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Climate and carbon cycle interactions during major Earth system changes through the Cenozoic remain unclear. Here, the authors present a combined δ13C-δ18O megasplice for the last 35 Ma which allows them to identify three marked intervals of distinct climate–carbon cycle interactions.

Abstract The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 356 Site U1461 cored a Miocene to Holocene sedimentary sequence in the upper bathyal carbonate offshore northwestern Australia (NWA). The siliciclastic component of these strata is primarily derived from the Australian continent. Radiocarbon dating on macrofossils and planktonic foraminifera shows that the upper 14 m section at Site U1461 preserves Holocene sediments, recording regional climate variability. K/Ca ratios determined by X-ray fluorescence elemental analyses and %K determined by shipboard natural gamma ray analysis are interpreted as indicators of riverine run-off from the Australian continent. We document the consequences of the variability of the Australian Summer Monsoon (ASM) on the continental shelf of NWA. We report an increase in terrigenous input due to a riverine run-off after 11.5 ka, which reaches a maximum at ~ 8.5 ka. This maximum is the result of the enhanced ASM-derived precipitation in response to the southern migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). A decrease in riverine run-off due to a weakening of precipitation in the NWA region after 8.5 ka was caused by the northern migration of the ITCZ. We conclude that the ITCZ reached its southernmost position at 8.5 ka and enhanced precipitation in the NWA region. This Holocene record shows that even during interglacial periods, monsoonal variability was primarily controlled by the position of the ITCZ.

Understanding of Late Devonian mass extinction mechanisms is poor due to imprecise stratigraphies. Here, using cyclostratigraphic techniques, the authors present a global orbitally-calibrated chronology and reveal the key role of astronomically-forced Milankovitch climate change.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21827-8