North Atlantic deepwater temperature change during late pliocene and late quaternary climatic cycles
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Abstract
Variations in the ratio of magnesium to calcium (Mg/Ca) in fossil ostracodes from Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 607 in the deep North Atlantic show that the change in bottom water temperature during late Pliocene 41,000-year obliquity cycles averaged 1.5°C between 3.2 and 2.8 million years ago (Ma) and increased to 2.3°C between 2.8 and 2.3 Ma, coincidentally with the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation. During the last two 100,000-year glacial-to-interglacial climatic cycles of the Quaternary, bottom water temperatures changed by 4.5°C. These results show that glacial deepwater cooling has intensified since 3.2 Ma, most likely as the result of progressively diminished deep-water production in the North Atlantic and of the greater influence of Antarctic bottom water in the North Atlantic during glacial periods. The ostracode Mg/Ca data also allow the direct determination of the temperature component of the benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotope record from Site 607, as well as derivation of a hypothetical sea-level curve for the late Pliocene and late Quaternary. The effects of dissolution on the Mg/Ca ratios of ostracode shells appear to have been minimal.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | North Atlantic deepwater temperature change during late pliocene and late quaternary climatic cycles |
| Series title | Science |
| DOI | 10.1126/science.270.5240.1347 |
| Volume | 270 |
| Issue | 5240 |
| Year Published | 1995 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| Description | 5 p. |
| First page | 1347 |
| Last page | 1351 |
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