Search

The mid-Cretaceous period was one of the warmest intervals of the past 140 million years1–5, driven by atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of around 1,000 parts per million by volume6. In the near absence of proximal geological records from south of the Antarctic Circle, it is disputed whether polar ice could exist under such environmental conditions. Here we use a sedimentary sequence recovered from the West Antarctic shelf—the southernmost Cretaceous record reported so far—and show that a temperate lowland rainforest environment existed at a palaeolatitude of about 82° S during the Turonian–Santonian age (92 to 83 million years ago). This record contains an intact 3-metre-long network of in situ fossil roots embedded in a mudstone matrix containing diverse pollen and spores. A climate model simulation shows that the reconstructed temperate climate at this high latitude requires a combination of both atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations of 1,120–1,680 parts per million by volume and a vegetated land surface without major Antarctic glaciation, highlighting the important cooling effect exerted by ice albedo under high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Changes in heat transport associated with fluctuations in the strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) are widely considered to affect the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), but the temporal immediacy of this teleconnection has to date not been resolved. Based on a high‐resolution marine sediment sequence over the last deglaciation, we provide evidence for a synchronous and near‐linear link between changes in the Atlantic interhemispheric sea surface temperature difference and continental precipitation over northeast Brazil. The tight coupling between AMOC strength, sea surface temperature difference, and precipitation changes over northeast Brazil unambiguously points to a rapid and proportional adjustment of the ITCZ location to past changes in the Atlantic meridional heat transport. Precipitation over the Parnaíba watershed increased with decreasing AMOC during Heinrich stadial 1The ITCZ location over northeastern Brazil changed in proportion to the Atlantic interhemispheric temperature gradientOff northeastern Brazil, the highest sediment discharge occurred during the transition from semiarid LGM to the wetter Heinrich stadial 1

Summary: The Silurian of Gotland is characterized by repeated changes in depositional facies development. The deposition of uniform sequences of micritic limestones and marls was interrupted four times by the growth of reef complexes and the formation of expanded carbonate platforms. Coinciding with these, often abrupt, facies changes extinction events occurred which predominantly affected nektonic and planktonic organisms. Ratios of carbon- and oxygen-isotopes covary with the facies development. Periods in which the deposition of limestonemarl alternations prevailed are characterized by relatively low C- and O-isotope values. During periods of enhanced reef growth isotope values are high. For these changes,Bickert et al. (1997) assume climatic changes between humid “H-periods”, with estuarine circulation systems and cutrophic surface waters with decreased salinity in marginal seas, and arid “A-periods”, with an antiestuarine circulation and oligotrophic, stronger saline surface waters. In order to separate local and regional influences on the isotopic development from the global trend, the interactions between facies formation and isotope record have to be clarified. For this purpose, the patterns of isotope values in the upper part of the Silurian sequence on Gotland (upper Wenlock —upper Ludlow) has been determined and stratigraphically correlated along four transects through different facies areas. Facies formation during this time interval was investigated by differentiation and mapping of twelve facies complexes in the southern part of Gotland. These include shelf areas, reef complexes with patch reefs and biostromes, backreef facies, and marginal-marine deposits. The good correspondence between the carbon-isotope records of the four transects suggests that local environmental conditions in the different facies areas did not influence the δ13C values. Therefore, a supra-regional or even global mechanism for the C-isotope variations is likely. In contrast to carbon istopes, the oxygen-isotope values of the four transects generally show parallel trends, but higher variabilities and in parts distinctly deviating developments with a trend to more negative values. These are interpreted as an effect of local warming in small shallow-water areas which developed during arid periods in reef complexes and backreef areas. The boundaries between A-periods and H-periods, as defined by δ13C values, which are interpreted as isochrones, can be mapped. From the upper Homerian to the Pridolian six parastratigraphic isotope zones are defined which only partly match the stratigraphic division ofHede (1942, 1960). The isotope stratigraphy results in an improved correlation between the shallow and marginal-marine areas in the eastern part of Gotland and the uniform shelf areas at the west coast of the island. Furthermore, a detailed relationship between the development of carbon and oxygen isotope ratios, the carbonate facies formation, and the succession of palaeontological events could be observed. At the transition from H-periods to A-periods, major extinction events occurred prior to the first increase of δ13C and δ18O values. Extinction events affected conodonts, graptolites, acritarchs, chitinozoans, and vertebrates and resulted in impoverished nektonic and planktonic communities. The reef-building benthos was less affected. Parallel to a first slight increase of isotope values, facies began to change, and reefs developed in suitable locations. The subsequent rapid increase of C- and O-isotope values occurred contemporarily with strong facies changes and a short-term drop of sea-level. Oligotrophic conditions in the later stages of A-periods led to strong reef growth and to an expansion of carbonate platforms. The transitions from A-periods to H-periods were more gradual. The δ13C values decreased slowly, but reef growth continued. Later the reefs retreated and were covered by the prograding depositional facies of shelf areas. The diversity of planktonic and nektonic communities increased again. The close relationship between facies formation, palaeontological events and isotope records in the Silurian suggests common steering mechanisms but gives no indication of the causes for the repeated extincion events related to H-period/A-period transitions. Especially the observation, that strong extinctions occurred prior to changes of isotope values and facies, points to causes that left no signals in the geological record. Hypothetical causes like collapse of trophical nets, anoxias, or cooling events are not evident in the sediment record or do not fit into the regular succession of period transitions.

States that South Pacific is one of the best places to obtain unadulterated records of ice mass in solving the mystery of the quaternary ice age. Level of change in temperature from glacial maxima to glacial minima; Record of ice-mass fluctuations over the last two million years; Simulation of the ice-record using data from the Ontong Java Plateau.

Abstract: We provide a reconstruction of atmospheric CO2 from deep-sea sediments, for the past 625000 years (Milankovitch chron). Our database consists of a Milankovitch template of sea-level variation in combination with a unique data set for the deep-sea record for Ontong Java plateau in the western equatorial Pacific. We redate the Vostok ice-core data of Barnola et al. (1987). To make the reconstructions we employ multiple regression between deep-sea data, on one hand, and ice-core CO2 data in Antarctica, on the other. The patterns of correlation suggest that the main factors controlling atmospheric CO2 can be described as a combination of sea-level state and sea-level change. For best results squared values of state and change are used. The square-of-sea-level rule agrees with the concept that shelf processes are important modulators of atmospheric CO2 (e.g., budgets of shelf organic carbon and shelf carbonate, nitrate reduction). The square-of-change rule implies that, on short timescales, any major disturbance of the system results in a temporary rise in atmospheric CO2.

We provide a reconstruction of atmospheric CO from deep-sea sediments, for the past 625000 years (Milankovitch chron). Our database consists of a Milankovitch template of sea-level variation in combination with a unique data set for the deep-sea record for Ontong Java plateau in the western equatorial Pacific. We redate the Vostok ice-core data of Barnola et al. (1987). To make the reconstructions we employ multiple regression between deep-sea data, on one hand, and ice-core CO data in Antarctica, on the other. The patterns of correlation suggest that the main factors controlling atmospheric CO can be described as a combination of sea-level state and sea-level change. For best results squared values of state and change are used. The square-of-sea-level rule agrees with the concept that shelf processes are important modulators of atmospheric CO (e.g., budgets of shelf organic carbon and shelf carbonate, nitrate reduction). The square-of-change rule implies that, on short timescales, any major disturbance of the system results in a temporary rise in atmospheric CO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermocline‐dwelling foraminifera calcify over a depth range of several hundred meters; analysis of individual shells therefore allows insight to the hydrography of the upper water column. We analyzed δ18O, δ13C, and Mg/Ca of individual tests of the planktonic foraminifera Globorotalia inflatafrom a sediment core (GeoB7926‐2) obtained from 20°N in the eastern tropical Atlantic. To facilitate sample throughput, tests were cleaned before Mg/Ca analysis using a pipette robot. The eight samples came from five time periods with contrasting climate states. Median reconstructed temperatures were lowest during the warmth of the Bølling Allerød BA) (11.8°C), while highest temperatures (>14°C) were recorded during the cold periods of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), late Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1), and the Younger Dryas (YD). Southward shift in the subtropical gyre during Northern Hemisphere cold periods and modulation by upwelling could explain the temperature change but not all of the salinity change. δ18Oseawater‐IVCindicated that salinity was higher than the global average during the LGM, with very high salinity excursions in HS1 and a smaller excursion in the YD. The upwelling signature was most strongly imprinted on range in δ13C. The large changes in salinity and δ13C between time slices cannot be explained by upwelling intensity but indicate the presence of a very saline water mass, with low δ13C, in the eastern North Atlantic subsurface during Northern Hemisphere cold periods. Mg/Ca and stable isotope data from single tests of Globorotalia inflataindicate warm and saline central waters off NW Africa during the Last Glacial Maximum, Heinrich Stadial 1, and the Younger DryasHigh salinity and low δ13C indicate a change in water mass properties over the last 22 kaReduced standard deviation of individual δ13C values within a sample is indicative of increased upwelling