Century‐scale movement of the Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone linked to solar variability

Abstract

The abundance of the planktic foraminifer Globigerinoides sacculifer in Gulf of Mexico (GOM) sediments is a proxy for the influx of Caribbean surface waters (the Loop Current) into the GOM. Penetration of the Loop Current into the GOM is related to the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ): northward migration of the ITCZ results in increased incursion of the Loop Current into the GOM; southward migration of the ITCZ results in decreased penetration of the Loop Current into the GOM. Abundance variations of G. sacculifer in a sediment core from the Pigmy Basin in the GOM show distinct century‐scale cyclicity over the last 5,000 years. The periodicity of these abundance variations is similar to the century‐scale periodicity observed in proxy records of solar variability, which suggests that the average position of the ITCZ and thus Holocene century‐scale variability in the Caribbean‐GOM region is linked to solar variability.