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Precisely targeted measurements of trace elements using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) reveal inter-chamber heterogeneities in specimens of the planktic foraminifer Trilobatus (Globigerinoides) sacculifer. We find that Mg/Ca ratios in the final growth chamber are generally lower compared to previous growth chambers, but final chamber Mg/Ca is elevated in one of thirteen sample intervals. Differences in distributions of Mg/Ca values from separate growth chambers are observed, occurring most often at lower Mg/Ca values, suggesting that single-chamber measurements may not be reflective of the specimen’s integrated Mg/Ca. We compared LA-ICPMS Mg/Ca values to paired, same-individual Mg/Ca measured via inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) to assess their correspondence. Paired LA-ICPMS and ICP-OES Mg/Ca show a maximum correlation coefficient of R = 0.92 (p

The Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) plays a crucial role in influencing climate dynamics both in the tropics and globally. Yet, there is an ongoing controversy concerning the evolution of surface temperatures in the IPWP since the Pliocene, which is fueled by contradictory proxy evidence. Temperature reconstructions using TEX86 indicate a gradual cooling by ∼2°C from the Pliocene to today while Mg/Ca-based studies using planktonic foraminifera do not report any long-term trends. A bias in Mg/Ca records due to seawater chemistry changes has been suggested as an explanation for this proxy mismatch. Here, we present data from two independent foraminifera-based temperature proxies, Mg/Ca and clumped isotopes (Δ47), measured on the same samples from IODP Site U1488 in the IPWP. We reconstructed mixed layer and subsurface temperatures and find very good agreement among Mg/Ca and Δ47 when applying a minor correction for changing Mg/Ca ratios of seawater. Diagenetic effects could influence Δ47 but the evaluation of foraminifera preservation at Site U1488 suggests that this effect is unlikely to have masked a long-term trend in the data. While remaining uncertainties prevent us from fully ruling out particular hypotheses, our study adds evidence that mixed layer temperatures likely did not cool substantially, while subsurface temperatures cooled more strongly since the Pliocene. The substantial Pleistocene cooling previously observed in TEX86 data is consistent with this finding when interpreting it as a combined surface and subsurface signal. publishedVersion

International audience; Introduction 5 Sedimentology 11 Biostratigraphy 20 Paleomagnetism 22 Geochemistry 25 Physical properties 31 Downhole measurements 32 Stratigraphic correlation 34 References

Several North Pacific studies of the last deglaciation show hypoxia throughout the ocean margins and attribute this phenomenon to the effects of abrupt warming and meltwater inputs. Yet, because of the lack of long records spanning multiple glacial cycles and deglaciation events, it is unclear whether deoxygenation was a regular occurrence of warming events and whether deglaciation and/or other conditions promoted hypoxia throughout time. Here, subarctic Pacific laminated sediments from the past 1.2 million years demonstrate that hypoxic events recurred throughout the Pleistocene as episodes of highly productive phytoplankton growth and were generally associated with interglacial climates, high sea levels, and enhanced nitrate utilization-but not with deglaciations. We suggest that hypoxia was typically stimulated by high productivity from iron fertilization facilitated by redox-remobilized iron from flooded continental shelves.

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the world’s strongest zonal current system, connects all three major ocean basins of the global ocean and therefore integrates and responds to global climate variability. Its flow is largely driven by strong westerly winds and is constricted to its narrowest extent in the Drake Passage. Fresh and cold Pacific surface and intermediate water flowing through the Drake Passage (cold-water route) and warm Indian Ocean water masses flowing through the Agulhas region (warm-water route) are critical for the South Atlantic contribution to Meridional Overturning Circulation changes. Furthermore, physical and biological processes associated with the ACC affect the strength of the ocean carbon pump and therefore are critical to feedbacks linking atmospheric CO2 concentrations, ocean circulation, and climate/cryosphere on a global scale. In contrast to the Atlantic and Indian sectors of the ACC, and with the exception of drill cores from the Antarctic continental margin and off New Zealand, there are no deep-sea drilling paleoceanographic records from the Pacific sector of the ACC. To advance our understanding of Miocene to Holocene atmosphere-ocean-cryosphere dynamics in the Pacific and their implications for regional and global climate and atmospheric CO2, International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 383 recovered sedimentary sequences at (1) three sites in the central South Pacific (CSP) (U1539, U1540, and U1541), (2) two sites at the Chilean margin (U1542 and U1544), and (3) one site from the pelagic eastern South Pacific (U1543) close to the entrance to the Drake Passage. Because of persistently stormy conditions and the resulting bad weather avoidance, we were not successful in recovering the originally planned Proposed Site CSP-3A in the Polar Frontal Zone of the CSP. The drilled sediments at Sites U1541 and U1543 reach back to the late Miocene, and those at Site U1540 reach back to the early Pliocene. High sedimentation rate sequences reaching back to the early Pleistocene (Site U1539) and the late Pleistocene (Sites U1542 and U1544) were recovered in both the CSP and at the Chilean margin. Taken together, the sites represent a depth transect from ~1100 m at Chilean margin Site U1542 to ~4070 m at CSP Site U1539 and allow investigation of changes in the vertical structure of the ACC, a key issue for understanding the role of the Southern Ocean in the global carbon cycle. The sites are located at latitudes and water depths where sediments will allow the application of a wide range of siliciclastic-, carbonate-, and opal-based proxies to address our objectives of reconstructing, with unprecedented stratigraphic detail, surface to deep-ocean variations and their relation to atmosphere and cryosphere changes.

We explore archaeal distribution and environmental niche differentiation in sedimentary subseafloor habitats of Guaymas Basin and the adjacent Sonora Margin, located in the Gulf of California, México. Specifically, we survey diverse subseafloor habitats on the Guaymas Basin flanking regions that are extending from the spreading center, termed here “off-axis” sites. Sampling locations include (i) control sediments without hydrothermal or seep influence, (ii) Sonora Margin sediments underlying oxygen minimum zone water, (iii) compacted, highly reduced sediments from a pressure ridge with numerous seeps at the base of the Sonora Margin, and (iv) sediments impacted by hydrothermal circulation at the off-axis Ringvent site. Generally, archaeal 16S rRNA gene datasets are largely comprised of Bathyarchaeal lineages, members of the Hadesarchaea, MBG-D, TMEG, and ANME-1 groups. The most frequently observed 25 OTUs belong to members of these lineages, and correspond to approx. 40 to 80% of the sequence dataset in each sediment sample. Differential distribution patterns of these archaeal groups in downcore sediments uniquely characterize each major sedimentary environment. Variations in archaeal community composition reflect locally specific environmental challenges throughout the greater Guaymas Basin area. Background sediments are divided into surface and subsurface niches, reflecting increased selection of the archaeal community downcore. In sum, the environmental setting and history of a particular site, not isolated biogeochemical properties out of context, control the subseafloor archaeal communities in Guaymas Basin and Sonora Margin sediments.

During IODP Expedition 363, a hemipelagic sediment succession was retrieved for the first time off NW Australia (Site U1483: 13°5.24ʹS, 121°48.25ʹE, water depth: 1733 m, sedimentation rate: ~10 cm/kyr). This carbonate- and clay-rich sequence provides an ideal archive to monitor intensity and variability of the Australian Monsoon (AM) and to better constrain monsoon sensitivity to changes in radiative forcing. Due to the location at the southern edge of the largest amplitude seasonal swing of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) within the large-scale Asian-Australian monsoon system, the AM subsystem is sensitive to tropical hydroclimate variability. However, this sensitivity to changing climate boundary conditions such as ice volume and greenhouse gas concentrations remain poorly understood across the Calabrian, in the Pleistocene Epoch (add ages?). Here we report on benthic foraminiferal assemblages as a tracer for terrigenous runoff (Austral Summer monsoon precipitation). We find shallow, fresh water-tolerant to transitional environments species Bolivina striatula, Buliminella elegantissima, Dentalina spp., Oolina sp., and paleo productivity indicator Melonis spp (winter monsoon wind-driven upwelling) from 1.34 Ma. through 1.61Ma. Principl component analysis (PCA) indicates that Melonis is present in 4 out of 5 PCA axes. It prefers organic matter in a more altered form, and migrates in the sediment depending on the quality of the organic matter supply and remineralization, which indicates surface upwelling during this time. The genera Stilostomella spp. is present in 3 out of 5 axes, and it is indicative of intermediate water temperature. These records will be compared to C org wt (%), TN wt (%) and a benthic foraminiferal stable isotope record to related faunal patterns to carbon cycling and global climate.

Accurate stable isotope stratigraphies are essential for understanding how past climates are influenced by orbital forcing. Deep-sea benthic foraminiferal δ18O and δ13C stratigraphies can provide precise astronomical age control and record changes in past deep-sea ocean temperatures, global ice volume and the carbon cycle. Our understanding of Plio-Pleistocene climate dynamics has improved through the development of global (LR04; Lisiecki & Raymo, 2005) and regional stacks (Ceara Rise; Wilkens et al., 2017). However, the late Miocene climate system remains poorly understood, in part because the late Miocene benthic foraminiferal δ18O stratigraphy is notoriously low amplitude.Here, we present the first global late Miocene global benthic foraminiferal δ18O compilation spanning 8.00-5.33 Ma. We formed a “Base Stack” using six continuous benthic stratigraphies from the Atlantic (ODP Sites 982 (N), 926 (E) and 1264 (S)) and Pacific Oceans (IODP Sites U1337 and U1338 (E), ODP Site 1146 (W)). To avoid misidentification of individual excursions between sites, we verified existing splices, generated isotope data where necessary and established independent astrochronologies. To accompany the “Base Stack”, we compiled a “Comprehensive Stack”, which incorporates single-hole benthic δ18O stratigraphies to optimise global coverage.The new global late Miocene benthic foraminiferal δ18O stack represents a stratigraphic reference section back to 8.00 Ma. The stack is accurately tied to the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale between Chrons C3r and C4n.2n using the magnetostratigraphy from IODP Site U1337. We recognise 68 new δ18O Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) between 7.7 and 6.5 Ma. An exceptional global response is imprinted on the dispersed sites between 7.7-6.9 & 6.4-5.4 Ma, when a strong 40 kyr heartbeat dominates the climate system. The origin of these cycles remains unclear. The influence of deep-sea temperature on the benthic δ18O stack is explored at IODP Site U1337 using Mg/Ca data. The dominant 40-kyr δ18O cycles are asymmetric, suggesting at least a partial ice volume imprint and raising the possibility that these cycles relate to early signs of northern hemisphere glaciation.

As the largest modern reservoir of oceanic heat, the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) plays an important role in atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns. Little is known about how regional deposition patterns have changed over the past 10 Ma. To understand the interplay between regional processes and global climate evolution in the WPWP, we explore the late Neogene evolution of biogenic (carbonate/siliceous) versus terrigenous deposition.We collected high-resolution (2 cm/~0.5 kyr) X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning data at IODP Site U1488 (Exp. 363) in the central WPWP. These data were especially useful for estimating the carbonate, siliceous and terrigenous components below 65 m CCSF, where the shipboard track data were less robust. The shipboard splice was verified and revised using the Ba/Sr ratio to ensure a continuous composite section down to ~330 m revised CCSF-A at Site U1488. Fe and Si likely reflect terrigenous and partially biogenic silica components. We calibrated the high-resolution ln(Ca/K) record to %CaCO3 using discrete shipboard %CaCO3 measurements.Fe and Si decrease, whilst ln(Ca/K) increases downcore, in agreement with shipboard data showing increasing %CaCO3 and decreasing terrigenous/siliceous input­. During the late Pleistocene, the site shows high amplitude %CaCO3, Fe and Si cycles superimposed on low carbonate. The amplitude decreases during the early Pleistocene-mid Pliocene, although clear variability remains. The early Pliocene-late Miocene is dominated by high CaCO3 (80-90%). The %CaCO3, Fe and Si variability is considerably reduced, although clear obliquity-precession interference patterns are visible, in addition to longer-term ~400 kyr eccentricity modulation. The high-carbonate interval at IODP Site U1488 likely reflects the early Pliocene to late Miocene Biogenic Bloom (LMBB). The expression of the LMBB in the WPWP is distinctly different to the Atlantic and eastern equatorial Pacific. This indicates that although productivity was enhanced during the late Miocene-early Pliocene, regional processes determined the exact expression and timing of the LMBB in different areas.

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is highly dependent on coupled atmosphere-ocean interactions and feedbacks, suggesting a tight relationship between ENSO strength and background climate conditions. However, the extent to which background climate state determines ENSO behavior remains in question. Here we present reconstructions of total variability and El Niño amplitude from individual foraminifera distributions at discrete time intervals over the past ~285,000 years across varying atmospheric CO2 levels, global ice volume and sea level, and orbital insolation forcing. Our results show a strong correlation between eastern tropical Pacific Ocean mixed-layer thickness and both El Niño amplitude and central Pacific variability. This ENSO-thermocline relationship implicates upwelling feedbacks as the major factor controlling ENSO strength on millennial time scales. The primacy of the upwelling feedback in shaping ENSO behavior across many different background states suggests accurate quantification and modeling of this feedback is essential for predicting ENSO’s behavior under future climate conditions., How the El Niño Southern Oscillation depends on the background conditions is not well known. Here, the authors present individual foraminifera distributions which show that central Pacific variability is related to the warmth and depth of the thermocline across varying climate background conditions over the past ~285,000 years.

The Guaymas Basin spreading center, at 2000 m depth in the Gulf of California, is overlain by a thick sedimentary cover. Across the basin, localized temperature anomalies, with active methane venting and seep fauna exist in response to magma emplacement into sediments. These sites evolve over thousands of years as magma freezes into doleritic sills and the system cools. Although several cool sites resembling cold seeps have been characterized, the hydrothermally active stage of an off-axis site was lacking good examples. Here, we present a multidisciplinary characterization of Ringvent, an ~1 km wide circular mound where hydrothermal activity persists ~28 km northwest of the spreading center. Ringvent provides a new type of intermediate-stage hydrothermal system where off-axis hydrothermal activity has attenuated since its formation, but remains evident in thermal anomalies, hydrothermal biota coexisting with seep fauna, and porewater biogeochemical signatures indicative of hydrothermal circulation. Due to their broad potential distribution, small size and limited life span, such sites are hard to find and characterize, but they provide critical missing links to understand the complex evolution of hydrothermal systems.

High latitude deep water upwelling has the potential to control global climate over glacial timescales through the biological pump and ocean-atmosphere CO2 exchange. However, there is currently a lack of continuous long nutrient upwelling records with which to assess this mechanism. Here we present geochemical proxy records for nutrient upwelling and glacial North Pacific Intermediate Water (GNPIW) formation in the Bering Sea over the past 850 kyr, which demonstrates that glacial periods were characterised by reduced nutrient upwelling, when global atmospheric CO2 and temperature were also lowered. We suggest that glacial expansion of sea ice in the Bering Sea, and the simultaneous expansion of low nutrient GNPIW, inhibited vertical mixing and nutrient supply across the subarctic Pacific Ocean. Our findings lend support to the suggestion that high latitude sea ice and the resultant intermediate water formation, modulated deep water upwelling and ocean-atmosphere CO2 exchange on glacial-interglacial timescales.

Sea surface temperature (SST) of the eastern equatorial Pacific is a key component of tropical oceanic and atmospheric circulation with global teleconnections. Forcing factors such as local and high-latitude insolation changes, ice sheet size and albedo feedbacks, and greenhouse gas radiation have been proposed as controls of long-term eastern tropical Pacific SST, though the precise role each mechanism plays is not fully known on glacial-interglacial or longer timescales. Here proposed mechanisms are evaluated by comparing orbital-scale records of eastern Pacific SST with forcing variability over the past 1.5 Ma. The primary SST records are a compilation of new and existing data from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1239 at the northeastern margin of the modern eastern Pacific cold tongue and Site 846 SST within the cold tongue. Using time series analysis, we test previously proposed mechanisms for control of long-term tropical SST change and SST gradients in the eastern Pacific. We find that within statistical uncertainties, in the precession band eastern Pacific SST is consistent with direct forcing by equatorial radiation changes in the tropical cold season (summer-fall) rather than inversely correlated as previously suggested. In the obliquity band high-latitude solar forcing leads or is in phase with eastern equatorial Pacific SST, while in the eccentricity band atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations are closely associated with cold tongue SST. Pleistocene eastern Pacific SST gradients indicate that the gradient on the northern margin of the cold tongue strengthened through the mid-Pleistocene transition, a result compatible with the cold tongue becoming more focused at ~900–650 ka.

Site U1341 in the southern Bering Sea was drilled and cored down to 600 meters below sea-floor (mbsf) during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 323, covering a nearly complete record of the last 4.3 million years (Myrs). Analyses of the biogenic opal content of sediments at the site provide detailed and useful information on past biological productivity and paleoceanographic changes that occurred in the region including shifts in the oceanographic condition during the intensification of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation (NHG) and the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT). An overall decreasing trend in the %biogenic opal record, combined with evidence from microfossil assemblages, indicates a gradual shift in environmental conditions during the last 4.3 Myrs, from warm and nutrient-rich conditions to cool conditions with sea-ice. On the other hand, biogenic opal mass accumulation rates (MAR) were high during 2.6–2.1 Ma after the intensification of the NHG, unlike in the western North Pacific. High biological productivity during this specific interval is consistent with the results of previous studies in the other Marginal Seas, possibly suggesting that iron leakage from the Bering Continental Shelf occurred. After the MPT, the data suggest that there was sea-ice expansion and discharge of lithogenic matter during glacial periods, and high productivity during interglacial periods.

During Expedition 323 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program to the Bering Sea (July 5–September 4, 2009), three sites were drilled along the Bering Sea northeastern continental margin [U1343 down to 745 meters below sea floor (mbsf), U1344 (745 mbsf), U1345 (150 mbsf)]. Diagenetic carbonates are present at all sites within the clayey, diatom-rich oozes of the Bering Sea, where pore waters are also characterized by extremely high methane concentrations. We here present mineralogical, elemental and isotopic data obtained from the authigenic carbonate-rich intercalations within the clay-rich Pleistocene sediments deposited along the Bering Sea continental margin. The mineralogy of the authigenic carbonates is generally represented by composite mixtures of very small crystals of magnesian calcite, dolomite, and iron-rich carbonates, with the latter phases occurring below 260 mbsf at Site U1343, below 200 mbsf at Site U1344, and below 130 mbsf at Site U1345. Element geochemistry shows that Ca, Mg, Fe, Ba, Mn, Sr and U are enriched in the carbonate-rich intercalations relative to the background sediments due to their incorporation into the carbonates and into other authigenic phases (e.g., barite and pyrite). The oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions of the authigenic carbonate minerals show that they were sequentially precipitated from pore waters at different temperatures (i.e., different burial depths) and with different isotopic compositions of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). The authigenic Mg-calcite precipitated early during diagenesis and shallow burial from a 13 C-depleted DIC pool, whereas dolomite and Fe-rich carbonates formed during later diagenesis and deeper burial from a 13 C-enriched DIC pool. These authigenic carbonate occurrences are interpreted as resulting from microbial sulfate reduction combined with anaerobic oxidation of methane, and methanogenesis that was intimately linked to the alteration of silicates, especially iron-rich clay minerals.

The equatorial Pacific Ocean is one of the major high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll regions in the global ocean. In such regions, the consumption of the available macro-nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate is thought to be limited in part by the low abundance of the critical micro-nutrient iron. Greater atmospheric dust deposition could have fertilized the equatorial Pacific with iron during the last ice age--the Last Glacial Period (LGP)--but the effect of increased ice-age dust fluxes on primary productivity in the equatorial Pacific remains uncertain. Here we present meridional transects of dust (derived from the (232)Th proxy), phytoplankton productivity (using opal, (231)Pa/(230)Th and excess Ba), and the degree of nitrate consumption (using foraminifera-bound δ(15)N) from six cores in the central equatorial Pacific for the Holocene (0-10,000 years ago) and the LGP (17,000-27,000 years ago). We find that, although dust deposition in the central equatorial Pacific was two to three times greater in the LGP than in the Holocene, productivity was the same or lower, and the degree of nitrate consumption was the same. These biogeochemical findings suggest that the relatively greater ice-age dust fluxes were not large enough to provide substantial iron fertilization to the central equatorial Pacific. This may have been because the absolute rate of dust deposition in the LGP (although greater than the Holocene rate) was very low. The lower productivity coupled with unchanged nitrate consumption suggests that the subsurface major nutrient concentrations were lower in the central equatorial Pacific during the LGP. As these nutrients are today dominantly sourced from the Subantarctic Zone of the Southern Ocean, we propose that the central equatorial Pacific data are consistent with more nutrient consumption in the Subantarctic Zone, possibly owing to iron fertilization as a result of higher absolute dust fluxes in this region. Thus, ice-age iron fertilization in the Subantarctic Zone would have ultimately worked to lower, not raise, equatorial Pacific productivity.

The relationship between climate, biological productivity, and nutrient flux is of considerable interest in the subarctic Pacific, which represents an important high-nitrate, low-chlorophyll region. While previous studies suggest that changes in iron supply and/or physical ocean stratification could hypothetically explain orbital-scale fluctuations in subarctic Pacific nutrient utilization and productivity, previous records of nutrient utilization are too short to evaluate these relationships over many glacial-interglacial cycles. We present new, high-resolution records of sedimentary δ15N, which offer the first opportunity to evaluate systematic, orbital-scale variations in subarctic Pacific nitrate utilization from 1.2 Ma. Nitrate utilization was enhanced during all glacials, varied with orbital-scale periodicity since the mid-Pleistocene transition, was strongly correlated with enhanced aeolian dust and low atmospheric CO2, but was not correlated with productivity. These results suggest that glacial stratification, rather than iron fertilization, systematically exerted an important regional control on nutrient utilization and air-sea carbon flux.

Export production is an important component of the carbon cycle, modulating the climate system by transferring CO2 from the atmosphere to the deep ocean via the biological pump. Here we use barite accumulation rates to reconstruct export production in the eastern equatorial Pacific over the past 4.3 Ma. We find that export production fluctuated considerably on multiple time scales. Export production was on average higher (51 g C m−2 yr−1) during the Pliocene than the Pleistocene (40 g C m−2 yr−1), decreasing between 3 and 1 Ma (from more than 60 to 20 g C m−2 yr−1) followed by an increase over the last million years. These trends likely reflect basin-scale changes in nutrient inventory and ocean circulation. Our record reveals decoupling between export production and temperatures on these long (million years) time scale. On orbital time scales, export production was generally higher during cold periods (glacial maxima) between 4.3 and 1.1 Ma. This could be due to stronger wind stress and higher upwelling rates during glacial periods. A shift in the timing of maximum export production to deglaciations is seen in the last ~1.1 million years. Results from this study suggest that, in the eastern equatorial Pacific, mechanisms that affect nutrient supply and/or ecosystem structure and in turn carbon export on orbital time scales differ from those operating on longer time scales and that processes linking export production and climate-modulated oceanic conditions changed about 1.1 million years ago. These observations should be accounted for in climate models to ensure better predictions of future climate change.

The Bering Strait provides a shallow connection that allows freshwater to flow from the North Pacific into the North Atlantic, but this passage was closed during past glacials when sea level was at least 50 m lower than at present. Climate models investigating Bering Strait closure predict that this mechanism increases the salinity in the North Atlantic and reduces the salinity in the North Pacific, inducing a Pacific-Atlantic seesaw in meridional overturning circulation and poleward heat flux. However, the Pacific circulation response to Bering Strait closure, and thus the seesaw theory, has not been tested by long paleoceanographic records. We present long records of foraminiferal δ18O and δ13C from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1342 in the Bering Sea, which provide the first evidence of enhanced North Pacific Intermediate Water when the Bering Strait was closed during each of the extreme glacials of the last 1.2 Myr. These results suggest that orbital-scale variations in North Pacific Intermediate Water are coherent and in phase with variations in upper North Atlantic Deep Water, but are unrelated to changes in lower North Atlantic Deep Water. Together, these results provide evidence for systematic, orbital-scale variability in North Pacific Ocean circulation and may challenge the idea of an orbital-scale Pacific-Atlantic seesaw.

Summary We explore archaeal distributions in sedimentary subseafloor habitats of Guaymas Basin and the adjacent Sonora Margin, located in the Gulf of California, México. Sampling locations include (1) control sediments without hydrothermal or seep influence, (2) Sonora Margin sediments underlying oxygen minimum zone water, (3) compacted, highly reduced sediments from a pressure ridge with numerous seeps at the base of the Sonora Margin, and (4) sediments impacted by hydrothermal circulation at the off-axis Ringvent site. Generally, archaeal communities largely comprise Bathyarchaeal lineages, members of the Hadesarchaea, MBG-D, TMEG, and ANME-1 groups. Variations in archaeal community composition reflect locally specific environmental challenges. Background sediments are divided into surface and subsurface niches. Overall, the environmental setting and history of a particular site, not isolated biogeochemical properties out of context, control the subseafloor archaeal communities in Guaymas Basin and Sonora Margin sediments., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Archaeal community composition reflects locally specific environmental challenges • Biogeochemical properties do not predict archaeal community structure • Environmental history controls subseafloor archaeal populations, Earth Sciences; Biogeochemistry; Microbiology

We report the differences between δ15N of organic nitrogen bound in foraminifera tests (foraminifera‐bound δ15N, or FB‐δ15N), which is considered an effective recorder of thermocline nitrate δ15N in the oligotrophic areas, and bulk sedimentary δ15N (δ15Nbulk) of core MD12‐3433, located in the northern South China Sea (SCS), to explore possible causes of the offset between these two proxies in the SCS. The offset can be best explained by the influence of the terrigenous input on δ15Nbulk, as evidenced by its general correlation with sea level changes, C:N ratios, and inorganic nitrogen contribution to total nitrogen. Moreover, our new record is compared to six previously published δ15Nbulk records of the SCS based on their geographical proximity to the mainland or large rivers, which all show being influenced by terrigenous input. The effect of changes in vertical mixing is evaluated and believed to play a minor role on the general pattern of FB‐δ15N, while N2 fixation is the most important impact on FB‐δ15N records in the SCS as previously studies revealed. A deeper mixed layer during the last glacial period could result in nitrate with higher δ15N from the subsurface being mixed into the euphotic zone. FB‐δ15N of Orbulina universa have higher values than Globigerinoides ruber and Globigerinoides sacculifer, with a maximum difference in the last glacial maximum, which could be accounted for by its deeper habitat where it is sensitive to changes in the contributions of vertically mixed subsurface nitrate relative to nitrate from N2 fixation.

The continental shelves are the most biologically dynamic regions of the ocean, and they are extensive worldwide, especially in the western North Pacific. Their area has varied dramatically over the glacial/interglacial cycles of the last million years, but the effects of this variation on ocean biological and chemical processes remain poorly understood. Conversion of nitrate to N2 by denitrification in sediments accounts for half or more of the removal of biologically available nitrogen (“fixed N”) from the ocean. The emergence of continental shelves during ice ages and their flooding during interglacials have been hypothesized to drive changes in sedimentary denitrification. Denitrification leads to the occurrence of phosphorus-bearing, N-depleted surface waters, which encourages N2 fixation, the dominant N input to the ocean. An 860,000-y record of foraminifera shell-bound N isotopes from the South China Sea indicates that N2 fixation covaried with sea level. The N2 fixation changes are best explained as a response to changes in regional excess phosphorus supply due to sea level-driven variations in shallow sediment denitrification associated with the cyclic drowning and emergence of the continental shelves. This hypothesis is consistent with a glacial ocean that hosted globally lower rates of fixed N input and loss and a longer residence time for oceanic fixed N—a “sluggish” ocean N budget during ice ages. In addition, this work provides a clear sign of sea level-driven glacial/interglacial oscillations in biogeochemical fluxes at and near the ocean margins, with implications for coastal organisms and ecosystems.

Biogenic opal content and mass accumulation rate (MAR) at IODP Expedition 323 Site U1343 were found to fluctuate consistently, generally being high under warm conditions and low under cold conditions during the last 2.4 Ma. Continuous wavelet transform analysis of the normalized biogenic opal content indicates that export production in the Bering Sea varied predominantly at 41-ka periodicity before 1.25 Ma, and shifted to 100-ka periodicity at the onset of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT; 1.25–0.7 Ma). The 100-ka cycles dominated until the Holocene. Export production in the Bering Sea decreased markedly in the Bering Sea two times during the MPT: the first occurred at the beginning of the MPT (1.25 Ma) and the second in the middle of the MPT (0.9 Ma). These decreases coincided with both increases in the relative abundance of sea-ice diatoms and decreases in the warm-water diatom species Neodenticula seminae, indicating that reductions in export production in the Bering Sea during the MPT were associated with climate cooling. Decreases in export production in the Bering Sea during the MPT were most likely associated with the increased influence of polar/Arctic domains on the high-latitude North Pacific.

Amongst the rivers draining the mountainous islands of the Indonesian Archipelago, the Sepik River of Papua New Guinea is the largest contributor of solute and particulate material to the world ocean. Sites U1484 and U1485, drilled during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 363 provide a continuous, ~555 kyr long, high-resolution record of mainly siliciclastic slope sedimentation on the northern continental margin of PNG, just offshore the mouth of the Sepik River. Sedimentological analysis, based on a combination of smear slide petrography, particle size analysis, high-resolution physical properties track data and visual core description, offers an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the evolution of this major tropical river throughout changing climate and sea-level conditions during the mid- to late Pleistocene. The Sites U1484 and U1485 sediment records exhibit a dramatic lithologic change at ~ 370 ka: the oldest deposits are dominated by pelagic mud, suggesting that the coarser-grained terrigenous discharge from rivers draining the New Guinea Highlands (including a “proto” Sepik River) was captured before reaching the ocean, when the Sepik River basin was an epicontinental sea. The occurrence of coarser-grained, mass-gravity (mainly hybrid) flows after ~370 ka suggests that the epicontinental sea became a more restricted, shallow-water to nonmarine basin, probably due to both basin infilling and the uplift of local coastal ranges. During the last three glacial-interglacial cycles (~300 kyr), this shallow inland basin was strongly affected by global variations in sea level: during sea level lowstands, the Sepik River cut into older sediments and discharged further offshore onto the shallow continental margins, promoting mass-gravity flows. Pelagic mud deposition on the continental margin during the most extreme highstands following deglaciations suggests a return to shallow marine conditions in the Sepik Basin and repositioning of the river mouth further inland, away from the shelf and from the location of the IODP sites. This also indicates that variations in terrigenous fluxes during these extreme highstands were not solely controlled by the intensity of the hydrological cycle and that global sea level variations also influenced sediment deposition. The sequence is interrupted by several massive grain flow deposits, occurring diachronously at Sites U1484 and U1485 and related to a period of intensified tectonic activity between ~280 ka and ~140 ka. The sedimentologic characteristics of these mass-gravity deposits and their lack of correlation between sites are interpreted as resulting from channelized flows along margin-parallel, fault-controlled channels caused by local and regional failures of the continental margins including the area of the Yalingi Canyon, ~50 km north of the sites, where large tsunamigenic events have also occurred in recent years. Time series analyses of magnetic susceptibility and natural gamma radiation (proxies for %sand and %clay content, respectively) indicate that river discharge fluxes were modulated at orbital frequencies (including obliquity-scale cycles), which suggests that precipitation and river discharge were not only linked to precessionally driven shifts in the mean position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, but also to high-latitude climate change.

A continuous composite oxygen isotope (δ18O) stratigraphy from benthic foraminifera in the Bering Sea was reconstructed in order to provide insight into understanding sea-ice evolution in response to Northern Hemisphere Glaciation. Oxygen isotope records from multiple species of benthic foraminifera at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 323 Site U1343 (54°33.4′N, 176°49.0′E, water depth 1950 m) yield a highly refined orbital-scale age model spanning the last 1.2 Ma, and a refined age model between 1.2 and 2.4 Ma. An inter-species calibration was used to define species offsets and to successfully obtain a continuous composite benthic δ18O record, correlated with the global composite benthic δ18O stack curve LR04 to construct an orbital-scale age model. The consistency of the benthic δ18O stratigraphy with biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy confirms the reliability of both methods for constraining age. The time difference between cyclic changes in sedimentary physical properties and glacial–interglacial cycles since 0.8 Ma is notable, and suggests that physical properties alone cannot be used to construct an orbital-scale age model. Amplitude changes in physical properties and a significant drop in the linear sedimentation rate during glacials after 0.9 Ma indicate that the glacial sea-ice edge extended beyond the Bering Sea Slope (Site U1343) at this time.

Earth-system climate sensitivity includes the effects of long-term feedbacks such as changes in continental ice-sheet extent and terrestrial ecosystems. A reconstruction of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels 4.5 million years ago suggests that Earth-system climate sensitivity is significantly higher than that estimated from global climate models, which includes only fast feedback mechanisms such as changes in clouds and sea ice. Climate sensitivity—the mean global temperature response to a doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentrations through radiative forcing and associated feedbacks—is estimated at 1.5–4.5 ∘C (ref. 1). However, this value incorporates only relatively rapid feedbacks such as changes in atmospheric water vapour concentrations, and the distributions of sea ice, clouds and aerosols2. Earth-system climate sensitivity, by contrast, additionally includes the effects of long-term feedbacks such as changes in continental ice-sheet extent, terrestrial ecosystems and the production of greenhouse gases other than CO2. Here we reconstruct atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations for the early and middle Pliocene, when temperatures were about 3–4 ∘C warmer than preindustrial values3,4,5, to estimate Earth-system climate sensitivity from a fully equilibrated state of the planet. We demonstrate that only a relatively small rise in atmospheric CO2 levels was associated with substantial global warming about 4.5 million years ago, and that CO2 levels at peak temperatures were between about 365 and 415 ppm. We conclude that the Earth-system climate sensitivity has been significantly higher over the past five million years than estimated from fast feedbacks alone.

Magnetic fabric analyses from two North Atlantic drift deposits provide proxies for determining relative variations in the strength of abyssal flow over the last 10 my. The data show a cessation of current-controlled sedimentation at the shallower Feni Drift (2417 m) at the time of onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation (2.6 Ma). Drift formation ended nearly 2 my earlier (4.2 Ma) at the deeper Gardar Drift (3220 m), implying stepwise reduction in deep-water flow. Relatively light d 18 O values at the deeper Gardar Drift indicate a warmer, thus also more salty, water mass site prior to 6 Ma. We interpret this as representing Mediterranean Sea water, which flowed north at depths greater than that of the Feni Drift Site. The supply of Mediterranean Water to the North Atlantic was shut off as the Gibraltar Straits closed, causing the Messinian salinity crisis, and never returned to that position in the water column after the Mediterranean opened again. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

During the warm early Pliocene (approximately 4.5 to 3.0 million years ago), the most recent interval with a climate warmer than today, the eastern Pacific thermocline was deep and the average west-to-east sea surface temperature difference across the equatorial Pacific was only 1.5 +/- 0.9 degrees C, much like it is during a modern El Niño event. Thus, the modern strong sea surface temperature gradient across the equatorial Pacific is not a stable and permanent feature. Sustained El Niño-like conditions, including relatively weak zonal atmospheric (Walker) circulation, could be a consequence of, and play an important role in determining, global warmth.

The gradual expansion of Northern Hemisphere glaciation about 3.6 million years ago followed a period of prolonged warmth. An analysis of ancient sea surface temperatures fuels the debate surrounding the roles of atmospheric carbon dioxide and global circulation in the cooling.

We generated new, long, high-resolution, climate proxy records from Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Sites 607 and 609 in the subpolar North Atlantic over the interval 225–970 ka, which have pronounced variability at periods f > 1/7 kyr) variance in our North Atlantic climate proxy records is shown, using bispectral and cross-bispectral methods, to be explainable as harmonics and/or combination tones of orbital-scale climatic variability of the North Atlantic region itself. Thus the timing and amplitude of high-frequency climate change in the North Atlantic region appears to be a nonlinear function of variations in high-latitude climate at Milankovitch frequencies.

Foraminifer count and multispecies isotopic data from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 806 (0°N, 165°E) and 847 (0°N, 95°W) are presented for the last 6.4 m.y. Faunal evidence shows a decline of taxa of Miocene origin between 4.5 and 4.0 Ma at both sites. Prior to this decline, Globoturborotalita species and Neogloboquadrina acostaensis dominated Sites 806 and 847 assemblages, respectively. Globoturborotalitids were not replaced by other thermocline dwellers after 4.2 Ma, which suggests a deepening of the thermocline and thickening of the warm pool at Site 806. At Site 847 in the eastern “cold tongue,” N. acostaensis was gradually replaced by N. dutertrei. After 4.2 Ma, there was also a large increase (from 0.7 to 1.3‰) in the difference between the δ18O values of Globigerinoides sacculifer, a surface dweller, and Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, a seasonal thermocline dweller at Site 847; these data, in conjunction with faunal evidence, suggest that the temperature gradient in the upper photic zone increased significantly, largely because of subsurface cooling. The events in planktonic foraminifer evolution and ecology suggest that between 4.5 and 4.0 Ma a significant step was made toward development of the modern east-west gradient in surface hydrography. The timing of these events suggests that they were related to the closing of the Central American Seaway and subsequent changes in meridional temperature gradients and/or changes in air-sea interactions that modified tropical winds.