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Although the Last Interglacial (LIG) is often considered as a possible analogue for future climate in high latitudes, its precise climate evolution and associated causes remain uncertain. Here we compile high-resolution marine sediment records from the North Atlantic, Labrador Sea, Norwegian Sea and the Southern Ocean. We document a delay in the establishment of peak interglacial conditions in the North Atlantic, Labrador and Norwegian Seas as compared to the Southern Ocean. In particular, we observe a persistent iceberg melting at high northern latitudes at the beginning of the LIG. It is associated with (1) colder and fresher surface-water conditions in the North Atlantic, Labrador and Norwegian Seas, and (2) a weaker ventilation of North Atlantic deep waters during the early LIG (129-125 ka) compared to the late LIG. Results from an ocean-atmosphere coupled model with insolation as a sole forcing for three key periods of the LIG show warmer North Atlantic surface waters and stronger Atlantic overturning during the early LIG (126 ka) than the late LIG (122 ka). Hence, insolation variations alone do not explain the delay in peak interglacial conditions observed at high northern latitudes. Additionally, we consider an idealized meltwater scenario at 126 ka where the freshwater input is interactively computed in response to the high boreal summer insolation. The model simulates colder, fresher North Atlantic surface waters and weaker Atlantic overturning during the early LIG (126 ka) compared to the late LIG (122 ka). This result suggests that both insolation and ice sheet melting have to be considered to reproduce the climatic pattern that we identify during the early LIG. Our model-data comparison also reveals a number of limitations and reinforces the need for further detailed investigations using coupled climate-ice sheet models and transient simulations.

We present an eco-physiological model reproducing the growth of eight foraminifer species (Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, Neogloboquadrina incompta, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, Globigerina bulloides, Globigerinoides ruber, Globigerinoides sacculifer, Globigerinella siphonifera and Orbulina universa). By using the main physiological rates of foraminifers (nutrition, respiration, symbiotic photosynthesis), this model estimates their growth as a function of temperature, light availability, and food concentration. Model parameters are directly derived or calibrated from experimental observations and only the influence of food concentration (estimated via Chlorophyll-a concentration) was calibrated against field observations. Growth rates estimated from the model show positive correlation with observed abundance from plankton net data suggesting close coupling between individual growth and population abundance. This observation was used to directly estimate potential abundance from the model-derived growth. Using satellite data, the model simulate the dominant foraminifer species with a 70.5% efficiency when compared to a data set of 576 field observations worldwide. Using outputs of a biogeochemical model of the global ocean (PISCES) instead of satellite images as forcing variables gives also good results, but with lower efficiency (58.9%). Compared to core tops observations, the model also correctly reproduces the relative worldwide abundance and the diversity of the eight species when using either satellite data either PISCES results. This model allows prediction of the season and water depth at which each species has its maximum abundance potential. This offers promising perspectives for both an improved quantification of paleoceanographic reconstructions and for a better understanding of the foraminiferal role in the marine carbon cycle.

We present an eco-physiological model reproducing the growth of eight foraminifer species (Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, Neogloboquadrina incompta, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, Globigerina bulloides, Globigerinoides ruber, Globigerinoides sacculifer, Globigerinella siphonifera and Orbulina universa). By using the main physiological rates of foraminifers (nutrition, respiration, symbiotic photosynthesis), this model estimates their growth as a function of temperature, light availability, and food concentration. Model parameters are directly derived or calibrated from experimental observations and only the influence of food concentration (estimated via Chlorophyll-a concentration) was calibrated against field observations. Growth rates estimated from the model show positive correlation with observed abundance from plankton net data suggesting close coupling between individual growth and population abundance. This observation was used to directly estimate potential abundance from the model-derived growth. Using satellite data, the model simulate the dominant foraminifer species with a 70.5% efficiency when compared to a data set of 576 field observations worldwide. Using outputs of a biogeochemical model of the global ocean (PISCES) instead of satellite images as forcing variables gives also good results, but with lower efficiency (58.9%). Compared to core tops observations, the model also correctly reproduces the relative worldwide abundance and the diversity of the eight species when using either satellite data either PISCES results. This model allows prediction of the season and water depth at which each species has its maximum abundance potential. This offers promising perspectives for both an improved quantification of paleoceanographic reconstructions and for a better understanding of the foraminiferal role in the marine carbon cycle.

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Paleoceanography 24 (2009): PA2204, doi:10.1029/2008PA001696., Studies from the subtropical western and eastern Atlantic Ocean, using the 231Pa/230Th ratio as a kinematic proxy for deep water circulation, provided compelling evidence for a strong link between climate and the rate of meridional overturning circulation (MOC) over the last deglaciation. In this study, we present a compilation of existing and new sedimentary 231Pa/230Th records from North Atlantic cores between 1710 and 4550 m water depth. Comparing sedimentary 231Pa/230Th from different depths provides new insights into the evolution of the geometry and rate of deep water formation in the North Atlantic during the last 20,000 years. The 231Pa/230Th ratio measured in upper Holocene sediments indicates slow water renewal above ∼2500 m and rapid flushing below, consistent with our understanding of modern circulation. In contrast, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), Glacial North Atlantic Intermediate Water (GNAIW) drove a rapid overturning circulation to a depth of at least ∼3000 m depth. Below ∼4000 m, water renewal was much slower than today. At the onset of Heinrich event 1, transport by the overturning circulation declined at all depths. GNAIW shoaled above 3000 m and significantly weakened but did not totally shut down. During the Bølling‐Allerød (BA) that followed, water renewal rates further decreased above 2000 m but increased below. Our results suggest for the first time that ocean circulation during that period was quite distinct from the modern circulation mode, with a comparatively higher renewal rate above 3000 m and a lower renewal rate below in a pattern similar to the LGM but less accentuated. MOC during the Younger Dryas appears very similar to BA down to 2000 m and slightly slower below., The LSCE-WHOI cooperation has been supported by a NSF-CNRS cooperative grant NSF INT-0233483. Analytical measurements in LSCE have been supported by French Programme National d’Etude de la Dynamique du Climat, Commissariat a` l’Energie Atomique, and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. The participation of J.F.M. in this project was supported in part by grants from the U.S.-NSF, WHOI-OCCI, and the Gary Comer Science and Education Foundation. R.F.’s participation was supported by grants from NSERC and the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Science.

Studies from the subtropical western and eastern Atlantic Ocean, using the 231Pa/230Th ratio as a kinematic proxy for deep water circulation, provided compelling evidence for a strong link between climate and the rate of meridional overturning circulation (MOC) over the last deglaciation. In this study, we present a compilation of existing and new sedimentary 231Pa/230Th records from North Atlantic cores between 1710 and 4550 m water depth. Comparing sedimentary 231Pa/230Th from different depths provides new insights into the evolution of the geometry and rate of deep water formation in the North Atlantic during the last 20,000 years. The 231Pa/230Th ratio measured in upper Holocene sediments indicates slow water renewal above ∼2500 m and rapid flushing below, consistent with our understanding of modern circulation. In contrast, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), Glacial North Atlantic Intermediate Water (GNAIW) drove a rapid overturning circulation to a depth of at least ∼3000 m depth. Below ∼4000 m, water renewal was much slower than today. At the onset of Heinrich event 1, transport by the overturning circulation declined at all depths. GNAIW shoaled above 3000 m and significantly weakened but did not totally shut down. During the Bølling‐Allerød (BA) that followed, water renewal rates further decreased above 2000 m but increased below. Our results suggest for the first time that ocean circulation during that period was quite distinct from the modern circulation mode, with a comparatively higher renewal rate above 3000 m and a lower renewal rate below in a pattern similar to the LGM but less accentuated. MOC during the Younger Dryas appears very similar to BA down to 2000 m and slightly slower below.

Continuous high-resolution mass accumulation rates (MAR) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements from marine sediment records in the Bay of Biscay (NE Atlantic) have allowed the determination of the timing and the amplitude of the ‘Fleuve Manche’ (Channel River) discharges during glacial stages MIS 10, MIS 8, MIS 6 and MIS 4–2. These results have yielded detailed insight into the Middle and Late Pleistocene glaciations in Europe and the drainage network of the western and central European rivers over the last 350 kyr. This study provides clear evidence that the ‘Fleuve Manche’ connected the southern North Sea basin with the Bay of Biscay during each glacial period and reveals that ‘Fleuve Manche’ activity during the glaciations MIS 10 and MIS 8 was significantly less than during MIS 6 and MIS 2. We correlate the significant ‘Fleuve Manche’ activity, detected during MIS 6 and MIS 2, with the extensive Saalian (Drenthe Substage) and the Weichselian glaciations, respectively, confirming that the major Elsterian glaciation precedes the glacial MIS 10. In detail, massive ‘Fleuve Manche’ discharges occurred at ca 155 ka (mid-MIS 6) and during Termination I, while no significant discharges are found during Termination II. It is assumed that a substantial retreat of the European ice sheet at ca 155 kyr, followed by the formation of ice-free conditions between the British Isles and Scandinavia until Termination II, allowed meltwater to flow northwards through the North Sea basin during the second part of the MIS 6. We assume that this glacial pattern corresponds to the Warthe Substage glacial maximum, therefore indicating that the data presented here equates to the Drenthe and the Warthe glacial advances at ca 175–160 ka and ca 150–140 ka, respectively. Finally, the correlation of our records with ODP site 980 reveals that massive ‘Fleuve Manche’ discharges, related to partial or complete melting of the European ice masses, were synchronous with strong decreases in both th

We present a new high-resolution marine pollen record from NW Iberian margin sediments (core MD03-2697) covering the interval between 340 000 and 270 000 years ago, a time period centred on Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9 and characterized by particular baseline climate states. This study enables the documentation of vegetation changes in the north-western Iberian Peninsula and therefore the terrestrial climatic variability at orbital and in particular at millennial scales during MIS 9, directly on a marine stratigraphy. Suborbital vegetation changes in NW Iberia in response to cool/cold events are detected throughout the studied interval even during MIS 9e ice volume minimum. However, they appear more frequent and of higher amplitude during the 30 000 years following the MIS 9e interglacial period and during the MIS 9a-8 transition, which correspond to intervals of an intermediate to high ice volume and mainly periods of ice growth. Each suborbital cold event detected in NW Iberia has a counterpart in the Southern Iberian margin SST record. High to moderate amplitude cold episodes detected on land and in the ocean appear to be related to changes in deep water circulation and probably to iceberg discharges at least during MIS 9d, the mid-MIS 9c cold event and MIS 9b. This work provides therefore additional evidence of pervasive millennial-scale climatic variability in the North Atlantic borderlands throughout past climatic cycles of the Late Pleistocene, regardless of glacial state. However, ice volume might have an indirect influence on the amplitude of the millennial climatic changes in Southern Europe.

Observation-based reconstructions of sea surface temperature from relatively stable periods in the past, such as the Last Glacial Maximum, represent an important means of constraining climate sensitivity and evaluating model simulations. The first quantitative global reconstruction of sea surface temperatures during the Last Glacial Maximum was developed by the Climate Long-Range Investigation, Mapping and Prediction (CLIMAP) project in the 1970s and 1980s. Since that time, several shortcomings of that earlier effort have become apparent. Here we present an updated synthesis of sea surface temperatures during the Last Glacial Maximum, rigorously defined as the period between 23 and 19 thousand years before present, from the Multiproxy Approach for the Reconstruction of the Glacial Ocean Surface (MARGO) project. We integrate microfossil and geochemical reconstructions of surface temperatures and include assessments of the reliability of individual records. Our reconstruction reveals the presence of large longitudinal gradients in sea surface temperature in all of the ocean basins, in contrast to the simulations of the Last Glacial Maximum climate available at present.

The correlation of continental sedimentary records with the marine isotope stratigraphy is a challenge of central importance in Quaternary stratigraphy, particularly in Western Europe where long records of glaciation on land areas are particularly rare. Here we demonstrate for the first time the interrelationship of events during the last 1.2 Ma in an ocean-sediment core from the Bay of Biscay (NE Atlantic), SW of the Channel. The identification of discharge variations from tributary river systems to the 'Fleuve Manche' palaeoriver during glacio-eustatic sea-level lowstands demonstrates the correlation of the marine sediment stratigraphy to the expansion and recession of the European ice-sheets. The amplitude and chronology of European ice-sheet oscillations since the late Early Pleistocene is discussed and our results demonstrate that the first coalescence of the Fennoscandian and British ice-sheets in the North Sea basin ca 450 ka ago caused a profound change in lowstand European drainage alignment. This change caused a rerouting of Fennoscandian and eastern British ice-sheets-derived meltwaters from northwards into the Nordic Seas to southwards into the eastern North Atlantic thereafter. Besides allowing a thorough synchronisation of the European ice-sheet palaeogeography with the well-dated records of palaeoceanographical changes, our results improve the stratigraphy of the English Channel palaeovalleys and will provide important constraints on paleoclimatic scenarios considering the impact that such rerouting and meltwater surges might have on the stability of the oceanic conveyor belt.

© 2009 The Authors. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. The definitive version was published in Climate of the Past 5 (2009): 53-72, doi:10.5194/cp-5-53-2009, We present a new high-resolution marine pollen record from NW Iberian margin sediments (core MD03-2697) covering the interval between 340 000 and 270 000 years ago, a time period centred on Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9 and characterized by particular baseline climate states. This study enables the documentation of vegetation changes in the north-western Iberian Peninsula and therefore the terrestrial climatic variability at orbital and in particular at millennial scales during MIS 9, directly on a marine stratigraphy. Suborbital vegetation changes in NW Iberia in response to cool/cold events are detected throughout the studied interval even during MIS 9e ice volume minimum. However, they appear more frequent and of higher amplitude during the 30 000 years following the MIS 9e interglacial period and during the MIS 9a-8 transition, which correspond to intervals of an intermediate to high ice volume and mainly periods of ice growth. Each suborbital cold event detected in NW Iberia has a counterpart in the Southern Iberian margin SST record. High to moderate amplitude cold episodes detected on land and in the ocean appear to be related to changes in deep water circulation and probably to iceberg discharges at least during MIS 9d, the mid-MIS 9c cold event and MIS 9b. This work provides therefore additional evidence of pervasive millennial-scale climatic variability in the North Atlantic borderlands throughout past climatic cycles of the Late Pleistocene, regardless of glacial state. However, ice volume might have an indirect influence on the amplitude of the millennial climatic changes in Southern Europe., This research was supported by IPEV (Institut Paul Emile Victor), PNEDC (Programme National d’Etude de la Dynamique du Climat), the Gary Comer Science and Education Foundation and the US National Science Foundation (OCE grants 8-4911100 and 8-256500).

Variations in the assemblages and abundances of calcareous nannoplankton have allowed us to interpret changes in oceanic and atmospheric dynamics in the Guyana Basin, mainly linked to the southeast trades over the last climatic cycle. Records of the paleoproductivity index of coccolithophores (N ratio) allowed us to monitor the nutri-thermocline fluctuations. Additionally, nannofossil accumulation rates vary closely with the N ratio, indicating a strong correlation between these two paleoproductivity proxies. The dominance of upper (small Noelaerhabdaceae, Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa oceanica), over lower photic zone dwellers (Florisphaera profunda) during Termination II and interglacial substages 5.1 and 5.3 is related to eutrophic conditions due to a shoaling of the nutri-thermocline as a consequence of enhanced southeast Trade Winds. This activated an upwelling at the continental margin of the Guyana Basin. Low N ratio values and the dominance of F. profunda over the glacial substages of MIS 5 and glacial MIS 2-4 are linked to a deep nutri-thermocline (deep stratification of the mixed layer), at times of low influence of the southeast Trade Winds, and a weak upwelling. However, the N ratio during MIS 2-4 was slightly higher than those seen for the MIS 4/5 boundary and glacial substages 5.2 and 5.4. These micropaleontological proxies follow the insolation at high northern latitude (65° N): the high N ratio and NAR data from the Guyana Basin during Termination II and interglacials 5.1. and 5.3 are correlated with high insolation values, and low values of the N ratio and NAR during the MIS 4/5 boundary, glacials 5.2, 5.4 and MIS 2-4 are correlated with low insolation at the same latitudes. This situation suggests a link between the ITCZ, the southeast Trade Wind dynamics and the Northern Hemisphere climate changes during the last climatic cycle.

Variations in the assemblages and abundances of calcareous nannoplankton have allowed us to interpret changes in oceanic and atmospheric dynamics in the Guyana Basin, mainly linked to the southeast trades over the last climatic cycle. Records of the paleoproductivity index of coccolithophores (N ratio) allowed us to monitor the nutri-thermocline fluctuations. Additionally, nannofossil accumulation rates vary closely with the N ratio, indicating a strong correlation between these two paleoproductivity proxies. The dominance of upper (small Noelaerhabdaceae, Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa oceanica), over lower photic zone dwellers (Florisphaera profunda) during Termination II and interglacial substages 5.1 and 5.3 is related to eutrophic conditions due to a shoaling of the nutri-thermocline as a consequence of enhanced southeast Trade Winds. This activated an upwelling at the continental margin of the Guyana Basin. Low N ratio values and the dominance of F. profunda over the glacial substages of MIS 5 and glacial MIS 2-4 are linked to a deep nutri-thermocline (deep stratification of the mixed layer), at times of low influence of the southeast Trade Winds, and a weak upwelling. However, the N ratio during MIS 2-4 was slightly higher than those seen for the MIS 4/5 boundary and glacial substages 5.2 and 5.4. These micropaleontological proxies follow the insolation at high northern latitude (65º N): the high N ratio and NAR data from the Guyana Basin during Termination II and inter glacials 5.1. and 5.3 are correlated with high insolation values, and low values of the N ratio and NAR during the MIS 4/5 boundary, glacials 5.2, 5.4 and MIS 2-4 are correlated with low insolation at the same latitudes. This situation suggests a link between the ITCZ, the southeast Trade Wind dynamics and the Northern Hemisphere climate changes during the last climatic cycle.