Oxygen isotope constraints on the ventilation of the modern and glacial Pacific

Abstract

Changes in Pacific tracer reservoirs and transports are thought to be central to the regulation of atmospheric CO2 on glacial–interglacial timescales. However, there are currently two contrasting views of the circulation of the modern Pacific; the classical view sees southern sourced abyssal waters upwelling to about 1.5 km depth before flowing southward, whereas the bathymetrically constrained view sees the mid-depths (1–2.5 km) largely isolated from the global overturning circulation and predominantly ventilated by diffusion. Furthermore, changes in the circulation of the Pacific under differing climate states remain poorly understood. Through both a modern and a Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) analysis focusing on oxygen isotopes in seawater and benthic foraminifera as conservative tracers, we show that isopycnal diffusion strongly influences the mid-depths of the Pacific. Diapycnal diffusion is most prominent in the subarctic Pacific, where an important return path of abyssal tracers to the surface is identified in the modern state. At the LGM we infer an expansion of North Pacific Intermediate Water, as well as increased layering of the deeper North Pacific which would weaken the return path of abyssal tracers. These proposed changes imply a likely increase in ocean carbon storage within the deep Pacific during the LGM relative to the Holocene.