Surface and deep ocean variability in the northern Sargasso Sea during marine isotope stage 3

Abstract

New geochemical proxy data from Bermuda Rise piston cores reveal ocean and climate conditions in the northern Sargasso Sea during marine isotope stage 3. Using δ18O on the planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber, we can correlate explicitly with every stadial/interstadial change in Greenland ice between ∼32 and 58 ka. These data suggest repetitive changes of ∼4°C in the annual average sea surface temperature (SST), with maximum cooling comparable to or greater than SST during glacial maximum conditions. The extent of SST depression is about the same for typical stadial events and for Heinrich events 4 and 5, which we have identified on the Bermuda Rise by traces of ice rafting. Benthic foraminiferal δ13C decreases during every stadial event, consistent with reduced production of the deepest component of North Atlantic Deep Water and shoaling of its interface with Antarctic Bottom Water. This interpretation is supported by benthic Cd/Ca data from the climate cycle associated with interstadial 8.