Centennial‐scale surface hydrology off Portugal during marine isotope stage 3: Insights from planktonic foraminiferal fauna variability

Abstract

The marine isotopic stage 3 (MIS3) at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1060 (Gulf Stream) shows both sharp onset and end of interstadials, the existence of very short lived warm events during stadials, and points to differences in detail between the sea surface temperature (SST) record from the western North Atlantic and the atmospheric temperature record inferred from δ18O in Greenland ice. Investigating MIS3 and obtaining comparable data from other locations appears crucial. The eastern Atlantic provides well‐documented records of climate changes. We have selected a core from off Portugal and use it to examine Dansgaard/Oeschger events (D/O) at centennial‐scale resolution (139 years on average between two data points). We have obtained a faunal data set for core MD01‐2444, 37°N, 10°W, 2600 m water depth and use a group of species (Globigerina bulloides + Globigerinita glutinata) as a proxy of upwelling intensity driven by trade winds intensity changes. We tentatively relate the variation of this group to a North Atlantic Oscillation‐like phenomenon (NAO) off Portugal. We observe that it resembles the rainfall index in the Caribbean as recorded at ODP Site 1002 (Cariaco Basin) which traces the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) location through changes of terrigenous inputs. The driest intervals (ITZC to the south) at Site 1002 correspond to intervals of increased upwelling in MD01‐2444 as well as the driest periods identified during stadials on similar cores in the area. Because the ITZC to the south is consistent with an El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO+) situation, our study suggests a positive correlation between ENSO‐like conditions and NAO‐like conditions at a millennial timescale. During interstadial intervals when increased wetness over Cariaco is recorded (ITCZ to the north) and the upwelling in MD01‐2444 is decreased, we see from both SSTs and faunal tropical indicators that MD01‐2444 site is warm. In addition, interstadials are equally warm through each so‐called Bond cycle. This contrasts with the Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP) record where interstadial peaks are successively cooler through each Bond cycle. This record confirms a link between tropical climate linked to ITCZ position and the climate of southern Europe at millennial timescales, in spite of showing a very good correlation with polar latitudes (GRIP) through δ18O on Globigerina bulloides. In addition, because the warmest SSTs and the δ18O on G. bulloides are so remarkably different, our work points to changes in seasonality as a strong control over the climatic pattern of the North Atlantic area and the marked influence of winter conditions.