbean Sea). The individual corals provide time-windows of up to 68 years length, and the total number of 295 years of record allows for assessing the natural range of seasonal to multidecadal SST variability in the western tropical Atlantic during snapshots of the mid- to late Holocene. Comparable to modern climate, the coral Sr/Ca records reveal that mid- to late Holocene SST was characterised by clear seasonal cycles, persistent quasi-biennial and prominent interannual as well as inter- to multidecadal-scale variability. However, the magnitude of SST variations on these timescales has varied over the last 6.2 ka. The coral records show increased seasonality during the mid-Holocene consistent with climate model simulations indicating that southern Caribbean SST seasonality is induced by insolation changes on orbital timescales, whereas internal dynamics of the climate system play an important role on shorter timescales. Interannual SST variability is linked to ocean-atmosphere interactions of Atlantic and Pacific origin. Pronounced interannual variability in the western tropical Atlantic is indicated by a 2.35 ka coral, possibly related to a strengthening of the variability of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation throughout the Holocene. Prominent inter- to multidecadal SST variability is evident in the coral records and slightly more pronounced in the mid-Holocene. We finally argue that our coral data provide a target for studying Holocene climate variability on seasonal and interannual to multidecadal timescales, when using further numerical models and high-resolution proxy data.

Biostratigraphic and paleomagnetic datum levels in sediments from DSDP Site 85-575

Data on the composition of benthic foraminiferal faunas at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 575 in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean were combined with benthic and planktonic carbon- and oxygen-isotope records and CaCO3 data. Changes in the composition of the benthic foraminiferal faunas at Site 575 predated the middle Miocene period of growth of the Antarctic ice cap and cooling of the deep ocean waters by about 2 m.y., and thus were not caused by this cooling (as has been proposed). The benthic faunal changes may have been caused by increased variability in corrosivity of the bottom waters, possibly resulting from enhanced productivity in the surface waters.

Geochemistry, isotopic ratios, granulometry and Uk'37 derived SST of cores obtained during Poseidon cruise POS287, off Portugal

Continental and marine conditions during the last millennium off Porto, Portugal (the southern pole of the North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO), are reconstructed from a sediment archive through a high-resolution multiproxy study and instrumental evidence. Results show multidecadal variability and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) that correlate well with previously published land and sea-based Northern Hemisphere temperature records, and appear to be responding to long-term solar insolation variability. Precipitation was negatively correlated with the NAO, whereas strong flooding events occurred at times of marked climate cooling (AD 1100-1150 and 1400-1470) and transitions in solar activity. AD 1850 marks a major shift in the phytoplankton community associated with a decoupling of d18O records of 3 planktonic foraminifera species. These changes are interpreted as a response to a reduction in the summer and/or annual upwelling and more frequent fall-winter upwelling-like events. This shift's coincidence with a decrease in SST and the increase in coherence between our data and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) confirms the connection of the upwelling variability to the North Atlantic Ocean's surface and thermohaline circulation on a decadal scale. The disappearance of this agreement between the AMO and our records beyond AD 1850 and its coincidence with the beginning of the recent rise in atmospheric CO2 supports the hypothesis of a strong anthropogenic effect on the last ~150 yr of the climate record. Furthermore, it raises an important question of the use of instrumental records as the sole calibration data set for climate reconstructions, as these may not provide the best analogue for climate beyond AD 1730.

Timing of the most recent Neoglacial advance and retreat in Potter Cove, Antarctic Peninsula

The timing of the most recent Neoglacial advance in the Antarctic Peninsula is important for establishing global climate teleconnections and providing important post-glacial rebound corrections to gravity-based satellite measurements of ice loss. However, obtaining accurate ages from terrestrial geomorphic and sedimentary indicators of the most recent Neoglacial advance in Antarctica has been hampered by the lack of historical records and the difficulty of dating materials in Antarctica. Here we use a new approach to dating flights of raised beaches in the South Shetland Islands of the northern Antarctic Peninsula to bracket the age of a Neoglacial advance that occurred between 1500 and 1700 AD, broadly synchronous with compilations for the timing of the Little Ice Age in the northern hemisphere. Our approach is based on optically stimulated luminescence of the underside of buried cobbles to obtain the age of beaches previously shown to have been deposited immediately inside and outside the moraines of the most recent Neoglacial advance. In addition, these beaches mark the timing of an apparent change in the rate of isostatic rebound thought to be in response to the same glacial advance within the South Shetland Islands. We use a Maxwell viscoelastic model of glacial-isostatic adjustment (GIA) to determine whether the rates of uplift calculated from the raised beaches are realistic given the limited constraints on the ice advance during this most recent Neoglacial advance. Our rebound model suggests that the subsequent melting of an additional 16-22% increase in the volume of ice within the South Shetland Islands would result in a subsequent uplift rate of 12.5 mm/yr that lasted until 1840 AD resulting in a cumulative uplift of 2.5 m. This uplift rate and magnitude are in close agreement with observed rates and magnitudes calculated from the raised beaches since the most recent Neoglacial advance along the South Shetland Islands and falls within the range of uplift rates from similar settings such as Alaska.

Planktic and benthic 14C reservoir ages, calibrated by a suite of 14C plateaus in the glacial-to-deglacial Suigetsu atmospheric 14C record

We here present a compilation of planktic and benthic 14C reservoir ages for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and early deglacial from 11 key sites of global ocean circulation in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Ocean. The ages were obtained by 14C plateau tuning, a robust technique to derive both an absolute chronology for marine sediment records and a high-resolution record of changing reservoir/ventilation ages (Delta14C values) for surface and deep waters by comparing the suite of planktic 14C plateaus of a sediment record with that of the atmospheric 14C record (Sarnthein et al., 2007, doi:10.1029/173GM13). Results published thus far used as atmospheric 14C reference U/Th-dated corals, the Cariaco planktic record, and speleothems (Fairbanks et al., 2005, doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.04.007; Hughen et al., 2006, doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.03.014; Beck et al., 2001, doi:10.1023/A:1008175728826). We have now used the varve-counted atmospheric 14C record of Lake Suigetsu terrestrial macrofossils (Ramsey et al., 2012, doi:10.1126/science.1226660) to recalibrate the boundary ages and reservoir ages of the seven published records directly to an atmospheric 14C record. In addition, the results for four new cores and further planktic results for four published records are given. Main conclusions from the new compilation are: (1) The Suigetsu atmospheric 14C record on its varve counted time scale reflects all 14C plateaus, their internal structures and relative length previously identified, but implies a rise in the average 14C plateau age by 200-700 14C yr during LGM and early deglacial times. (2) Based on different 14C ages of coeval atmospheric and planktic 14C plateaus, marine surface water Delta14C may have temporarily dropped to an equivalent of ~0 yr in low-latitude lagoon waters, but reached >2500 14C yr both in stratified subpolar waters and in upwelled waters such as in the South China Sea. These values differ significantly from a widely assumed constant global planktic Delta14C value of 400 yr. (3) Suites of deglacial planktic Delta14C values are closely reproducible in 14C records measured at neighboring core sites. (4) Apparent deep-water 14C ventilation ages (equivalents of benthic Delta14C), deduced from the sum of planktic Delta14C and coeval benthic-planktic 14C differences, vary from 500 up to >5000 yr in LGM and deglacial ocean basins.

Paleomagnetic and rock magnetic data from IODP Site U1308

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1308 (central North Atlantic) records paleomagnetic directional and relative paleointensity (RPI) variations for the last 1.5 Myr, in 110 m of the sediment sequence at a mean sedimentation rate of 7.3 cm/kyr. A detailed benthic oxygen isotope record was combined with RPI to produce an integrated, high-resolution magneto-isotopic stratigraphy for Site U1308. Apart from the well-known polarity reversals in this interval, the Punaruu excursion is recorded at 1092 ka and the Cobb Mountain Subchron in the 1182-1208 ka interval. The paleointensity proxies are determined as slopes of NRM versus ARM and NRM versus ARMAQ (ARM acquisition) with linear correlation coefficients to monitor the quality of the linear fit. The RPI record for Site U1308 is compared with the three other paleointensity records (one from the Western Equatorial Pacific and two from the North Atlantic) that cover the same time interval and have accompanying oxygen isotope records. The Match protocol of Lisiecki and Lisiecki (2002) is used to optimize the correlation of paleointensity records. Beginning with the original (published) age models for each record, the Match routine is used to optimize the RPI correlations to Site U1308, with checks to ensure compatibility with oxygen isotope records. Squared wavelet coherence (WTC) indicates significant improvement in RPI (and oxygen isotope) correlations after matching each RPI record to Site U1308, particularly for periods > 10 kyr. The level of coherence for the Atlantic RPI records and the lower resolution Pacific record implies synchronous global variability (at scales > 10 kyr) that can be attributed to the axial dipole geomagnetic field.

Stable carbon and oxygen isotope record od IODP Hole 306-U1313

The Mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT) was the time when quasi-periodic (? 100 kyr), high-amplitude glacial variability developed in the absence of any significant change in the character of orbital forcing, leading to the establishment of the characteristic pattern of late Pleistocene climate variability. It has long been known that the interval around 900 ka stands out as a critical point of the MPT, when major glaciations started occurring most notably in the northern hemisphere. Here we examine the record of climatic conditions during this significant interval, using high-resolution stable isotope records from benthic and planktonic foraminifera from a sediment core in the North Atlantic (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 306, Site U1313). We have considered the time interval from late in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 23 to MIS 20 (910 to 790 ka). Our data indicate that interglacial MIS 21 was a climatically unstable period and was broken into four interstadial periods, which have been identified and correlated across the North Atlantic region. These extra peaks tend to contradict previous studies that interpreted the MIS 21 variability as consisting essentially of a linear response to cyclical changes in orbital parameters. Cooling events in the surface record during MIS 21 were associated with low benthic carbon isotope excursions, suggesting a coupling between surface temperature changes and the strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Time series analysis performed on the whole interval indicates that benthic and planktonic oxygen isotopes have significant concentrations of spectral power centered on periods of 10.7 kyr and 6 kyr, which is in agreement with the second and forth harmonic of precession. The excellent correspondence between the foraminifera d18O records and insolation variations at the Equator in March and September suggests that a mechanism related to low-latitude precession variations, advected to the high latitudes by tropical convective processes, might have generated such a response. This scenario accounts for the presence of oscillations at frequencies equal to precession harmonics at Site U1313, as well as the occurrence of higher amplitude oscillations between the MIS22/21 transition and most of MIS 21, times of enhanced insolation variability.

Chemical and isotope composition of poor fluid from gas-hydrate samples of ODP Site 146-892

Although the presence of extensive gas hydrate on the Cascadia margin, offshore from the western U.S. and Canada, has been inferred from marine seismic records and pore water chemistry, solid gas hydrate has only been found at one location. At Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 892, offshore from central Oregon, gas hydrate was recovered close to the sediment-water interface at 2-19 m below the seafloor (mbsf) at 670 m water depth. The gas hydrate occurs as elongated platy crystals or crystal aggregates, mostly disseminated irregularly, with higher concentrations occurring in discrete zones, thin layers, and/or veinlets parallel or oblique to the bedding. A 2- to 3-cm thick massive gas hydrate layer, parallel to bedding, was recovered at ~17 mbsf. Gas from a sample of this layer was composed of both CH4 and H2S. This sample is the first mixed-gas hydrate of CH4-H2S documented in ODP; it also contains ethane and minor amounts of CO2. Measured temperatures of the recovered core ranged from 2 to -1.8°C and are 6 to 8 degrees lower than in-situ temperatures. These temperature anomalies were caused by the partial dissociation of the CH4-H2S hydrate during recovery without a pressure core sampler. During this dissociation, toxic levels of H2S (delta34S, +27.4?) were released. The delta13C values of the CH4 in the gas hydrate, -64.5 to -67.5? (PDB), together with deltaD values of -197 to -199? (SMOW) indicate a primarily microbial source for the CH4. The delta18O value of the hydrate H2O is +2.9? (SMOW), comparable with the experimental fractionation factor for sea-ice. The unusual composition (CH4-H2S) and depth distribution (2-19 mbsf) of this gas hydrate indicate mixing between a methane-rich fluid with a pore fluid enriched in sulfide; at this site the former is advecting along an inclined fault into the active sulfate reduction zone. The facts that the CH4-H2S hydrate is primarily confined to the present day active sulfate reduction zone (2-19 mbsf), and that from here down to the BSR depth (19-68 mbsf) the gas hydrate inferred to exist is a >=99% CH4 hydrate, suggest that the mixing of CH4 and H2S is a geologically young process. Because the existence of a mixed CH4-H2S hydrate is indicative of moderate to intense advection of a methane-rich fluid into a near surface active sulfate reduction zone, tectonically active (faulted) margins with organic-rich sediments and moderate to high sedimentation rates are the most likely regions of occurrence. The extension of such a mixed hydrate below the sulfate reduction zone should reflect the time-span of methane advection into the sulfate reduction zone.

TEX86H proxy and BIT index of sediment core GeoB9528-3

Changes in the strength of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) are known to have profound impacts on global climate. Coupled modelling studies have suggested that, on annual to multi-decadal time scales, a slowdown of AMOC causes a deepening of the thermocline in the tropical Atlantic. However, this process has been poorly constrained by sedimentary geochemical records. Here, we reconstruct surface (UK'37 Index) and thermocline (TEXH86) water temperatures from the Guinea Plateau Margin (Eastern tropical Atlantic) over the last two glacial-interglacial cycles (~ 192 kyr). These paleotemperature records show that periods of reduced AMOC, as indicated by the d13 C benthic foraminiferal record from the same core, coincide with a reduction in the near-surface vertical temperature gradient, demonstrating for the first time that AMOC-induced tropical Atlantic thermocline adjustment exists on longer, millennial time scales. Modelling results support the interpretation of the geochemical records and show that thermocline adjustment is particularly pronounced in the eastern tropical Atlantic. Thus, variations in AMOC strength appear to be an important driver of the thermocline structure in the tropical Atlantic from annual to multi-millennial time scales.

Accumulation rate and stable oxygen isotope ratios of the ice cores from the North Greenland Traverse

We present for the first time all 12 d18O records obtained from ice cores drilled in the framework of the North Greenland Traverse (NGT) between 1993 and 1995 in northern Greenland. The cores cover an area of 680 km × 317 km, 10 % of the Greenland ice sheet. Depending on core length (100-175 m) and accumulation rate (90-200 kg/m**2/a) the single records reflect an isotope-temperature history over the last 500-1100 years. Lowest d18O mean values occur north of the summit and east of the main divide as a consequence of Greenland's topography. In general, ice cores drilled on the main ice divide show different results than those drilled east of the main ice divide that might be influenced by secondary regional moisture sources. A stack of all NGT records and the NGRIP record is presented with improved signal-to-noise ratio. Compared to single records, this stack represents the mean d18O signal for northern Greenland that is interpreted as proxy for temperature. Our northern Greenland d18O stack indicates distinctly enriched d18O values during medieval times, about AD 1420 ± 20 and from AD 1870 onwards. The period between AD 1420 and AD 1850 has depleted d18O values compared to the average for the entire millennium and represents the Little Ice Age. The d18O values of the 20th century are comparable to the medieval period but are lower than that about AD 1420.

TEX86H proxy and BIT index of sediment core GeoB9528-3 and reconstructed temperature data from NW Africa surface sediments

Changes in the strength of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) are known to have profound impacts on global climate. Coupled modelling studies have suggested that, on annual to multi-decadal time scales, a slowdown of AMOC causes a deepening of the thermocline in the tropical Atlantic. However, this process has been poorly constrained by sedimentary geochemical records. Here, we reconstruct surface (UK'37 Index) and thermocline (TEX86H) water temperatures from the Guinea Plateau Margin (Eastern tropical Atlantic) over the last two glacial-interglacial cycles (~ 192 kyr). These paleotemperature records show that periods of reduced AMOC, as indicated by the d13 C benthic foraminiferal record from the same core, coincide with a reduction in the near-surface vertical temperature gradient, demonstrating for the first time that AMOC-induced tropical Atlantic thermocline adjustment exists on longer, millennial time scales. Modelling results support the interpretation of the geochemical records and show that thermocline adjustment is particularly pronounced in the eastern tropical Atlantic. Thus, variations in AMOC strength appear to be an important driver of the thermocline structure in the tropical Atlantic from annual to multi-millennial time scales.