Search

Reconstructing the strength and depth boundary of oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) in the glacial ocean advances our understanding of how OMZs respond to climate changes. While many efforts have inferred better oxygenation of the glacial Arabian Sea OMZ from qualitative indices, oxygenation and vertical extent of the glacial OMZ is not well quantified. Here we present glacial‐Holocene oxygen reconstructions in a depth transect of Arabian Sea cores ranging from 600 to 3,650 m water depths. We estimate glacial oxygen concentrations using benthic foraminiferal surface porosity and benthic carbon isotope gradient reconstructions. Compared to the modern Arabian Sea, glacial oxygen concentrations were approximately 10–15 μmol/kg higher in the shallow OMZ (<1,000 m), and 5–80 μmol/kg lower at greater depths (1,500–3,650 m). Our results suggest that the OMZ in the glacial Arabian Sea was slightly better oxygenated but remained in the upper 1,000 m. We propose that the small increase in oxygenation of the Arabian Sea OMZ during the last glacial period was due to weaker upper ocean stratification induced by stronger winter monsoon winds coupled with an increase in oxygen solubility due to lower temperatures, counteracting the effects of more oxygen consumption resulting from higher primary productivity. Large‐scale changes in ocean circulation may have also contributed to better ventilation of the glacial Arabian Sea OMZ. Key Points: The glacial Arabian Sea oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) was slightly weaker but spanned the same depth range as modernEnhanced oxygen supply locally and/or from the Southern Ocean likely explained the weaker OMZ in the glacial Arabian SeaBottom water oxygen in the deep glacial Arabian Sea ranged between 50 and 100 μmol/kg [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tibetan Plateau is an important area for studying global climate change, but the answers to many scientific problems remain unknown. Here, we present new information from the lacustrine sedimentary record in the western Tibetan Plateau, related to the third most‐recent glaciations. Continuous sediment data, including sporopollen, particle size, total organic carbon, mass susceptibility, CaCO3, CaSO4, BaSO4 contents and chronological data, were reconstructed and revealed that climate and environmental conditions obviously and distinctly changed between 600 and 700 thousand years ago. In comparison, the data obtained from the Guliya ice core in this area also corresponds to the global glacial climatic characteristics recorded in basin sediments in the eastern and southeastern regions of the plateau and to the information obtained from ice cores in the Antarctic and Arctic regions. In this study, we conclude that the main reason for the glaciations and new tectonic movement must be a geomagnetic polarity reversal 774 thousand years ago (from Matuyama to Brunhes). Indeed, the results of this study suggest that the described reversal event might have influenced the current global climate pattern and will continue to impact climatic changes in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate during the last glacial period was marked by abrupt instability on millennial timescales that included large swings of temperature in and around Greenland (Daansgard–Oeschger events) and smaller, more gradual changes in Antarctica (AIM events). Less is known about the existence and nature of similar variability during older glacial periods, especially during the early Pleistocene when glacial cycles were dominantly occurring at 41 kyr intervals compared to the much longer and deeper glaciations of the more recent period. Here, we report a continuous millennially resolved record of stable isotopes of planktic and benthic foraminifera at IODP Site U1385 (the "Shackleton Site") from the southwestern Iberian margin for the last 1.5 million years, which includes the Middle Pleistocene Transition (MPT). Our results demonstrate that millennial climate variability (MCV) was a persistent feature of glacial climate, both before and after the MPT. Prior to 1.2 Ma in the early Pleistocene, the amplitude of MCV was modulated by the 41 kyr obliquity cycle and increased when axial tilt dropped below 23.5 ∘ and benthic δ18O exceeded ∼3.8 ‰ (corrected to Uvigerina), indicating a threshold response to orbital forcing. Afterwards, MCV became focused mainly on the transitions into and out of glacial states (i.e. inceptions and terminations) and during times of intermediate ice volume. After 1.2 Ma, obliquity continued to play a role in modulating the amplitude of MCV, especially during times of glacial inceptions, which are always associated with declining obliquity. A non-linear role for obliquity is also indicated by the appearance of multiples (82, 123 kyr) and combination tones (28 kyr) of the 41 kyr cycle. Near the end of the MPT (∼0.65 Ma), obliquity modulation of MCV amplitude wanes as quasi-periodic 100 kyr and precession power increase, coinciding with the growth of oversized ice sheets on North America and the appearance of Heinrich layers in North Atlantic sediments. Whereas the planktic δ18O of Site U1385 shows a strong resemblance to Greenland temperature and atmospheric methane (i.e. Northern Hemisphere climate), millennial changes in benthic δ18O closely follow the temperature history of Antarctica for the past 800 kyr. The phasing of millennial planktic and benthic δ18O variation is similar to that observed for MIS 3 throughout much of the record, which has been suggested to mimic the signature of the bipolar seesaw – i.e. an interhemispheric asymmetry between the timing of cooling in Antarctica and warming in Greenland. The Iberian margin isotopic record suggests that bipolar asymmetry was a robust feature of interhemispheric glacial climate variations for at least the past 1.5 Ma despite changing glacial boundary conditions. A strong correlation exists between millennial increases in planktic δ18O (cooling) and decreases in benthic δ13C , indicating that millennial variations in North Atlantic surface temperature are mirrored by changes in deep-water circulation and remineralization of carbon in the abyssal ocean. We find strong evidence that climate variability on millennial and orbital scales is coupled across different timescales and interacts in both directions, which may be important for linking internal climate dynamics and external astronomical forcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a Miocene‐to‐recent history of Tasman Leakage (TL), driving surface‐to‐intermediate waters from the Pacific into the Indian Ocean. TL, in addition to Indonesian ThroughFlow (ITF), constitutes an important part of the Southern Hemisphere Supergyre. Here, we employ deep‐sea benthic δ13C timeseries from the southwestern Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans to identify the history of Tasman Leakage. The δ13C results combined with sedimentary evidence show that an inter‐ocean connection south of Australia existed from 7 Ma onward. A southward shift in Westerlies combined with a northward movement of Australia created the oceanic corridor necessary for Tasman Leakage (between Australia and the sub‐Antarctic Front) at this time. Furthermore, changes in the northern limb of the Supergyre (ITF) are evident in the sedimentary record on Broken Ridge from ∼3 to 2 Ma when Banda Sea intermediate waters started originating from the North Pacific. Plain Language Summary: Global ocean circulation allows for the distribution of heat between different latitudes and different water depths. It has long been understood that much of the return flow from the Pacific to the Atlantic occurs through the Indonesian Throughflow, but more recently, oceanographers have identified another, deeper pathway south of Australia: the Tasman Leakage. This connection consists of Pacific waters that leave the Tasman Sea by flowing southwest around Australia, into the Indian Ocean and ultimately back into the Atlantic. We use carbon isotopes of benthic foraminifera, coupled with sedimentation patterns around Australia and the Indian Ocean, to determine the onset of this new pathway in global thermohaline circulation: This occurred around 7 Ma. This onset was coincident with major global climatic and oceanographic change and was controlled by the position of the Australian continent and the sub‐Antarctic Front. TL onset was only able to occur when Australia had moved far enough north to allow for westward flow. Key Points: Benthic δ13C time‐series from the southwestern Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean suggest onset of Tasman Leakage at 7 MaLatitudinal movement of the Australian continent away from the sub‐Antarctic Front creates the oceanic corridor necessary for Tasman LeakageThe Late Miocene onset of Tasman Leakage completed the Southern Hemisphere Supergyre and ushered in the near‐modern ocean circulation style [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]