[1] Past changes in North Pacific sea surface temperatures and sea-ice conditions are proposed to play a crucial role in deglacial climate development and ocean circulation but are less well known than from the North Atlantic. Here, we present new alkenone-based sea surface temperature records from the subarctic northwest Pacific and its marginal seas (Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk) for the time interval of the last 15 kyr, indicating millennial-scale sea surface temperature fluctuations similar to short-term deglacial climate oscillations known from Greenland ice core records. Past changes in sea-ice distribution are derived from relative percentage of specific diatom groups and qualitative assessment of the IP 25 biomarker related to sea-ice diatoms. The deglacial variability in sea-ice extent matches the sea surface temperature fluctuations. These fluctuations suggest a linkage to deglacial variations in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and a close atmospheric coupling between the North Pacific and North Atlantic. During the Holocene the subarctic North Pacific is marked by complex sea surface temperature trends, which do not support the hypothesis of a Holocene seesaw in temperature development between the North Atlantic and the North Pacific.
Abstract. Under modern conditions only North Pacific Intermediate Water is formed in the northwest Pacific Ocean. This situation might have changed in the past. Recent studies with general circulation models indicate a switch to deep-water formation in the northwest Pacific during Heinrich Stadial 1 (17.5-15.0 ka) of the last glacial termination.
[1] Based on models and proxy data, it has been proposed that salinity-driven stratification weakened in the subarctic North Pacific during the last deglaciation, which potentially contributed to the deglacial rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide. We present high-resolution subsurface temperature (T Mg/Ca ) and subsurface salinity-approximating (d 18O ivc-sw ) records across the last 20,000 years from the subarctic North Pacific and its marginal seas, derived from combined stable oxygen isotopes and Mg/Ca ratios of the planktonic foraminiferal species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sin.). Our results indicate regionally differing changes of subsurface conditions. During the Heinrich Stadial 1 and the Younger Dryas cold phases, our sites were subject to reduced thermal stratification, brine rejection due to sea-ice formation, and increased advection of low-salinity water from the Alaskan Stream. In contrast, the Bølling-Allerød warm phase was characterized by strengthened thermal stratification, stronger sea-ice melting, and influence of surface waters that were less diluted by the Alaskan Stream. From direct comparison with alkenone-based sea surface temperature estimates (SST Uk 0 37 ), we suggest deglacial thermocline changes that were closely related to changes in seasonal contrasts and stratification of the mixed layer. The modern upper-ocean conditions seem to have developed only since the early Holocene.
We used piston cores recovered in the western Bering Sea to reconstruct millennial-scale changes in marine productivity and terrigenous matter supply over the past ~180 kyr. Based on a geochemical multi-proxy approach our results indicate closely interacting processes controlling marine productivity and terrigenous matter supply comparable to the situation in the Okhotsk Sea. Overall, terrigenous inputs were high, whereas primary production was low. Minor increases in marine productivity occurred during warm intervals of stage 5 and interstadials, but pronounced maxima were recorded during interglacials and Termination I. Seasonal sea-ice is suggested to act as the dominant transport agent for terrigenous material. From our results we propose glacial, deglacial, and interglacial scenarios for environmental change in the Bering Sea. These changes seem to be primarily controlled by insolation and sea-level forcing which affect the strength of atmospheric pressure systems and sea-ice growth. The opening history of the Bering Strait and the Aleutian passes is considered to have had an additional impact. Sea-ice dynamics are thought to drive changes in surface productivity, terrigenous inputs, and upper-ocean stratification. High-resolution core logging data (color b*, XRF scans) strongly correspond to the Dansgaard–Oeschger climate variability registered in the NGRIP ice core and support an atmospheric coupling mechanism of Northern Hemisphere climates
We used piston cores recovered in the western Bering Sea to reconstruct millennial-scale changes in marine productivity and terrigenous matter supply over the past ~180 kyr. Based on a geochemical multi-proxy approach, our results indicate closely interacting processes controlling marine productivity and terrigenous matter supply comparable to the situation in the Okhotsk Sea. Overall, terrigenous inputs were high, whereas export production was low. Minor increases in marine productivity occurred during intervals of Marine Isotope Stage 5 and interstadials, but pronounced maxima were recorded during interglacials and Termination I. The terrigenous material is suggested to be derived from continental sources on the eastern Bering Sea shelf and to be subsequently transported via sea ice, which is likely to drive changes in surface productivity, terrigenous inputs, and upper-ocean stratification. From our results we propose glacial, deglacial, and interglacial scenarios for environmental change in the Bering Sea. These changes seem to be primarily controlled by insolation and sea-level forcing which affect the strength of atmospheric pressure systems and sea-ice growth. The opening history of the Bering Strait is considered to have had an additional impact. High-resolution core logging data (color b*, XRF scans) strongly correspond to the Dansgaard–Oeschger climate variability registered in the NGRIP ice core and support an atmospheric coupling mechanism of Northern Hemisphere climates
We present high-resolution records of sedimentary nitrogen (δ 15 N bulk) and carbon ͵Ͳ isotope ratios (δ 13 C bulk) from piston core SO201-2-85KL located in the western Bering ͵ͳ Sea. The records reflect changes in surface nitrate utilization and terrestrial organic ͵ʹ matter contribution in submillennial resolution that span the last 180 kyr. The δ 15 N bulk ͵͵ record is characterized by a minimum during the penultimate interglacial indicating ͵Ͷ low nitrate utilization (~62-80%) despite the relatively high export production inferred ͵ͷ from opal concentrations along with a significant reduction in the terrestrial organic ͵ matter fraction (m terr). This suggests that the consumption of the nitrate pool at our ͵ site was incomplete and even more reduced than today (~84%). δ 15 N bulk increases ͵ͺ from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5.4 and culminates during the Last Glacial ͵ͻ Maximum, which indicates that nitrate utilization in the Bering Sea was raised during ͶͲ cold intervals (MIS 5.4, 5.2, 4) and almost complete during MIS 3 and 2 (~93-100%). Ͷͳ This is in agreement with previous hypotheses suggesting that stronger glacial Ͷʹ stratification reduced the nutrient supply from the subeuphotic zone, thereby Ͷ͵ increasing the iron-to-nutrient ratio and therefore the nitrate utilization in the mixed ͶͶ surface layer. Large variations in δ 15 N bulk were also recorded from 180 to 130 ka BP Ͷͷ (MIS 6), indicating a potential link to insolation and sea-level forcing and its related Ͷ feedbacks. Millennial-scale oscillations were observed in δ 15 N bulk and δ 13 C bulk that Ͷ might be related to Greenland interstadials.
Abstract. Under modern conditions only North Pacific Intermediate Water is formed in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. This situation might have changed in the past. Recent studies with General Circulation Models indicate a switch to deep-water formation in the Northwest Pacific during Heinrich Stadial 1 (17.5–15.0 kyr) of the last glacial termination. Reconstructions of past ventilation changes based on paleoceanographic proxy records are still insufficient to test whether a deglacial mode of deep-water formation in the North Pacific Ocean existed. Here we present deglacial ventilation records based on radiocarbon-derived ventilation ages in combination with epibenthic stable carbon isotopes from the Northwest Pacific including the Okhotsk Sea and Bering Sea, the two potential source regions for past North Pacific ventilation changes. Evidence for most rigorous ventilation of the mid-depth North Pacific occurred during Heinrich Stadial 1 and the Younger Dryas, simultaneous to significant reductions in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Concurrent changes in δ13C and ventilation ages point to the Okhotsk Sea as driver of millennial-scale changes in North Pacific Intermediate Water ventilation during the last deglaciation. Our records additionally indicate that changes in the δ13C intermediate water (700–1750 m water depth) signature and radiocarbon-derived ventilation ages are in antiphase to those of the deep North Pacific Ocean (>2100 m water depth) during the last glacial termination. Thus, intermediate and deep-water masses of the Northwest Pacific have a differing ventilation history during the last deglaciation.
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