Alkenone-based Sea Surface Temperature Research Articles

The Yorktown Formation: Improved Stratigraphy, Chronology, and Paleoclimate Interpretations from the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain

The Yorktown Formation records paleoclimate conditions along the mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain during the mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (3.264 to 3.025 Ma), a climate interval of the Pliocene in some ways analogous to near future climate projections. To gain insight into potential near future changes, we investigated Yorktown Formation outcrops and cores in southeastern Virginia, refining the stratigraphic framework. We analyzed 485 samples for alkenone-based sea surface temperature (SST) and productivity estimates from the Holland and Dory cores, an outcrop at Morgarts Beach, Virginia, and the lectostratotype of the Yorktown Formation at Rushmere, Virginia, and analyzed planktonic foraminferal assemblage data from the type section. Using the structure of the SST record, we improved the chronology of the Yorktown Formation by establishing the maximum age ranges of the Rushmere (3.3–3.2 Ma) and Morgarts Beach (3.2–3.15 Ma) Members. SST values for these members average ~26 °C, corroborating existing sclerochronological data. Increasing planktonic foraminifer abundance, productivity, and species diversity parallel increasing SST over the MIS M2/M1 transition. These records constitute the greatest temporal concentration of paleoecological estimates within the Yorktown Formation, aiding our understanding of western North Atlantic temperature patterns, seasonality and ocean circulation during this interval. We provide a chronologic framework for future studies analyzing ecological responses to profound climate change.

Enhanced North Pacific subtropical gyre circulation during the late Holocene

The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre circulation redistributes heat from the Western Pacific Warm Pool towards the mid- to high-latitude North Pacific. However, the driving mechanisms of this circulation and how it changed over the Holocene remain poorly understood. Here, we present alkenone-based sea surface temperature reconstructions along the Kuroshio, California and Alaska currents that cover the past ~7,000 years. These and other paleorecords collectively demonstrate a coherent intensification of the boundary currents, and thereby the basin-scale subtropical gyre circulation, since ~3,000–4,000 years ago. Such enhanced circulation during the late Holocene appears to have resulted from a long-term southward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, associated with Holocene ocean cooling. Our results imply that the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre circulation could be weakened under future global warming.

Biomarkers in the rock outcrop of the Kazusa Group reveal palaeoenvironments of the Kuroshio region

Long-chain alkenones and n-alkanes preserved in marine and lake sediment cores are widely used to reconstruct palaeoenvironments. However, applying this technique to exposed sedimentary rock sequences is relatively challenging due to the potential for the diagenetic alteration of organic biomarkers. Here, we extract long-chain alkenones and n-alkanes from an exposed outcrop of the Kazusa Group in central Japan, one of the most continuous sedimentary successions in the world, covering almost the entire Pleistocene. We find that the alkenone unsaturation ratio and average chain length of n-alkanes appears to reflect the glacial-interglacial changes in sea surface temperature and terrestrial climate, respectively. Alkenone-based sea surface temperatures between 1.1 and 1.0 million years ago concur with foraminiferal Mg/Ca-based temperature estimates and may reflect an intrusion of the Kuroshio Current. We suggest that the preservation of these biomarkers in the Kazusa Group demonstrates its potential to provide a detailed palaeoenvironmental record.

Multiproxy record of suborbital-scale climate changes in the Algero-Balearic Basin during late MIS 20 - Termination IX

High-resolution quantitative analyses have been carried out in samples from the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 975 in the Algero-Balearic basin through late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS 20)-Termination IX (800–784 ka). The multi-proxy study combines data of planktonic δ18O, δ13C, calcareous plankton (coccolithophores, foraminifera), palynomorphs, alkenone-based sea surface temperature (SST), % alkenone tetraunsatured (% C37:4), and terrigenous biomarkers (C23–C31n-alkanes, C22–C30n-alkanols) with the aim to reconstruct climate-induced paleoenvironmental changes at orbital-submillennial scale, in a crucial time interval of the Early-Midde Pleistocene transition. The surface water δ18Osw has been reconstructed from δ18OG.bulloides and alkenone-based SST as a proxy for salinity changes. The late MIS 20 has been subdivided in several phases based on evidence of (i) meltwater events of polar origin or from surrounding mountain glaciers, (ii) changes in the production rate of Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW) and in deep water ventilation, (iii) variation in terrestrial input and river discharge, and iv) variations in the strength of the north westerlies, and polar front shift. Following a glacial stadial (lasting ca 3 kyr) marked by the strongest WMDW production, coeval with a boreal summer insolation minimum and a marked low sea level, the latest MIS 20 is characterized by a terminal stadial event (lasting ca 3.5 kyr), which is traced by the occurrence of cold-low salinity water, pointing to meltwater advection at the site location. Short-term warm and cool events occurred through Termination IX during sea level rise and insolation increase, preceding the onset of full MIS 19c, characterized by an organic rich layer (ORL) associated with insolation cycle 74. The succession of these climate and oceanographic events has been compared to evidences from other Mediterranean sites, highlighting similar basin-wide patterns, which recall the climate evolution of Termination I. The comparison of our results with the climate proxies from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1385 located west of Iberian margin made it possible to point at the connection between Mediterranean oceanographic and atmospheric dynamics and the northern hemisphere ice-sheet instability, providing insight on the relationship with the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and thermal front migration.

Group 2i Isochrysidales produce characteristic alkenones reflecting sea ice distribution

Alkenones are biomarkers produced solely by algae in the order Isochrysidales that have been used to reconstruct sea surface temperature (SST) since the 1980s. However, alkenone-based SST reconstructions in the northern high latitude oceans show significant bias towards warmer temperatures in core-tops, diverge from other SST proxies in down core records, and are often accompanied by anomalously high relative abundance of the C37 tetra-unsaturated methyl alkenone (%C37:4). Elevated %C37:4 is widely interpreted as an indicator of low sea surface salinity from polar water masses, but its biological source has thus far remained elusive. Here we identify a lineage of Isochrysidales that is responsible for elevated C37:4 methyl alkenone in the northern high latitude oceans through next-generation sequencing and lab-culture experiments. This Isochrysidales lineage co-occurs widely with sea ice in marine environments and is distinct from other known marine alkenone-producers, namely Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa oceanica. More importantly, the %C37:4 in seawater filtered particulate organic matter and surface sediments is significantly correlated with annual mean sea ice concentrations. In sediment cores from the Svalbard region, the %C37:4 concentration aligns with the Greenland temperature record and other qualitative regional sea ice records spanning the past 14 kyrs, reflecting sea ice concentrations quantitatively. Our findings imply that %C37:4 is a powerful proxy for reconstructing sea ice conditions in the high latitude oceans on thousand- and, potentially, on million-year timescales.

Alkenone surface hydrographic changes of the subarctic Northwestern Pacific since the last glacial: proxy limitations and implications of non-thermal environmental influences

We investigated an alkenone-based sea surface temperature (SST) and the hydrographic change records of the subarctic Northwestern (NW) Pacific from the last glacial to interglacial. The core we investigated is a piston core (LV 63-41-2, 52.56° N, 160.00° E; water depth 1924 m) retrieved from the southern offshore east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, which is a location of high sedimentation rate, with highly dynamic interactions with the cold/warm water masses of the Bering Sea/the NW Pacific. Based on our alkenone analysis with a previously well-established chronology of the core, we found high glacial C37:4 contents suggesting larger freshwater influences prior to the last deglacial in approximately 27–16 ka BP. The most significant features of what we found are alkenone indicative of “warming” intervals with minimum alkenone productions that occurred prior to the stadial Heinrich event 1 and the Younger Dryas. In contrast, for the interval corresponding to the Bølling–Allerød period, our alkenone analysis shows relatively “colder” but maximum alkenone productions. We conclude that this particular subarctic alkenone SST proxy record is mainly masked by non-thermal environmental influences, such as strong shifts of timing and duration of the sea ice retreat and/or salinity changes in surface water at this site, which could cause changes in water stratification that affect nutrient supplies of the upper ocean that modulate growth durations of phytoplankton/coccolithophore productions. Our studies suggest that this subarctic alkenone “SST” proxy record is indicative of the changes of seasonality that control the timing and duration of the blooming seasons of coccolithophores. The alkenone “SST” proxy is also dominantly driven by water stratification effects that, instead of SSTs, reflect most likely a combination of the following local to regional climate and ocean current patterns: (1) the amount of meltwater inputs from high mountain glaciers at Kamchatka; (2) less saline, nutrient-rich Alaskan Stream waters from the Cordilleran Ice Sheet in the Gulf of Alaska; (3) downwelling waters associated with the interactions between the southward Eastern Kamchatka Current and the spinning-up of the North Pacific Subarctic Gyre; and (4) the strength of the Kuroshio Current since the last glacial.

Postglacial paleoceanography of the western Barents Sea: Implications for alkenone-based sea surface temperatures and primary productivity

The increasing influence of Atlantic Water (AW) in the Barents Sea, a process known as “Atlantification”, is gradually decreasing sea ice cover in the region. Ongoing global climate warming is likely to be one of its drivers, but to further understand the role of natural variability and the biogeochemical impacts of the inflow of AW into the western Barents Sea, we reconstructed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and primary productivity in Storfjordrenna, a climatically sensitive area south of Spitsbergen, between approximately 13,950 cal yr BP and 1300 cal yr BP. The alkenone U37K* proxy has been applied to reconstruct SSTs, and the alkenone accumulation rate in marine sediments has been used to infer changes in primary productivity. Our data show that the SST increase was concomitant with the progressive loss of sea ice cover and an increase in primary productivity in the western Barents Sea. We interpret these changes as reflecting the increasing influence of AW in the area as the ice sheets retreated in Svalbard. The transition from the Arctic to the Atlantic domain first occurred after 11,500 cal yr BP, as the Arctic Front moved eastward of the study site but with considerable variability in surface ocean conditions. High SSTs at approximately 6400 cal yr BP may have led to limited winter surface cooling, likely inhibiting convective mixing and the return of nutrients to the euphotic zone and/or enhanced organic matter consumption by zooplankton due to an earlier light signal in the ice-free Storfjordrenna. During the late Holocene (3600-1300 cal yr BP), low insolation facilitated sea ice formation and thus brine production. The former may have launched convective water mixing and increased nutrient resupply to the sea surface, consequently enhancing primary productivity in Storfjordrenna. We propose that, on the basis of the paleoceanographic evidence, the modern increasing inflow of warm AW and the disappearance of pack ice on the Eurasian continental shelf are likely to weaken convective water mixing and decrease primary production in the region.

Coupled ocean and atmospheric changes during Greenland stadial 1 in southwestern Europe

Paleoclimate reconstructions suggest that the complex variability within the Greenland stadial 1 (GS-1) over western Europe was governed by coupled ocean and atmospheric changes. However, few works from the North Atlantic mid-latitudes document both the GS-1 onset and its termination, which are often considered as single abrupt transition events. Here, we present a direct comparison between marine (alkenone-based sea surface temperatures) and terrestrial (pollen) data, at very high resolution (28 years mean), from the southwestern Iberian shelf record D13882. Our results reveal a rather complex climatic period with internally changing conditions. The GS-1 onset (GS-1a: 12890-12720 yr BP) is marked by a progressive cooling and drying; GS-1b (12720-12390 yr BP) is the coldest and driest phase; GS-1c (12390-12030 yr BP) is marked by a progressive warming and increase in moisture conditions; GS-1 termination (GS-1d: 12030-11770 yr BP) is marked by rapid switches between cool wet, cold dry and cool wet conditions. Although hydroclimate response was very unsteady throughout the GS-1 and in particular during its termination phase, the persistence of an open temperate and Mediterranean forest in southwestern Iberia during the entire episode suggests that at least some moisture was delivered via the Westerlies. We propose coupled ocean and atmospheric mechanisms to reproduce these scenaria. Changes in the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) as well as variations in the North Atlantic sea-ice growth have favoured the displacement of the polar jet stream's latitudinal position and contributed to a complex spatial pattern and strength of the Westerlies across western Europe.

Extraordinary cold episodes during the mid-Holocene in the Yangtze delta: Interruption of the earliest rice cultivating civilization

In the estuary region of the Yangtze River (China), the oldest Neolithic civilization based on paddy rice cultivation flourished in the mid-Holocene (7.5–4.2 cal. kyr BP). However, although it is known that this Neolithic civilization collapsed at around 4.2 cal. kyr BP, the reason behind the collapse remains controversial. A sedimentary core (MD06-3040) collected from the inner shelf of the East China Sea, off the southeast coast of China, provides an excellent insight into estimate the Holocene regional paleoenvironment, including the alkenone based sea surface temperature (SST), atmospheric temperature (AT), and paleoproductivity. Extraordinarily severe abrupt cold episodes (i.e., 3–4 °C drop in SST) occurred frequently in the Yangtze delta region during 4.4–3.8 cal. kyr BP. These episodes could have been related to the global climatic transition called the “4.2 ka event”, when the East Asian monsoon hydrological regime might have been altered. The cold episodes could be sufficiently severe to damage rice cultivation and their occurrence constitutes a plausible explanation for the demise of the Yangtze Neolithic civilization.

Removal of bias in C37 alkenone-based sea surface temperature measurements by high-performance liquid chromatography fractionation

Sea surface temperature determinations based on marine sedimentary C37 alkenone distributions have provided a wealth of data for paleoclimatic studies, including those performed at high resolution. The success of this approach results from several characteristics of alkenone compounds, e.g. their geochemical properties (such as unequivocal synthesis by certain widespread haptophyte algae, plus chemical stability/preservation of the original alkenone distributions during sedimentation), and their analytical properties (such as fast clean up procedures using alkaline hydrolysis of sediment extracts, followed by robust instrumental methods allowing large scale sample processing). Here we show that, in sediments under the influence of continental inputs, coelution of these compounds with cholest-5-enyl 3β-undecenyl ether and 24-methylcholesta-5,22-dienyl 3β-undecenyl ether deviate the SST measurements despite alkaline hydrolysis. Here, we report a new high performance liquid chromatrography fractionation method which eliminates these interfering compounds and gathers all the alkenones into a single fraction. These fractions can then be analysed by gas chromatography as in the initial approach, providing large amounts of data as required in high resolution studies.

Distribution of terrigenous and marine material along the Southeastern Brazilian continental margin

Coastal marine sediments are a complex mixture originated from both terrestrial and marine sources characterized by terrestrial runoff, high primary production, and atmospheric deposition. Organic material and the trace elements from these sources are delivered to the ocean and a significant portion of them sink through the water column and ultimately get stored in sediments. In order to evaluate the source and distribution of the sedimentary material and variations of the marine productivity of the Southeastern Brazilian continental margin between 23° S and 28° S, contents for n-alkanes, alkenones, chlorins, fatty acids, trace elements were analyzed. Alkenone-based sea surface temperatures lower than 24.2 °C were found only southwest to São Sebastião Island while in the northeast the temperatures were higher than 24.2 °C. The distribution of organic material in sediments showed a predominance of terrigenous material and was ruled by the grain size. A correlation analysis indicates significant, positive values between the terrigenous and marine organic compounds, indicating the promotion of marine productivity by the input of terrigenous material (nutrient). Barium content was influenced by water depth as a result of an abiotic process in the formation of marine barite. Calcium and strontium were not correlated to the primary production proxies exhibited by the organic compounds.

Holocene Mg/Ca, alkenones, and light stable isotope measurements on the outer North Iceland shelf (MD99-2269): A comparison with other multi-proxy data and sub-division of the Holocene

To evaluate whether proxies that record surface, near-surface, and bottom water conditions from the North Iceland shelf have similar trends and periodicities, we examine Holocene century-scale paleoceanographic records from core MD99-2269. This core site lies close to the boundary between Atlantic and Arctic/Polar waters, and in an area frequently influenced by drift ice. The proxies are stable δ13C and δ18O values on planktonic and benthic foraminifera, alkenone-based sea-surface temperatures (SST°C), and foraminiferal Mg/Ca SST°C and bottom water temperature (BWT°C) estimates. These data were converted to equi-spaced 60-year time-series; significant trends were extracted using Singular Spectrum Analysis, which accounted for between 50% and 70% of the variance. In order to evaluate within-site ocean climate variability, a comparison between these data and previously published proxies from MD99-2269 was carried out on a standardized data set of 14 proxies covering the interval 400–9200 cal. yr BP. Principal component (PC) analysis indicated that the first two PC axes accounted for 57% of the variability with high loadings primarily defining ‘nutrient’ and ‘temperature’ proxies. Fuzzy k-mean clustering of the 14 climate proxies indicated major environmental changes at ~6350 and ~3450 cal. yr BP, which define local early-, middle-, and late-Holocene climatic shifts. Our results indicate that the major control on the combined proxy signal is the Holocene decrease in June insolation, but regional changes in such factors as sea-ice extent and salinity are required to explain the threefold division of the Holocene.

Marine deposition and sea surface temperature changes during the last and present interglacials in the west coast of Taiwan Strait

In order to reconstruct the environmental and climatic conditions of the last and present interglacials, this study has examined a 52 m-long core obtained from a coastal embayment (Chang-Le) on the west coast of Taiwan Strait. The analyses of particle size distributions, total carbon content, organic carbon isotope ratios, n-alkane indices and alkenones from the core reveal two periods of marine transgression. Together with the radiocarbon and optically simulated luminescence dating analyses, the environmental proxies indicate that the older marine sequence (M1) was deposited during the period of rising sea level in the early-to-middle part of MIS5e. The younger marine sequence (M2) was confirmed as a deposit formed during the stable sea level of the latter part of the present interglacial. The shallow marine facies and the abundant alkenones from M2 suggest a deeper water environment under full marine conditions during the last interglacial. The sub-tidal to intertidal facies and weak appearance of alkenones in M1 imply a shallow water environment under weak marine influence. Because the site was close to upland landscape, high input of terrigenous material for both periods is evident. The alkenone-based sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions indicate that the SST during MIS5e fluctuated slightly around 28.1 °C, which is about one degree higher than that of MIS1, consistent with records from the northern coast of the South China Sea. The depositional conditions and the burial depths of the two marine sequences also provide hints for the local tectonic movements.

Sea surface temperature variability in the Norwegian Sea during the late Pliocene linked to subpolar gyre strength and radiative forcing

The mid-Piacenzian warm period (3.264–3.025 Ma) of the Pliocene epoch has been proposed as a possible reference for future warm climate states. However, there is significant disagreement over the magnitude of high latitude warming between data and models for this period of time, raising questions about the driving mechanisms and responsible feedbacks. We have developed a new set of orbital-resolution alkenone-based sea surface temperature (SST) and ice rafted debris (IRD) records from the Norwegian Sea spanning 3.264–3.14 Ma. The SSTs in the Norwegian Sea were 2–3 °C warmer than the Holocene average, likely caused by the radiative effect of higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations. There is notable obliquity-driven SST variability with a range of 4 °C, shown by evolutive spectra. The correlation of SST variability with the presence of IRD suggests a common climate forcing acting across the Nordic Seas region. Changes of the SST gradient between the Norwegian Sea and North Atlantic sites suggest that the subpolar gyre was at least as strong as during the Holocene, and that the northward heat transport by the North Atlantic Current was comparable.

Concentrations and abundance ratios of long-chain alkenones and glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers in sinking particles south of Java

In this study, we obtained concentrations and abundance ratios of long-chain alkenones and glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) in a one-year time-series of sinking particles collected with a sediment trap moored from December 2001 to November 2002 at 2200m water depth south of Java in the eastern Indian Ocean. We investigate the seasonality of alkenone and GDGT fluxes as well as the potential habitat depth of the Thaumarchaeota producing the GDGTs entrained in sinking particles. The alkenone flux shows a pronounced seasonality and ranges from 1µgm−2d−1 to 35µgm−2d−1. The highest alkenone flux is observed in late September during the Southeast monsoon, coincident with high total organic carbon fluxes as well as high net primary productivity. Flux-weighted mean temperature for the high flux period using the alkenone-based sea-surface temperature (SST) index U37K′ is 26.7°C, which is similar to satellite-derived Southeast (SE) monsoon SST (26.4°C). The GDGT flux displays a weaker seasonality than that of the alkenones. It is elevated during the SE monsoon period compared to the Northwest (NW) monsoon and intermonsoon periods (approximately 2.5 times), which is probably related to seasonal variation of the abundance of Thaumarchaeota, or to enhanced export of GDGTs by aggregation with sinking phytoplankton detritus. Flux-weighted mean temperature inferred from the GDGT-based TEX86H index is 26.2°C, which is 1.8°C lower than mean annual (ma) SST but similar to SE monsoon SST. As the time series of TEX86H temperature estimates, however, does not record a strong seasonal amplitude, we infer that TEX86H reflects ma upper thermocline temperature at approximately 50m water depth.

Holocene Climatic Optimum centennial-scale paleoceanography in the NE Aegean (Mediterranean Sea)

Combined micropaleontological and geochemical analyses of the high-sedimentation gravity core M-4G provided new centennial-scale paleoceanographic data for sapropel S1 deposition in the NE Aegean Sea during the Holocene Climatic Optimum. Sapropel layer S1a (10.2–8.0 ka) was deposited in dysoxic to oxic bottom waters characterized by a high abundance of benthic foraminiferal species tolerating surface sediment and/or pore water oxygen depletion (e.g., Chilostomella mediterranensis, Globobulimina affinis), and the presence of Uvigerina mediterranea, which thrives in oxic mesotrophic-eutrophic environments. Preservation of organic matter (OM) is inferred based on high organic carbon as well as loliolide and isololiolide contents, while the biomarker record and the abundances of eutrophic planktonic foraminifera document enhanced productivity. High inputs of terrigenous OM are attributed to north Aegean borderland riverine inputs. Both alkenone-based sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and δO18G. bulloides records indicate cooling at 8.2 ka (S1a) and ~7.8 ka (S1 interruption). Sapropelic layer S1b (7.7–6.4 ka) is characterized by rather oxic conditions; abundances of foraminiferal species tolerant to oxygen depletion are very low compared with the U. mediterranea rise. Strongly fluctuating SSTs demonstrate repeated cooling and associated dense water formation, with a major event at 7.4 ka followed by cold spells at 7.0, 6.8, and 6.5 ka. The prominent rise of the carbon preference index within the S1b layer indicates the delivery of less degraded terrestrial OM. The increase of algal biomarkers, labile OM-feeding foraminifera and eutrophic planktonic species pinpoints an enhanced in situ marine productivity, promoted by more efficient vertical convection due to repeated cold events. The associated contributions of labile marine OM along with fresher terrestrial OM inputs after ~7.7 ka imply sources alternative/additional to the north Aegean riverine borderland sources for the influx of organic matter in the south Limnos Basin, plausibly related to the inflow of highly productive Marmara/Black Sea waters.

Cooling trend over the past 4 centuries in northeastern Hong Kong waters as revealed by alkenone-derived SST records

The climate history over the past few centuries is important to be used to assess how regional climate responds to global forcing. Here we report three high-resolution alkenone-based sea surface temperature (SST) records over the past 4 centuries from three sediment cores collected in the Mirs Bay, northeastern Hong Kong. All three SST records consistently show a general cooling trend toward the present, with most of cooling occurring over the last century. Alkenone-derived SST values stayed around 26.5–27°C at the three sites prior to 1900s and decreased into the range of 25–26°C. The magnitude of cooling approximately from the Little Ice Age (LIA) to present tends to be dampened from ∼2°C nearshore to ∼1°C offshore. The cooling trend, as identified in all three SST records, is thus opposite to the global temperature rise over the last century. Assisted with modern observations, we interpret that the alkenone-derived SST reflects increasing upwelling in the Mirs Bay, which likely results from the strengthened East Asian summer monsoon, in the context of global warming over the last century.

Rapid longitudinal migrations of the filament front off Namibia (SE Atlantic) during the past 70 kyr

Although productivity variations in coastal upwelling areas are mostly attributed to changes in wind strength, productivity dynamics in the Benguela Upwelling System (BUS) is less straightforward due to its complex atmospheric and hydrographic settings. In view of these settings, past productivity variations in the BUS can be better investigated with downcore sediments representing different productivity regimes. In this study, two sediment cores retrieved at ca. 25°–26°S in the BUS and representing different productivity regimes were studied. By using micropaleontological, geochemical and temperature proxies measured on core MD96-2098, recovered at 2910m water depth in the bathypelagic zone at 26°S off Namibia, variations of filament front location, productivity and temperature in the central BUS over the past 70kyr were reconstructed. The comparison with newly-generated alkenone-based sea-surface temperature (SST) and previously obtained data at site GeoB3606-1 (~25°S; ca. 50km shoreward from MD96-2098) allowed the recognition of four main phases: (1) upwelling front above the mid slope (70kyr–44kyr), (2) seaward displacement of the upwelling front beyond the mid slope (44kyr–31kyr), (3) main upwelling front over the hemipelagial (31kyr–19kyr), and (4) shoreward contraction of the upwelling filament, and decreased upwelling strength over most of the uppermost bathypelagic (19kyr–6kyr). The latitudinal migration of the Southern Hemisphere westerlies and the consequent contractions and expansions of the subpolar gyre played a significant role in millennial and submillennial variability of SST off Namibia. The strength of the southeasterly trade winds, rapid sea-level variations and the equatorward leakage of Antarctic silicate might have acted as amplifiers. Although late Quaternary variations of productivity and upwelling intensity in eastern boundary current systems are thought to be primarily linked to the variability in wind stress, this multi-parameter reconstruction shows that interplaying mechanisms defined the temporal variation pattern of the filament front migrations and the diatom production off Namibia during the past 70kyr.

Millennial-scale Atlantic/East Pacific sea surface temperature linkages during the last 100,000 years

Amplifying both internally generated variability and remote climate signals from the Atlantic Ocean via coupled air–sea instabilities, the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) is well situated to detect past climate changes and variations in Central American wind systems that dynamically link the Atlantic and the Pacific.Here we compare new and previously published alkenone-based sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions from diverse environments within the ETP, i.e. the Eastern Pacific Warm Pool (EPWP), the equatorial and the northern Peruvian Upwelling regions over the past 100,000 yr. Over this time period, a fairly constant meridional temperature gradient across the region is observed, indicating similar hydrographic conditions during glacial and interglacial periods. The data further reveal that millennial-scale cold events associated with massive iceberg surges in the North Atlantic (Heinrich events) generate cooling in the ETP from ∼8°N to ∼2°S. Data from Heinrich event 1, however, indicate that the response changes sign south of 2°S. These millennial-scale alterations of the SST pattern across diverse environments of the ETP support previous climate modeling experiments that suggested an Atlantic–Pacific connection caused by the intensification of the Central American gap winds, enhanced upwelling and mixing north of the equator and supported by positive air–sea feedbacks in the eastern tropical Pacific.

Organic-geochemical proxies of sea surface temperature in surface sediments of the tropical eastern Indian Ocean

In this study we reconstruct sea surface temperatures (SSTs) using two lipid-based biomarker proxies (alkenone unsaturation index U37K′ and TEX86 index based on glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers) in 36 surface sediment samples from the Indonesian continental margin off west Sumatra and south of Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands. Comparison of measured temperatures (World Ocean Atlas 09) to reconstructed temperatures suggests that SST estimates based on U37K′ reflect the SE monsoon SST in the upwelling area south of Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands. Estimates based on TEX86 using the calibration for temperatures >20°C (TEX86H) are up to 2°C lower than U37K′-based SSTs. This offset is possibly related to either one or a combination of two factors: (i) the depth habitats of the source organisms and (ii) different seasonal production and/or seasonality of export associated with phytoplankton blooming triggered by primary productivity. In the non-upwelling area off west Sumatra, the alkenone-based SSTs are cooler than measured temperatures during the entire year, likely reflecting the limitations of the U37K′ proxy beyond 28°C, while reconstructed temperatures based on TEX86H are consistent with mean annual SST.