Antarctic sea-ice and palaeoproductivity variation over the last 156,000 years in the Indian sector of Southern Ocean

Abstract

Antarctic sea ice plays a vital role in global climate via its impact on ocean circulation, biological productivity and CO 2 partitioning between the ocean and the atmosphere. However, very little is known about its past history, especially in the southwestern Indian sector of the Southern Ocean (SO). We here provide new quantitative records of winter sea-ice concentration (WSIC) and duration (WSID), sea-surface temperatures (SST) and productivity in sediment core SK 200/33 (55°S – 45°E) from the Permanently Open Ocean Zone over the last 156,000 years. The new records, combined with regional records, indicate that the hydrological structures migrated northward by a few degrees of latitude during all glacial periods with the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front reaching the core site, the Antarctic Polar Front located at ~46°S and the winter sea ice (WSI) probably extending to ~49°S. In contrast, hydrological fronts and WSI edge migrated poleward by a couple of degrees of latitude during the early Holocene and last interglacial. Comparison to SST and WSI records from different sectors of the SO suggests higher amplitude variations in WSI in the Atlantic sector as compared to the Indian and western Pacific sectors over the last glacial-interglacial cycle, which we attribute to the presence of the Weddell Gyre transporting far to the north the sea ice produced in the Weddell Sea. The new records also suggest a drop in productivity in the POOZ during glacial periods, probably related to greater WSI extent and reduced growing season. • New quantitative records for the Antarctic Indian Sector over the last 156,000 years. • Winter sea-ice limit north of 50°S, APF at ~46°S and SACCF at ~55°S during glacial stages. • Ocean thermodynamics governed sea-ice dynamic. • Winds and ocean currents drove zonal sea-ice amplitude changes. • Contrasted paleoproductivity patterns across the Antarctic Polar Front.