Evolution of the stable carbon isotope composition of atmospheric CO₂ over the last glacial cycle

We present new δ¹³C measurements of atmospheric CO₂ covering the last glacial/interglacial cycle, complementing previous records covering Terminations I and II. Most prominent in the new record is a significant depletion in δ¹³C(atm) of 0.5‰ occurring during marine isotope stage (MIS) 4, followed by an enrichment of the same magnitude at the beginning of MIS 3. Such a significant excursion in the record is otherwise only observed at glacial terminations, suggesting that similar processes were at play, such as changing sea surface temperatures, changes in marine biological export in the Southern Ocean (SO) due to variations in aeolian iron fluxes, changes in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, upwelling of deep water in the SO, and long-term trends in terrestrial carbon storage. Based on previous modeling studies, we propose constraints on some of these processes during specific time intervals. The decrease in δ¹³C(atm) at the end of MIS 4 starting approximately 64 kyr B.P. was accompanied by increasing [CO₂]. This period is also marked by a decrease in aeolian iron flux to the SO, followed by an increase in SO upwelling during Heinrich event 6, indicating that it is likely that a large amount of δ¹³C-depleted carbon was transferred to the deep oceans previously, i.e., at the onset of MIS 4. Apart from the upwelling event at the end of MIS 4 (and potentially smaller events during Heinrich events in MIS 3), upwelling of deep water in the SO remained reduced until the last glacial termination, whereupon a second pulse of isotopically light carbon was released into the atmosphere.

Dinoflagellate cysts analyses from sediment cores of the Po River discharge plume over the last two centuries

To obtain insight into the natural and/or human-induced changes in the trophic state of the distal portion of the Po River discharge plume over the last two centuries, high temporal resolution dinoflagellate cyst records were established at three sites. Cyst production rates appear to reflect the natural variability in the river's discharge, whereas cyst associations reflect the trophic state of the upper waters, which in turn can be related to agricultural development. The increased abundances of Lingulodinium machaerophorum and Stelladinium stellatum found as early as 1890 and 1920 correspond to the beginning of the industrial revolution in Italy and the first chemical production and dispersion of ammonia throughout Europe. After 1955, the increased abundances of these species and of Polykrikos schwartzii, Brigantedinium spp. and Pentapharsodinium dalei correspond to agriculturally induced alterations of the hypertrophic conditions. A slight improvement in water quality can be observed from 1987 onward.

Estimates of %NCW bathing deep North Atlantic (IODP Site 306-U1313) over the past ~3.3 Ma

The circulation and internal structure of the oceans exert a strong influence on Earth's climate because they control latitudinal heat transport and the segregation of carbon between the atmosphere and the abyss (Sigman et al., 2010, doi:10.1038/nature09149). Circulation change, particularly in the Atlantic Ocean, is widely suggested (Bartoli et al., 2005, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2005.06.020; Haug and Tiedemann, 1998, doi:10.1038/31447; Woodard et al., 2014, doi:10.1126/science.1255586; McKay et al., 2012, doi:10.1073/pnas.1112248109) to have been instrumental in the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation when large ice sheets first developed on North America and Eurasia during the late Pliocene, approximately 2.7 million years ago (Bailey et al., 2013, doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.06.004). Yet the mechanistic link and cause/effect relationship between ocean circulation and glaciation are debated. Here we present new records of North Atlantic Ocean structure using the carbon and neodymium isotopic composition of marine sediments recording deep water for both the Last Glacial to Holocene (35-5 thousand years ago) and the late Pliocene to earliest Pleistocene (3.3-2.4 million years ago). Our data show no secular change. Instead we document major southern-sourced water incursions into the deep North Atlantic during prominent glacials from 2.7 million years ago. Our results suggest that Atlantic circulation acts as a positive feedback rather than as an underlying cause of late Pliocene Northern Hemisphere glaciation. We propose that, once surface Southern Ocean stratification (Sigman, et al., 2004, doi:10.1038/nature02357) and/or extensive sea-ice cover (McKay et al., 2012, doi:10.1073/pnas.1112248109) was established, cold-stage expansions of southern-sourced water such as those documented here enhanced carbon dioxide storage in the deep ocean, helping to increase the amplitude of glacial cycles.

Stable isotopes and XRF data over the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum from IODP Sites U1403 and U1409

During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) about 56 million years ago, thousands of petagrams of carbon were released into the atmosphere and ocean in just a few thousand years, followed by a gradual sequestration over approximately 200,000 years. If silicate weathering is one of the key negative feedbacks that removed this carbon, a period of seawater calcium carbonate saturation greater than pre-event levels is expected during the event's recovery phase. In marine sediments, this should be recorded as a temporary deepening of the depth below which no calcite is preserved - the calcite compensation depth (CCD). Previous and new sedimentary records from sites that were above the pre-PETM calcite compensation depth show enhanced carbonate accumulation following the PETM. A new record from an abyssal site in the North Atlantic that lay below the pre-PETM calcite compensation depth shows a period of carbonate preservation beginning about 70,000 years after the onset of the PETM, providing the first direct evidence for an over-deepening of the calcite compensation depth. This record confirms an overshoot in ocean carbonate saturation during the PETM recovery. Simulations with two earth system models support scenarios for the PETM that involve both a large initial carbon release followed by prolonged low-level emissions, consistent with the timing of CCD deepening in our record. Our findings indicate that sequestration of these carbon emissions was most likely the result of both globally enhanced calcite burial above the calcite compensation depth and, at least in the North Atlantic, by a temporary over-deepening of the calcite compensation depth.