Oxygenation changes in the deep western Arabian Sea during the last 190,000 years: Productivity versus deepwater circulation

Abstract

Fluctuations in the abundance of selected foraminiferal indicator species and diversity allowed the reconstruction of changes in deepwater oxygenation and monsoon‐driven organic matter fluxes in the deep western Arabian Sea during the last 190 kyr. Times of maximum surface production coincide with periods of intensified SW monsoon as shown by the abundance of Globigerina bulloides and enhanced carbonate corrosion. Benthic ecosystem variability in the deep Arabian Sea is not exclusively driven by variations in monsoonal upwelling and related organic matter supply to the seafloor but also by changes in deepwater ventilation. Deepening of the base of the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) below 1800 m water depth is strongly coherent on the precessional band but lags proxies of SW monsoon strength by 4 to 6 kyr. The “out‐of‐phase” relationship between OMZ deepening and maximum SW monsoon strength is explained by temporal changes in the advection of oxygen‐rich deepwater masses of North Atlantic and Antarctic origin. This process affected the remineralization and burial efficiency of organic matter in the deep Arabian Sea, resulting in the observed phase lag between maximum monsoon strength and organic carbon preservation.