Diatom Oxygen Isotope Research Articles

Hydrological instability during the Last Interglacial in central Asia: a new diatom oxygen isotope record from Lake Baikal

Last Interglacial variability is commonly used as an analogue for variability in a future, warmer world. Pervasive cycles are increasingly apparent in Last Interglacial archives, although studies in continental regions are under-represented. Here we provide a new isotopic record of diatom silica (δ18Odiatom) spanning c. 127.5–115 ka BP from Lake Baikal in central Asia. Peak rain-fed discharge occurred c. 125.4 ka BP, shortly after July insolation maximum and initiation of Siberian soil development. Between 127 and 119.7 ka BP there are six marked fluctuations in δ18Odiatom values, with a pacing of approximately 1.26 ± 0.3 ka, similar to fluctuations of within lake productivity. Fluctuations in δ18Odiatom values show good agreement with patterns in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), supporting hypothesis of strong teleconnections via the Westerlies between the North Atlantic and central Asia. Two periods of low δ18Odiatom values are especially notable. The earliest between c. 126.5 and 126 ka BP is concurrent with the final stages of the Heinrich 11. The second between 120.5 and 119.7 ka BP is also concurrent with an increase in ice-rafted debris in the North Atlantic. Aquatic productivity in Lake Baikal increased between 119.7 and 117.4 ka BP before declining to the top of the record (115 ka BP) concomitant with a shift to predominately cool steppe catchment vegetation. However, isotopic composition of discharge into Lake Baikal provides evidence for strong penetration of Westerlies into central Asia during the latter stages of the Last Interglacial. Variability in δ18Odiatom values was compared between the Last Interglacial and the Holocene. Millennial-scale variability was significantly more stable during the Last Interglacial, possibly linked to diminished influence of freshwater discharge on AMOC during periods of higher, global mean temperatures.

A 13,600-year diatom oxygen isotope record from the South Carpathians (Romania): Reflection of winter conditions and possible links with North Atlantic circulation changes

This study provides a continuous lateglacial and Holocene record of diatom silica oxygen isotope changes (δ18ODIAT) in a subalpine lake sediment sequence obtained from the Retezat Mts (Taul dintre Brazi, 1740 m a.s.l.). This through-flow, shallow, high-altitude lake with a surface area of only 0.4 ha has short water residence time and is predominantly fed by snowmelt and rainwater. Its δ18ODIAT record principally reflects the oxygen isotope composition of the winter and spring precipitation, as diatom blooms occur mainly in the spring and early summer. Hence, changes in δ18ODIAT are interpreted as seasonal scale changes: in the amount of winter precipitation. Low oxygen isotope values (27–28.5‰) occurred during the lateglacial until 12,300 cal BP, followed by a sharp increase thereafter. In the Holocene δ18ODIAT values ranged from 29 to 31‰ until 3200 cal BP, followed by generally lower values during the late Holocene (27–30‰). Short-term decreases in the isotopic values were found between 10,140–9570, 9000–8500, 7800–7300, 6300–5800, 5500–5000 and at 8015, 4400, 4000 cal BP. After 3200 cal BP a decreasing trend was visible with the lowest values between 3100–2500 and after 2100 cal BP The general trend in the record suggests that contribution of winter precipitation was generally lower between 11,680 and 3200 cal BP, followed by increased contribution during the last millennia.The late Holocene decrease in δ18ODIAT shows good agreement with the speleothem δ18O, lake level and testate amoebae records from the Carpathian Mountains that also display gradual δ18O decrease and lake level/mire water table level rise after 3200 cal BP. Strong positive correlation with North Atlantic circulation and solar activity proxies, such as the Austrian and Hungarian speleothem records, furthermore suggested that short-term increases in the isotopic ratios in the early and mid Holocene are likely connectable to high solar activity phases and high frequency of positive North Atlantic Oscillation indexes that may have resulted in decreased winter precipitation in this region.

A reassessment of late glacial – Holocene diatom oxygen isotope record from Lake Baikal using a geochemical mass‐balance approach

AbstractWe present a new palaeoenvironmental record of hydrological variability in Lake Baikal, based on re‐modelled δ18Odiatom values of diatom silica (δ18Omodelled), where the residual contaminants are identified and compensated for using electron optical imaging and whole‐sample geochemistry. δ18Omodelled interpretations are based on the balance between rivers with high δ18O values and rivers with low δ18O values. Isotopic variability is related to latitudinal differences in precipitation which feed these rivers. The δ18Omodelled record suggests that rather moist conditions prevailed in the Lake Baikal region during the latter stages of the Younger Dryas. Throughout the Holocene, episodes of low δ18Omodelled values are, in general, in good agreement with increases in percentage haematite‐stained grains in North Atlantic sediments (indicative of ice‐rafted debris events). Rivers with southerly catchments dominate fluvial input especially between c. 3.3 and 2 cal ka BP, concurrent with high precipitation in the Lake Baikal region. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A 14,000-year diatom oxygen isotope record from the Romanian South Carpathians reflect changes in the seasonal distribution of precipitation and temperature

Oxygen isotope records from lacustrine sediments have the potential to reflect short-term and long-term changes in temperature, seasonal changes in the distribution of precipitation and changes in lake water budget determined by the evaporation to inflow ratio. This proxy has widely been used in the Alps and NW Europe to provide high-resolution temperature or evaporation records, but similar studies in the Carpathians are missing. Here we provide a continuous Lateglacial and Holocene record of diatom silica oxygen isotope changes (δ 18 O DIAT ) in a subalpine lake sediment sequence coming from the northern flank of the Retezat Mts (Taul dintre Brazi, TDB, 1740 m a.s.l.).

Temperature-induced fractionation of oxygen isotopes of diatom frustules and growth water in Lake Sihailongwan in Northeast China

Diatom oxygen isotopes have been widely applied in quantitative reconstruction of the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment, but have rarely been reported in China. In the present study, Lake Sihailongwan in Northeast China was selected for detailed investigation of oxygen isotopic fractionation between diatom frustules and lake water induced by growth temperature. This study involved a 2-year period of field monitoring of the lake water temperature at multiple depths and biweekly collections of traps for both sediment and water at shallow and bottom depths (7 and 49 m below the lake surface, respectively), diatom separation and purification of the trap sediments, and oxygen isotope measurement for diatom silica and lake water samples. The conditioned experiment conducted herein demonstrated that the laboratory device, methods and techniques used in this study were capable of generating reliable data for the typical oxygen isotope composition of diatom frustules. The data obtained revealed a prominent linear relationship between the oxygen isotope composition of the modern diatom and lake temperature during growth. The fractionation coefficient was about −0.185‰/°C−0.238‰/°C in the temperature range of 3.6–24°C, which is consistent with the observations from various aquatic environments and laboratory culture with different diatom taxa. These findings provide strong support for the dominant control of the growth temperature on the oxygen isotope fractionation between the diatom frustules and ambient water. A notable difference in the fractionation coefficient was observed between the surface and bottom diatom oxygen isotopes, suggesting that various depositional processes and taphonomic effects influenced the surface and bottom trap samples. Another factor leading to this difference may be that enrichment by evaporation and dilution by rainfall have a stronger influence on the surface. Overall, the results presented here demonstrate significant progress in evaluation of diatom oxygen isotopes in China and draw attention to the differences between surface and bottom diatom oxygen isotope compositions.

ENSO and solar activity signals from oxygen isotopes in diatom silica during late glacial-Holocene transition in Central Andes (18°S)

The late glacial-Holocene transition from the Lago Chungara sedimentary record in northern Chilean Altiplano (18°S) is made up of laminated sediments composed of light-white and dark-green pluriannual couplets of diatomaceous ooze. Light-white sediment laminae accumulated during short-term extraordinary diatom blooms whereas dark-green sediment laminae represent the baseline limnological conditions during several years of deposition. Diatom oxygen isotope ratios (δ18Odiatom) from 40 consecutive dark-green laminae, ranging from 11,990 to 11,450 cal year BP, show that a series of decadal-to-centennial dry–wet oscillations occurred. Dry periods are marked by relatively high isotope values whereas wet episodes are indicated by lower values. This interpretation agrees with the reconstructions of terrigenous inputs and regional effective moisture availability carried out in the lake but there is a systematic temporal disagreement between them owing to the non-linear response of the lacustrine ecosystem to environmental forcings. Furthermore, the δ18Odiatom record tracks effective moisture changes at a centennial scale. Three major phases have been established (11,990–11,800, 11,800–11,550, and 11,550–11,450 cal year BP). Each phase is defined by an increasing isotope trend followed by a sudden depletion. In addition, several wet and dry events at a decadal scale are superimposed onto these major trends. Spectral analyses of the δ18Odiatom values suggest that cycles and events could have been triggered by both El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and solar activity. Significant ENSO frequencies of 7–9 years and 15–17 years, and periodicities of the solar activity cycles such as 11 years (Schwabe), 23 years (Hale) and 35 years (Bruckner) have been recognised in the oxygen isotope time series. Time–frequency analysis shows that although solar and ENSO forcing were present at the onset of the Holocene, they were more intense during the late glacial period. The early Holocene might have been mainly governed by La Nina-like conditions that correspond to wet conditions over the Andean Altiplano.

A review of diatom δ18O in palaeoceanography

Measurements of diatom oxygen isotopes ( δ 18O diatom) hold the potential to provide an important additional source of palaeoceanographic information in regions depleted in carbonates. However, despite analyses of δ 18O diatom being carried out since the 1970s and the increasingly widespread use of δ 18O diatom in palaeolimnology since the 1990s, to date only a handful of studies have applied δ 18O diatom in marine reconstructions. Here the historical development and current state of affairs concerning the usage of δ 18O diatom in palaeoceanography is reviewed. This includes a summary of: 1. sample purification and analytical techniques for δ 18O diatom; 2. existing palaeoceanographic reconstructions with an emphasis on sites at which both diatoms and foraminifera have been analysed for δ 18O; 3. uncertainties associated with δ 18O diatom including the presence of isotope vital effects and secondary isotope exchanges; 4. a review of the current and future developments required to improve the reliability of δ 18O diatom based reconstructions in palaeoceanography.

Isotope offsets in marine diatom δ18O over the last 200 ka

AbstractPrevious work has suggested that a species effect may be present in diatom oxygen isotope ratios (δ18Odiatom). While predominantly attributed to be a size‐related species effect, currently the precise mechanism remains unknown. Here, two size fractions of diatoms (38–75 µm and >100 µm) covering the last 200 ka are analysed for δ18O from ODP Site 882 in the North‐West Pacific Ocean. Synchronous variations of up to 13‰ occur in both size fractions. However, large isotope offsets (mean = 2.02‰) exist between the two fractions with no relationship between their magnitude and the overlying palaeoenvironmental conditions. In contrast to earlier work from the same site, no one size fraction is constantly higher or lower in δ18O relative to the other. As such, the dominant mechanism is most likely separate to the size effect previously detected. In addition, no relationship exists between the magnitude of the offsets and the species composition of the two size fractions. The presence of these isotope offsets imposes significant constraints upon the future use of δ18Odiatom in palaeoceanographic reconstructions and reiterates the need to extract and analyse only species‐ and size‐specific diatom samples. © Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) copyright 2008. Reproduced with the permission of NERC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Diatom oxygen isotopes: Evidence of a species effect in the sediment record

Diatom oxygen isotope measurements are commonly made on bulk mixed species assemblages due to the difficulty in purifying and separating individual taxa. As such, it is essential to understand processes in diatoms which may lead to isotope offsets both between and within individual species. Existing studies have suggested that mechanisms which may lead to isotopes offset in diatoms, such as vital effects, are either nonexistent or negligible. Here, we present a suite of diatom oxygen isotope data from the onset of major Northern Hemisphere Glaciation at ODP site 882 in the northwest Pacific Ocean which display large offsets (mean = 1.23‰, max = 3.51‰, error = 0.84‰) between two different size fractions (75–150 μm and >150 μm) that are dominated by only two species: Coscinodiscus marginatus and Coscinodiscus radiatus. These offsets are most likely size related, although additional interspecies and intraspecies effects may also be important in determining the exact magnitude of the offsets. Consequently, considerable care is needed when interpreting bulk diatom oxygen isotope data in relation to paleoenvironmental change, especially when the amount of stratigraphical change within the isotopes is small.

The paleoclimatology of Lake Baikal: A diatom synthesis and prospectus

The paleoclimatic archive held in Lake Baikal sediments is of significant importance, given the lake's position in one of the world's most continental regions where there are few continuous, high quality records spanning the Quaternary. Here I review diatom and associated biogenic silica records from Lake Baikal sediments and provide a paleoclimatic synthesis of changes at various timescales over the Quaternary. I initially highlight major climatic and hydrological aspects of Lake Baikal, as understanding the contemporary system (both regionally and within the lake) are fundamental to understanding past change interpreted from the sedimentary archive. In this respect, special attention is given to factors that can affect the integrity of the diatom record, most notably dissolution processes. These mechanisms are likely to have had a relatively greater impact on the preservation of diatom valves during glacial periods because of overall lower diatom productivity. Lower diatom numbers and relative increased dissolution during cold periods explains the lack of diatoms and low biogenic silica concentrations found in the lake sediments during glacial periods. The biogenic record highlights the nature of the 100 ka cycle especially during the last 800 ka, although there is also a strong precessional component. Further work is needed to reassess biological responses in Lake Baikal with respect to different orbital forcing mechanisms, together with their impacts on evolution and speciation of diatoms. The biological record from Lake Baikal confirms that the last interglacial in central Asia lasted approximately 10.5 ka. Productivity in the lake (as inferred from diatom biovolume accumulation rates) exhibits millennial-scale variability with the occurrence of centennial-scale reductions in diatom biomass throughout the last interglacial period. The most severe reduction in diatom biomass (at c. 120 ka BP) is concurrent with millennial-scale cooling in the North Atlantic region. Links to changes in North Atlantic ocean thermohaline circulation via teleconnections are also evident in the nature of the abrupt ecological changes in the lake throughout the last 60 ka, linked to ice-rafting into the North Atlantic, otherwise known as Heinrich events. New robust radiocarbon chronologies for sediments deposited during the late glacial and Holocene in Lake Baikal allow detailed, multi-decadal records to be constructed for the last 14,000 years. Cooling events associated with millennial-scale cycles are also apparent in the Lake Baikal record, and both the diatom record and oxygen isotope record of the diatom silica highlight that biological responses to these abrupt events are almost simultaneous. Comparisons made between Lake Baikal records with others worldwide highlights that many of the Holocene cooling events are associated with melt-water outburst from the Laurentide ice sheet, and changes in solar insolation. During the last 1000 years, snow cover on Lake Baikal has been inferred from past diatom assemblages, and is closely linked to weakening of the North Atlantic Oscillation, allowing increasing intensity of the Siberian High to develop and during the 17th and 18th centuries. In the last 150 years, diatom species have been shown to be sensitive indicators of recent warming. However, impacts from future global warming will be complex, and are likely to impact not only on the balance between endemic and cosmopolitan diatoms throughout the lake, but on the balance between siliceous and non-siliceous algae, and sources of primary productivity.

A geochemical method for removing the effect of tephra on lake diatom oxygen isotope records

The analysis of oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O) in biogenic silica (e.g. diatoms, sponge spicules, phytoliths) is an increasingly utilised palaeoclimatic proxy for lakes and oceans, providing an alternative to carbonate δ18O. Currently, the problems associated with the cleaning and extraction of pure diatom silica, especially from lake sediments, may compromise the precision associated with δ18Odiatom records. This is because, despite improvements in cleaning techniques, it is still difficult to remove silica-containing contaminants (e.g. tephra, silts and clays) from biogenic silica. Where it has proved difficult to remove all the silica bearing contaminants from a sample, mass balance calculations involving point counting have been used, but these are inherently inaccurate as they only consider the surface area of the contaminant, rather than volume. The new method described here assesses the volume of contamination in each sample of biogenic silica by using major and trace element geochemistry, allowing the δ18O of the contamination to be removed from the biogenic silica δ18O value by linear mass balance. In this case, diatom silica was contaminated with tephra, however the method should also be applicable to other contaminants such as silts and clays.

Transfer and early diagenesis of biogenic silica oxygen isotope signals during settling and sedimentation of diatoms in a temperate freshwater lake (Lake Holzmaar, Germany)

We have investigated the transfer of oxygen isotope signals of diatomaceous silica ( δ 18O diatom) from the epilimnion (0–7 m) through the hypolimnion to the lake bottom (∼20 m) in freshwater Lake Holzmaar, Germany. Sediment-traps were deployed in 2001 at depths of 7 and 16 m to harvest fresh diatoms every 28 days. The 7 m trap collected diatoms from the epilimnion being the main zone of primary production, while the 16 m trap collected material already settled through the hypolimnion. Also a bottom sediment sample was taken containing diatom frustules from approximately the last 25 years. The δ 18O diatom values of the 7 m trap varied from 29.4‰ in spring/autumn to 26.2‰ in summer according to the temperature dependence of oxygen isotope fractionation and represent the initial isotope signal in this study. Remarkably, despite the short settling distance δ 18O diatom values of the 7 and the 16 m trap were identical only during spring and autumn seasons while from April to September δ 18O diatom values of the 16 m trap were roughly ∼1.5‰ enriched in 18O compared to those of the 7 m trap. Isotopic exchange with the isotopically lighter water of the hypolimnion would shift the δ 18O diatom value to lower values during settling from 7 to 16 m excluding this process as a cause for the deviation. Dissolution of opal during settling with intact organic coatings of the diatom cells and near neutral pH of the water should only cause a minor enrichment of the 16 m values. Nevertheless, opal from the bottom sediment was found to be 2.5‰ enriched in 18O compared to the weighted average of the opal from the 7 m trap. Thus, resuspension of bottom material must have contributed to the intermediate δ 18O diatom signal of the 16 m trap during summer. Dissolution experiments allowed further investigation of the cause for the remarkably enriched δ 18O diatom value of the bottom sediment. Experiments with different fresh diatomaceous materials show an increase of opaline 18O at high pH values which is remarkably reduced when organic coatings of the cells still exist or at near neutral pH. In contrast, high pH conditions do not affect the δ 18O diatom values of sub-fossil and even fossil opal. IR analyses show that the 18O enrichment of the sedimentary silica is associated with a decrease in Si–OH groups and the formation of Si–O–Si linkages. This indicates a silica dehydroxylation process as cause for the isotopic enrichment of the bottom sediment. Silica dissolution and dehydroxylation clearly induce a maturation process of the diatom oxygen isotope signal presumably following an exponential behaviour with a rapid initial phase of signal alteration. The dynamics of this process is of particular importance for the quantitative interpretation of sedimentary δ 18O diatom values in terms of palaeothermometry.

Investigating Late Holocene Climate Variability in Central Mexico using Carbon Isotope Ratios in Organic Materials and Oxygen Isotope Ratios from Diatom Silica within Lacustrine Sediments

Previous studies have shown that moisture availability in the central highlands of Mexico during the last 3000 years has been highly variable, but evidence remains ambiguous since the climatic signal is partially masked by that of human activity. Here we use two isotope systems to provide evidence for environmental change in Laguna Zacapu, Michoacan covering this time period. Carbon isotope ratios of organic material suggest that there have been fluctuations in the carbon pool related to plant productivity, possibly as a result of changes in the abundance of aquatic plants around the lake margins. The drainage basin and lake have been managed intensively during the 20th century. Lake level apparently fell during the early part of the century, but has been artificially controlled since the 1950s. The oxygen isotope ratios from diatom silica should provide the more unambiguous climate signal, although we show that the interpretation of the diatom oxygen isotope record is far from straight forward. Zacapu is a spring-fed, non-evaporating system and changes in δ18Odiatom are likely to be a function of changes in δ18O of precipitation, due to either temperature and salinity variation in the Gulf of Mexico (associated with changes in the Bond cycles from the North Atlantic or the Loop current from the Carribean) and/or changing moisture contributions from different air masses (Gulf of Mexico vs. Pacific). Changes in the Gulf of Mexico are possibly at a resolution comparable to the periodicity we see in the δ18Odiatom record, although without better dating the comparison is speculative.

A comparison of the palaeoclimate signals from diatom oxygen isotope ratios and carbonate oxygen isotope ratios from a low latitude crater lake

The analysis of oxygen isotope ratios ( δ 18O) from authigenic lake carbonates has become a well-established palaeoclimate technique. Less common is the use of δ 18O in biogenic silica (e.g. diatoms, sponge spicules, phytoliths), but the technique is being increasingly utilised for non-carbonate lakes. This paper aims to compare δ 18O diatom with δ 18O carbonate in a low latitude, closed basin lake. Due to the influence of pH, rarely are both carbonate and diatoms preserved in lake sediments in concentrations high enough to measure oxygen isotopes. The δ 18O composition of both carbonate and silica should reflect the isotope composition and temperature of the lake water at the time of precipitation and hence theoretically they should be equivalent. Only one comparative study of δ 18O diatom and δ 18O carbonate currently exists and that found differences between their δ 18O compositions, probably because they precipitated in different seasons. Unless there is evidence to suggest that silica and carbonate precipitate at the same time, their δ 18O records are likely to be different but complementary. In this study, we show that δ 18O diatom and δ 18O calcite from Lake Tilo, Ethiopia show some similar broad climate trends. However, the δ 18O diatom curve is generally more variable and does not record two regional arid events, picked up by the δ 18O calcite data. Several possible reasons for this are discussed: the precision of the δ 18O diatom extraction technique, contamination of the diatom samples from tephra (volcanic glass), vital effects in the diatom samples, differences in their respective equilibrium isotope fractionation rates and the possibility that the dominant diatom, Aulacoseira granulata, and calcite precipitated in different seasons during this time. Currently, the problems associated with the cleaning and extraction of δ 18O diatom suggests that details found in δ 18O calcite records may be lost in δ 18O diatom records where contaminants such as tephra and clay minerals are difficult to remove.

North Pacific seasonality and the glaciation of North America 2.7 million years ago

In the context of gradual Cenozoic cooling, the timing of the onset of significant Northern Hemisphere glaciation 2.7 million years ago is consistent with Milankovitch's orbital theory, which posited that ice sheets grow when polar summertime insolation and temperature are low. However, the role of moisture supply in the initiation of large Northern Hemisphere ice sheets has remained unclear. The subarctic Pacific Ocean represents a significant source of water vapour to boreal North America, but it has been largely overlooked in efforts to explain Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Here we present alkenone unsaturation ratios and diatom oxygen isotope ratios from a sediment core in the western subarctic Pacific Ocean, indicating that 2.7 million years ago late-summer sea surface temperatures in this ocean region rose in response to an increase in stratification. At the same time, winter sea surface temperatures cooled, winter floating ice became more abundant and global climate descended into glacial conditions. We suggest that the observed summer warming extended into the autumn, providing water vapour to northern North America, where it precipitated and accumulated as snow, and thus allowed the initiation of Northern Hemisphere glaciation.

Cleaning of lake sediment samples for diatom oxygen isotope analysis

Detrital grain contamination in a diatom sample can considerably influence the � 18 Odiatom signal. In order to obtain a meaningful signal, pure samples must be used. This can be achieved via a series of cleaning stages including organic and carbonate material removal, sieving, differential settling and heavy liquid separation. The method described here works best for sediments with >20% diatom content. Based on testing various clean-up methods, we propose a sequence of four clean-up stages to produce pure diatom samples from a range of lake sediments types starting with a few grams of sediment. The diatom content and the oxygen isotope composition of the samples at each stage were measured in order to assess the effect of differential amounts of contamination. Results show that a four stage clean-up is necessary to produce clean diatom samples and that contamination by silt and clay causes lower � 18 O values.

Diatom oxygen isotopes in pro-glacial lake sediments from northern Sweden: a 5000 year record of atmospheric circulation

We use a pro-glacial oxygen isotope record of diatom silica (δ 18O diatom) and a sedimentary proxy for glacier fluctuations to determine centennial–millennial scale climate change during the last 5000 years in northern Sweden. We show that the lake water isotopic composition predominantly reflects the isotopic composition of the precipitation. Superimposed on a general depletion trend of 3.5‰ over the past 5000 years we found that the isotopic composition of precipitation became depleted (>1‰ excursions) during four occasions centered at 4400, 3000, 2000, and after 1200 cal yr BP. Climate simultaneously sustained a positive glacier mass balance, that caused the catchment glacier to advance. A persistent change in the atmospheric circulation pattern could potentially have caused the registered changes in δ 18O diatom because different air masses hold characteristic δ 18O signatures of their precipitation. The glacier mass balance primarily responds to the influence of summer temperature on ablation. We suggest that the most likely cause for the recorded changes in both these proxies is a steadily increasing but fluctuating dominance of colder and δ 18O depleted air masses from the north/northeast during the past 5000 years. The δ 18O diatom depletion and glacier events all occur at times of relative ice-rafted-debris maxima in the North Atlantic, consistent with cold conditions and changes in surface wind directions. Our results confirm that changes towards a predominance of north/northeasterly winds occurred at these time intervals.

Oxygen isotopes of marine diatoms and relations to opal-A maturation

In order to develop the potential tool of diatom oxygen isotopes for paleoenvironmental studies we compared oxygen isotopes of natural marine diatoms sampled from ocean surface water, sediment traps and surface sediments with oxygen isotopic fractionations determined for laboratory diatom cultures. Freshly grown natural diatoms (phytoplankton samples and sediment trap material) and cultured diatoms reveal similar oxygen isotope fractionation factors. The fresh diatoms have 3 to 10‰ lower isotope fractionation factors than fossil (sedimentary) diatoms. A temperature-related oxygen isotope fractionation could not be established for the laboratory cultures (and the natural phytoplankton samples), and there is evidence that diatom growth rate until reaching the stationary growth state also controls the measured silica-water oxygen isotope fractionation factor. It is possible, however, that slow diatom growth in sea surface water may well lead to a temperature-dependent silica-water oxygen isotope fractionation which is the prerequisite for a use of diatom oxygen isotopes in paleo-surface water studies. FTIR-spectroscopic analyses of various diatomaceous materials revealed that the ratio of integrated peak intensities for Si-O-Si/Si-OH correlates with the 3 to 10‰ δ 18O silica increase from fresh to fossil diatoms. Open-system (flow-through) silica dissolution experiments suggest that the diatom frustules are isotopically homogenous and that the increase in 18O is therefore not due to dissolution of isotopically light surficial Si-OH groups. It is concluded that slow internal condensation reactions during silica maturation in surface sediments cause both an increase in the intensity ratio of Si-O-Si/Si-OH and the 18O content of framework oxygen. These findings also indicate that the oxygen isotope compositions of marine sediment diatoms do not indicate sea surface water temperature but rather reflect variable 18O contents of surface sediments.

Oxygen isotopic compositions of DSDP Site 480 diatoms: Implications and applications

The oxygen isotope composition of marine diatoms from hydraulic piston-cored samples of DSDP Site 480 vary widely, reflecting the great temperature variations and large isotopic changes of surface water in the Gulf of California. Nevertheless, the results can be correlated with standard oxygen isotope records for the late Quaternary based on carbonates (such as the record of core V19-29). The diatom-based results also parallel oxygen isotope data on benthic foraminifera from Site 480, thus confirming that signals of environmental changes have been retained in the diatom oxygen isotope record throughout the section. The data therefore allow us to assign an oxygen isotope stratigraphy and to define the chronology of Site 480.