direct correlation of millennial scale changes in western north american vegetation and climate with changes in the california current system over the past 60 kyr terrestrial pollen and marine climate proxies from seven sediment cores taken on the continental margin of western north america between 32 and 43 n show systematically related short term changes superposed on milankovitch scale oscillations of the past 60 kyr during oxygen isotope stage 3 brief warming events in california and oregon appear correlative with interstadial events in waters offshore as do the rapid climate oscillations of the last glacial transition 14 10 ka estimated temperature depression of the coastal lowlands ranges from 10 c in southern california to 5 c in oregon during the last glacial the absence of long distance migration of pacific coastal plant assemblages concurs with marine evidence that southward movement of the polar front during the last glacial maximum was limited correlative changes in terrestrial and marine ecosystems imply that broad reorganizations of circulation in the northeast pacific ocean were synchronous with reorganizations of atmospheric circulation over western north america

a study of cleaning procedures used for foraminiferal mg ca paleothermometry the various cleaning steps required for preparation of foraminiferal samples for mg ca and sr ca analysis are evaluated for their relative importance and effects on measured elemental ratios it is shown that the removal of silicate contamination is the most important step for the measurement of mg ca ratios in an example bulk sample mg ca decreases from 10 5 to 2 5 mmol mol 1 during clay removal oxidation of organic material causes a lowering of sample mg ca in the order of 10 or approximately 1 c when converted to temperature use of dilute acid leaching to remove adsorbed contaminants causes partial dissolution of the sample carbonate and a corresponding decrease in mg ca reductive treatment also causes dissolution of the sample and a decrease in the mg ca ratio of up to 10 15 sample preparation for sr ca analysis does not require the same degree of rigor as is necessary for mg ca work the within run reproducibility of the method described here for g ruber in a core top sample from the arabian sea was 1 8 mean sample ratio was 4 72 mmol mol 1 when converted to temperature this becomes 28 0 2 c the equivalent result for sr ca was 0 5 mean ratio 1 44 mmol mol 1

patterns of deglacial warming in the pacific ocean a review with emphasis on the time interval of heinrich event 1 abstract based on a compilation of currently available records of past sea surface temperature sst variability estimated from a variety of different proxies the regional scale deglacial sst development in the pacific ocean is tentatively classified into four endmember types the subtropical and tropical pacific is characterized by a continuous deglacial warming without marked interruption during the time interval of heinrich event 1 h1 whereas the subarctic north pacific exhibits centennial scale warm cold oscillations during this time interval sst records from marginal seas of the pacific show a deglacial warming interrupted by a cooling event coeval with h1 followed by a marked bolling sst increase a single sst record from the southwestern subantarctic pacific displays a continuous deglacial warming across h1 followed by an antarctic cold reversal type cooling during the allerod thus in contrast to the deglacial sst development in the atlantic which has been inferred to be overwhelmingly driven by the redistribution of heat through changes in the meridional overturning circulation moc none of the open oceanic pacific sst records reviewed here displays any obvious and or dominant response to the reduction of the moc and or the reorganization of atmospheric circulation during h1 within the limits of absolute chronologies all tropical and subtropical pacific sst records show an onset of deglacial warming at 19 1 ka coeval with the onset of the deglacial rise in sea level

characteristic patterns of the circulation in the santa barbara channel the subtidal near surface circulation in the santa barbara channel sbc and on the shelf north of point conception is described based on observations obtained during the 3 year period from 1993 to 1995 near surface currents in the channel are a superposition of a larger than sbc scale flow and a cyclonic circulation of variable intensity located inside the channel on seasonal timescales the larger than sbc scale flow near the surface is equatorward in spring and poleward from summer through winter the increase in equatorward flow in spring occurs concurrently with the increase in equatorward wind stress and the decrease in near surface temperatures and synthetic subsurface pressures ssps the flow reverses in late spring simultaneously with the increase in the along channel ssp difference and months before wind stress has reached its peak the period during which the cyclonic circulation within the sbc is strongest coincides with the period of strongest poleward flow through the eastern entrance a synoptic description of the circulation in the sbc is presented in terms of six characteristic patterns labeled upwelling relaxation cyclonic propagating cyclones flood east and flood west an analysis of the 5 and 45 m currents into empirical orthogonal functions eofs isolates 50 53 of the 5 m 45 m low frequency current variance into three two modes combining these modes with the mean current fields the modes have spatial patterns that correspond to the characteristic flow patterns subjectively deduced from inspection of daily averages of the near surface currents from late spring through fall the two largest 5 m current modes produce a repeating pattern of circulation in which the sequence of four states namely upwelling cyclonic relaxation and quiescent is traversed roughly every 16 days in addition to the large scale cyclonicity in the central sbc smaller cyclonic eddies form frequently in the eastern channel and travel toward the west with an average speed of 0 06 m s 1 the patterns described here develop in response to the wind stress and the along channel ssp gradient

deepwater formation in the north pacific during the last glacial termination between approximately 17 500 and 15 000 years ago the atlantic meridional overturning circulation weakened substantially in response to meltwater discharges from disintegrating northern hemispheric glacial ice sheets the global effects of this reorganization of poleward heat flow in the north atlantic extended to antarctica and the north pacific here we present evidence from north pacific paleo surface proxy data a compilation of marine radiocarbon age ventilation records and global climate model simulations to suggest that during the early stages of the last glacial termination deep water extending to a depth of approximately 2500 to 3000 meters was formed in the north pacific a switch of deepwater formation between the north atlantic and the north pacific played a key role in regulating poleward oceanic heat transport during the last glacial termination

apparent synchroneity of submillennial scale climate events between greenland and santa barbara basin california from 30 10 ka abstract evidence is presented from odp hole 893a santa barbara basin for possible synchroneity between greenland and california margin submillennial climate change records during termination 1 and the last glacial maximum lgm planktonic foraminiferal isotope and faunal records are compared to the gisp2 18o records greenland for the interval between 30 and 10 ka using a new chronology based on 38 planktonic 14c dates apparent synchronous climatic events include interstadial is events 2 3 and 4 a broad warming trend between 21 and 19 ka and a broad cooling trend between 19 and 17 ka bolling and allerod warm episodes separated by the cooler older dryas event younger dryas cool episode and the preboreal the resulting tight correlation supports an intimate teleconnection between santa barbara basin surface waters and greenland air temperatures differences between greenland and santa barbara basin suggest that some regional variations were superimposed on the global pattern of climate change e g the pre bolling warming

dansgaard oeschger cycles and the california current system planktonic foraminiferal response to rapid climate change in santa barbara basin ocean drilling program hole 893a high resolution planktonic foraminiferal census data from santa barbara basin ocean drilling program hole 893a demonstrate major assemblage switches between 25 and 60 ka that were associated with dansgaard oeschger cycles stadials dominated by neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral and globigerinoides glutinata suggest a strong subpolar california current influence while interstadials marked by abundant n pachyderma dextral and g bulloides indicate a relative increase in subtropical countercurrent influence modern analog technique and transfer function f 20rsc temperature reconstructions support 18o evidence of large rapid 70 years or less sea surface temperature shifts 3 to 5 c between stadials and interstadials changes in the vertical temperature gradient and water column structure thermocline depth are recorded by planktonic faunal oscillations suggest bimodal stability in the organization of north pacific surface ocean circulation santa barbara basin surface water demonstrates the rapid response of the california current system to reorganization of north pacific atmospheric circulation during rapid climate change supporting assemblage data are available on diskette or via anonymous ftp from kosmos agu org directory apend username anonymous password guest diskette may be ordered from american geophysical union 2000 florida avenue n w washington dc 20009 or by phone at 800 966 2481 5 00 payment must accompany order

holocene and eemian sea surface temperature trends as revealed by alkenone and mg ca paleothermometry in this study we review a global set of alkenone and foraminiferal mg ca derived sea surface temperatures sst records from the holocene and compare them with a suite of published eemian sst records based on the same approach for the holocene the alkenone sst records belong to the actualized ghost database kim j h schneider r r 2004 ghost global database for alkenone derived holocene sea surface temperature records available from http www pangaea de projects ghost while the mg ca derived sst database represents a new compilation the actualized ghost database not only confirms the sst changes previously described but also documents the holocene temperature evolution in new oceanic regions such as the northwestern atlantic the eastern equatorial pacific and the southern ocean a comparison of holocene sst records stemming front the two commonly applied paleothermometry methods reveals contrasting sometimes divergent sst evolution particularly at low latitudes where sst records are abundant enough to infer systematic discrepancies at a regional scale opposite sst trends at particular locations could be explained by out of phase trends in seasonal insolation during the holocene this hypothesis assumes that a strong contrast in the ecological responses of coccolithophores and planktonic foraminifera to winter and summer oceanographic conditions is the ultimate reason for seasonal differences in the origin of the temperature signal provided by these organisms as a simple test for this hypothesis eemian sst records are considered because the holocene and eemian time periods experienced comparable changes in orbital configurations but had a higher magnitude in insolation variance during the eemian for several regions sst changes during both interglacials were of a similar sign but with higher magnitudes during the eemian as compared to the holocene this observation suggests that the ecological mechanism shaping sst trends during the holocene was comparable during the penultimate interglacial period although this ecology hypothesis fails to explain all of the available results we argue that any other mechanism would fail to satisfactorily explain the observed sst discrepancies among proxies c 2010 elsevier ltd all rights reserved

using species specific paleotemperature equations with foraminifera a case study in the southern california bight abstract species specific paleotemperature equations were used to reconstruct a record of temperature from foraminiferal 18 o values over the last 25 kyr in the southern california bight the equations yield similar temperatures for the 18 o values of globigerina bulloides and neogloboquadrina pachyderma in contrast applying a single paleotemperature equation to g bulloides and n pachyderma 18 o yields different temperatures which has been used to suggest that these species record the surface to thermocline temperature gradient in santa barbara basin an isotopically distinct morphotype of g bulloides dominates during glacial intervals and yields temperatures that appear too cold when using a paleotemperature equation calibrated for the morphotype common today when a more appropriate paleotemperature equation is used for glacial g bulloides we obtain more realistic glacial temperatures glacial interglacial temperature differences g i t calculated in the present study indicate significant cooling 8 10 c throughout the southern california bight during the last glacial maximum lgm the magnitude of glacial cooling varies from 8 c near the middle of the southern california bight tanner basin and san nicolas basin to 9 c in the north santa barbara basin and 9 5 10 c in the south velero basin and no name basin our temperature calculations agree well with previous estimates based on the modern analog technique in contrast studies using n pachyderma coiling ratios u k 37 indices and transfer functions estimate considerably warmer lgm temperatures and smaller g i t

climate impact of late quaternary equatorial pacific sea surface temperature variations magnesium calcium data from planktonic foraminifera in equatorial pacific sediment cores demonstrate that tropical pacific sea surface temperatures ssts were 2 8 0 7 c colder than the present at the last glacial maximum glacial interglacial temperature differences as great as 5 c are observed over the last 450 thousand years changes in sst coincide with changes in antarctic air temperature and precede changes in continental ice volume by about 3 thousand years suggesting that tropical cooling played a major role in driving ice age climate comparison of sst estimates from eastern and western sites indicates that the equatorial pacific zonal sst gradient was similar or somewhat larger during glacial episodes extraction of a salinity proxy from the magnesium calcium and oxygen isotope data indicates that transport of water vapor into the western pacific was enhanced during glacial episodes

asynchronous alkenone and foraminifera records from the benguela upwelling system abstract radiocarbon stratigraphy is an essential tool for high resolution paleoceanographic studies age models based on radiocarbon ages of foraminifera are commonly applied to a wide range of geochemical studies including the investigation of temporal leads and lags the critical assumption is that temporal coupling between foraminifera and other sediment constituents including specific molecular organic compounds biomarkers of marine phytoplankton e g alkenones is maintained in the sediments to test this critical assumption in the benguela upwelling area we have determined radiocarbon ages of total c37 c39 alkenones in 20 samples from two gravity cores and three multicorer cores the cores were retrieved from the continental shelf and slope off namibia and samples were taken from holocene deglacial and last glacial maximum core sections the alkenone radiocarbon ages were compared to those of planktic foraminifera total organic carbon fatty acids and fine grained carbonates from the same samples interestingly the ages of alkenones were 1000 to 4500 yr older than those of foraminifera in all samples such age differences may be the result of different processes bioturbation associated with grain size effects lateral advection of recycled material and redeposition of sediment on upper continental slopes due to currents or tidal movement are examples for such processes based on the results of this study the age offsets between foraminifera and alkenones in sediments from the upper continental slope off namibia most probably do not result from particle selective bioturbation processes resuspension of organic particles in response to tidal movement of bottom waters with velocities up to 25 cm s recorded near the core sites is the more likely explanation our results imply that age control established using radiocarbon measurements of foraminifera may be inadequate for the interpretation of alkenone based proxy data observed temporal leads and lags between foraminifera based data and data derived from alkenone measurements may therefore be secondary signals i e the result of processes associated with particle settling and biological activity

slope failure and denudation in the western himalaya slope failures glaciers and rivers constitute the three main agents of denudation in the himalaya failure of slopes is strongly controlled by bedrock geology especially at plate terrane boundaries although climatic and seismic controls of failure also occur slope failure complexes in the western himalaya studied for this report include the pakhar kaghan nanga parbat and atabad hunza areas with 23 different slope failures reported within all the complexes quantification of denudation by mass movement requires measurement of volumes and determination of timing of sediment emplacement and removal where possible to obtain better data on recurrence intervals and total geomorphic work performed in formation of the landscape the relation of mass movement to overall denudation by glaciers and rivers and its role in catastrophic floods and debris entrainment is assessed

late quaternary climatic and oceanographic changes in the northeast pacific as recorded by dinoflagellate cysts from guaymas basin gulf of california mexico a high resolution record of organic walled dinoflagellate cyst production in guaymas basin gulf of california mexico reveals a complex paleoceanographic history over the last 40 ka guaymas basin is an excellent location to perform high resolution studies of changes in late quaternary climate and paleo productivity because it is characterized by high primary productivity high sedimentation rates and low oxygen bottom waters these factors contribute to the deposition and preservation of laminated sediments throughout large portions of the core md02 2515 in this study we document dinoflagellate cyst production at a centennial to millennial scale throughout the late quaternary based on the cyst assemblages three dinoflagellate cyst zones were established and roughly correspond to marine isotope stages miss 1 to 3 miss 1 and 3 are dominated by cysts of heterotrophic dinoflagellates whereas mis 2 is characterized by enhanced variability and a greater proportion of cysts produced by autotrophic taxa the most dominant dinoflagellate cyst taxa found throughout the core were brigantedinium spp and operculodinium centrocarpum dansgaard oeschger event 8 is observed in the dinoflagellate cyst record where it is characterized by an increase in warm taxa such as spiniferites pachydermus other intervals of interest are the younger dryas where warmer conditions are recorded and the holocene which is characterized by the consistent presence of tropical species stelladinium reidii tuberculodinidum vancampoae bitectatodinium spongium and an increase in quinquecuspis concreta changes in cyst assemblages concentrations and species diversity along with geochemical data reflect major orbital to millennial scale climatic and oceanographic changes reference price a m k n mertens v pospelova t f pedersen and r s ganeshram 2013 late quaternary climatic and oceanographic changes in the northeast pacific as recorded by dinoflagellate cysts from guaymas basin gulf of california mexico paleoceanography 28 doi 10 1002 palo 20019

late pleistocene california droughts during deglaciation and arctic warming abstract recent studies document the synchronous nature of shifts in north atlantic regional climate the intensity of the east asian monsoon and productivity and precipitation in the cariaco basin during the last glacial and deglacial period yet questions remain as to what climate mechanisms influenced continental regions far removed from the north atlantic and beyond the direct influence of the inter tropical convergence zone here we present u series calibrated stable isotopic and trace element time series for a speleothem from moaning cave on the western slope of the central sierra nevada california that documents changes in precipitation that are approximately coeval with greenland temperature changes for the period 16 5 to 8 8 ka from 16 5 to 10 6 ka the moaning cave stalagmite proxies record drier and possibly warmer conditions signified by elevated 18 o 13 c mg sr and ba and more radiogenic 87 sr 86 sr during northern hemisphere warm periods bolling early and late allerod and wetter and possibly colder conditions during northern hemisphere cool periods older dryas inter allerod cold period and younger dryas moaning cave stable isotope records indicate that wet conditions persisted in this area well beyond 11 5 ka suggesting the effects of the younger dryas event may have been longer lived in the western sierra nevada than in greenland however a shifting drip center and corresponding change in seepage water routing may have influenced the trace element records between 10 6 and 9 6 ka linkages between northern high latitude climate and precipitation in the sierra nevada suggested here could indicate that under conditions of continued global warming this drought prone region may experience a reduction in pacific sourced moisture

identification and removal of mn mg rich contaminant phases on foraminiferal tests implications for mg ca past temperature reconstructions 1 the geochemical composition of foraminifera shells from an ocean drilling program site in the panama basin has been analyzed by several analytical techniques la icp ms icp ms xrd sem edx in order to identify and evaluate the occurrence of contaminant phases which may bias paleoenvironmental reconstructions la icp ms results on uncleaned tests indicate the presence of mnmg rich contaminant phases at the inner surfaces of the foraminiferal shells which have mn ca ratios up to 400 mmol mol 1 and mg ca ratios up to 50 mmol mol 1 we have rigorously assessed the ability of different cleaning protocols to remove these contaminant phases and have obtained satisfactory results only when a reductive step is included the analysis of cleaning residuals collected after each of the different cleaning steps applied reveals that high mn values are associated with at least two different contaminant phases of which only one is linked to high mg values xrd analysis further reveals that the mn mg rich phase is the ca mn mg carbonate kutnahorite ca mn mg co3 2 our results demonstrate that the presence of kutnahorite like minerals can bias mg ca ratios toward higher values by 7 36 and lead to significant overestimation of past seawater temperatures by 0 9 up to 6 2 c in the case of these panama basin samples components 11 867 words 13 figures 3 tables

biomarkers reveal abrupt switches in hydroclimate during the last glacial in southern california abstract reconstructions of past hydroclimate provide a means to understand precipitation responses to global ocean atmosphere climate dynamics beyond the scope of that in the instrumental record late glacial climate was characterized by abrupt variability in ice and ocean dynamics however the implications for hydroclimate are not as well known here we present organic geochemical proxy evidence for precipitation isotopes based on plant leaf wax hydrogen isotopic compositions dwax and temperature proxy evidence based upon the branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers brgdgts that derive from the membrane lipids of bacteria each extracted from a sedimentary archive in lake elsinore california spanning 32 9 ka we add proxy evidence for vegetation and salinity from additional biomarker analyses and compare to prior pollen and sedimentological evidence from the same core our record indicates a strong deglacial warming of 10 c in lake elsinore beginning at 14 5 ka that accompanied a d enrichment of precipitation of 90 and more c4 vegetation 12 10 ka after a cold wet and c3 dominated phase 20 14 5 ka indicating winter dominated precipitation during the last glacial maximum and heinrich stadial 1 during the late glacial 32 20 ka we find abrupt variability with precipitation isotopic shifts 70 that are independent of temperature swings implicating changes in storm track rather than local temperature as drivers of the precipitation isotope signal temperature is however not irrelevant for hydroclimate we find extreme warmth at 29 4 ka and 26 8 ka the latter coincident with existing reports of an extended dry period 27 5 25 5 ka suggesting a long hot and dry interlude during the generally cooler glacial period we compare dwax with speleothem 18 o from nevada also within the winter dominated precipitation region our results corroborate the last glacial maximum and deglacial signals and fill gaps revealing storm track instability from 32 20 ka however the pacing and magnitude of the biomarker signals merit cautious interpretation

hydrographic changes in the tropical and extratropical pacific during the last deglaciation fine scale paired mg ca 18o profiles globigerinoides ruber white sensu lato from the san lazaro basin slb at 25 n in the northeast pacific reveal a transition from a predominant presence of tropical subtropical waters during the last glacial termination t1 to an increasing influence of fresh and cold california current waters toward the holocene changing atmospheric circulation patterns over the northeast pacific in step with the demise of the northern hemisphere ice sheets and or with a shift from el nino to la nina like conditions toward the holocene are prime candidates to explain this water mass change 18osw ivc increases of 0 5 0 7 during the younger dryas yd and heinrich stadial 1 hs1 at the slb are observed in a number of 18osw ivc records from the tropical pacific more directly influenced by changes in the position of the intertropical convergence zone itcz conditioning by itcz migration of the tropical pacific ocean towards salinity increase during yd and hs1 and the subsequent advection of those water masses as far north as 25 n likely accounted for the reconstructed hydrographical changes at the slb a larger influence of tropical water masses as far north as 25 n plausibly contributed to changes in the atmospheric moisture transports to western north america and affected the regional hydrological cycle across t1 finally the fine scale resolution of our 18osw ivc record allows pinpointing a shift from relative salty to fresh surface conditions at 16 2 ka signaling that the two phase structure of hs1 is plausibly a ubiquitous feature of the northern tropical to extratropical ocean atmosphere dynamics

calibration of the planktonic foraminiferal mg ca paleothermometer sediment trap results from the guaymas basin gulf of california 1 the mg ca ratio has been measured in two surface dwelling species of planktonic foraminifera globigerinoides ruber and globigerina bulloides from biweekly sediment trap samples collected in guaymas basin gulf of california between august 1992 and november 1997 the guaymas basin experiences significant seasonal changes in sea surface temperature sst 16 33 c and thus is an ideal location for testing the temperature dependence of mg incorporation into foraminiferal calcite the planktonic foraminiferal mg ca ratios are directly compared with concurrent temperature measurements from the study site the results from the sediment trap study reveal a strong positive correlation between sst and the mg ca ratio in both g ruber r2 0 86 and g bulloides r2 0 90 the mg ca ratio increases exponentially by 7 per 1 c change in temperature for g ruber and by 6 for g bulloides these results indicate that the mg ca ratio in g ruber and g bulloides accurately records the measured seasonal surface temperature cycle and interannual variability in the guaymas basin within 1 c the greatest deviation between mg ca estimated sst and observed sst occurs in the spring and fall for both species this variability is attributed to rapidly changing hydrographic conditions and possible offset between the time of calcification and the temperature measurements in addition g ruber and g bulloides exhibit very high mg ca ratios during the strong el nino southern oscillation years of 1992 and 1997 verifying their potential to record sst up to 33 c and 28 c respectively the trace metal data are compared with foraminiferal oxygen isotope and alkenone measurements made on the same suite of sediment trap samples to assess the internal consistency of these temperature proxies strong correlations exist between the 18o and mg ca for g ruber r2 0 86 and g bulloides r2 0 79 similarly sea surface temperature estimates from mg ca ratios are in good agreement with alkenone derived temperature estimates r2 0 89 for g ruber and r2 0 81 for g bulloides

assessing the reliability of magnesium in foraminiferal calcite as a proxy for water mass temperatures though many studies on the mg contents in the calcitic tests of foraminifers exist the processes controlling its uptake are still a matter of debate laboratory cultures offer an excellent opportunity to reveal these mechanisms the mg concentrations within single chambers of the planktic foraminifer globigerinoides sacculifer brady maintained under controlled laboratory conditions were measured 1 at variable temperatures 19 5 29 5 c and constant salinity and 2 at variable salinity 22 45 and constant temperature the experimental results suggest that under natural conditions temperature is the leading mechanism controlling the mg ca ratio temperature and magnesium are related proportionally a temperature increase of ca 10 c gives rise to an increase of the magnesium concentrations of ca 130 drastic unnatural salinity changes dominate the effects of temperature a 110 change in the mg ca ratio was observed when salinity was elevated or reduced by more than ca 10 specimens which underwent gametogenesis reveal significantly higher mg concentrations than specimens that did not release gametes partition coefficients for mg in foraminiferal calcite are orders of magnitude lower than values from inorganically precipitated calcite when comparing observed mg ca ratios of foraminiferal tests with predicted mg ca ratios calculated according to empirical equations it becomes evident that foraminiferal tests are undersaturated with respect to mg for the water temperature they have experienced apparently foraminifers are capable of controlling their mg concentration the physiological processes presumably responsible for such depressed mg ca ratios appear to be temperature controlled as deduced from the close relationship of the observed mg ca ratios and water temperature this study demonstrates that variations in temperature and salinity are definitely reflected in the mg content of foraminiferal tests magnesium may thus serve as a paleo proxy for past surface water temperatures as long as postdepositional changes and salinity variations are of subordinate importance or can be excluded

the salinity temperature and δ18o of the glacial deep ocean we use pore fluid measurements of the chloride concentration and the oxygen isotopic composition from ocean drilling program cores to reconstruct salinity and temperature of the deep ocean during the last glacial maximum lgm our data show that the temperatures of the deep pacific southern and atlantic oceans during the lgm were relatively homogeneous and within error of the freezing point of seawater at the ocean s surface our chloride data show that the glacial stratification was dominated by salinity variations in contrast with the modern ocean for which temperature plays a primary role during the lgm the southern ocean contained the saltiest water in the deep ocean this reversal of the modern salinity contrast between the north and south atlantic implies that the freshwater budget at the poles must have been quite different a strict conversion of mean salinity at the lgm to equivalent sea level change yields a value in excess of 140 meters however the storage of fresh water in ice shelves and or groundwater reserves implies that glacial salinity is a poor predictor of mean sea level

response of diatom and silicoflagellate assemblages in the central gulf of california to regional climate change during the past 55 kyrs abstract high resolution studies of diatoms and silicoflagellates of the past 55 kyrs in cores md02 2517 2515 from the central gulf of california goc reveal profound changes in goc surface waters roperia tesselata a diatom proxy for late winter early spring upwelling and dictyocha stapedia a subtropical silicoflagellate indicative of goc sea surface temperatures ssts 24 c are common during the holocene but rare during marine isotope stage mis 2 and most of mis 3 a relationship that likely reflects a more northerly position of the north pacific high nph during the holocene in contrast during most of mis 2 27 15 ka the persistent presence of distephanus speculum a silicoflagellate associated with ssts during mis 3 55 27 ka increased dominance of azpeitia nodulifera diatom implies that stratified tropical waters were present year round whereas silicoflagellate assemblages suggest that stratified tropical conditions alternated with more productive upwelling conditions on millennial timescales reduced biosiliceous productivity during heinrich events likely reflected a reduction in both surface water nutrient levels and in the strength of northwest winds due to a weakened and more southerly nph conversely enhanced biosiliceous productivity during mis 3 interstadials was probably linked to heightened nutrient levels and a strengthened nph abrupt relative abundance increases of the silicoflagellate dictyocha aculeata approximate the termination of mis3 heinrich events and may signal times when nutrient rich deep waters associated with the resumption of enhanced atlantic meridional overturning circulation penetrated into the central gulf

sea surface temperature changes in the southern california borderlands during the last glacial interglacial cycle a variety of evidence suggests that average sea surface temperatures ssts during the last glacial maximum in the california borderlands region were significantly colder than during the holocene planktonic foraminiferal 18o evidence and average sst estimates derived by the modern analog technique indicate that temperatures were 6 10 c cooler during the last glacial relative to the present the glacial plankton assemblage is dominated by the planktonic foraminifer neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral coiling and the coccolith coccolithus pelagicus both of which are currently restricted to subpolar regions of the north pacific the glacial interglacial average sst change determined in this study is considerably larger than the 2 c change estimated by climate long range investigation mapping and prediction climap 1981 we propose that a strengthened california current flow was associated with the advance of subpolar surface waters into the borderlands region during the last glacial

salinity signature of the pacific decadal oscillation three sites in the north pacific have temperature and salinity observations in most months for several years before and after 1977 the gulf of alaska station 57 n 148 w showed a 2 c warming and a 0 6 freshening in salinity at 10 m depth in the 1980s compared to the 1970s ows papa 50 n 145 w and papa line station 7 49 1 n 132 4 w show warming of 0 6 c and 0 9 c with no major salinity change the decrease in density and increase in stratification in the gulf of alaska after 1977 corresponds primarily to a decrease in salinity in the upper 150 m we propose that while the pacific decadal oscillation has an east west character in temperature the salinity signature will have a nnw sse character similar to the pattern of interannual variability in precipitation

deep water formation in the north pacific and deglacial co2 rise deep water formation in the north atlantic and southern ocean is widely thought to influence deglacial co 2 rise and climate change here we suggest that deep water formation in the north pacific may also play an important role we present paired radiocarbon and boron isotope data from foraminifera from sediment core md02 2489 at 3640 m in the north east pacific these show a pronounced excursion during heinrich stadial 1 with benthic planktic radiocarbon offsets dropping to 350 years accompanied by a decrease in benthic 11 b we suggest that this is driven by the onset of deep convection in the north pacific which mixes young shallow waters to depth old deep waters to the surface and low ph water from intermediate depths into the deep ocean this deep water formation event was likely driven by an increase in surface salinity due to subdued atmospheric monsoonal freshwater flux during heinrich stadial 1 the ability of north pacific deep water npdw formation to explain the excursions seen in our data is demonstrated in a series of experiments with an intermediate complexity earth system model these experiments also show that breakdown of stratification in the north pacific leads to a rapid 30 ppm increase in atmospheric co 2 along with decreases in atmospheric 13 c and 14 c consistent with observations of the early deglaciation our inference of deep water formation is based mainly on results from a single sediment core and our boron isotope data are unavoidably sparse in the key hs1 interval so this hypothesis merits further testing however we note that there is independent support for breakdown of stratification in shallower waters during this period including a minimum in 15 n younging in intermediate water 14 c and regional warming we also re evaluate deglacial changes in north pacific productivity and carbonate preservation in light of our new data and suggest that the regional pulse of export production observed during the bolling allerod is promoted by relatively stratified conditions with increased light availability and a shallow potent nutricline overall our work highlights the potential of npdw formation to play a significant and hitherto unrealized role in deglacial climate change and co 2 rise

evidence for pacific modulated precipitation variability during the late holocene from the southwestern usa 1 the mechanisms driving late holocene drought cycles in the western united states are not well known due to the general scarcity of long term high resolution absolutely dateable proxies for precipitation in continental interiors here we show that late holocene precipitation variability in the southwestern united states has been caused by changes in the pacific ocean we present a stalagmite based annually resolved moisture record that indicates large shifts from pluvial to drought conditions alternating with periods of dampened near average precipitation over the last 3000 years significant spectral peaks at decadal scale 20 50 70 80 year frequencies likely correspond to modern frequencies of the pacific decadal oscillation or a low frequency component of the el nino southern oscillation and are dominant during episodes of large precipitation shifts overall pluvial conditions punctuated by severe droughts may have challenged the adaptive capacities of emerging agrarian communities of ancestral americans

intermittent existence of a southern californian upwelling cell during submillennial climate change of the last 60 kyr 1 application of a high resolution multiproxy approach to a sedimentary section drilled at ocean drilling program site 1017 located under a highly active upwelling cell off point conception california provides clear evidence for surface ocean productivity shifts on submillennial timescales during the last 60 kyr the proxies include bulk sediment major and minor elements organic carbon and carbonate concentrations 15n and planktonic foraminiferal species assemblage and carbon isotope determinations the collective results demonstrate that marine productivity in this area was not simply linearly related to cold and warm cycles except during the millennial scale climate oscillations of marine isotope stage mis 3 during that interval the upwelling cell and resulting high productivity were active during warm interstadial events and were largely inactive during cool stadial events however the last glacial maximum was also relatively productive productivity increased dramatically during the bolling warm interval while the allerod and younger dryas were much less productive high coccolithophorid abundance commenced during the earliest holocene after 10 ka the complexity of the productivity response was probably related to interplay between local winds as well as california undercurrent strength

brief interstadial events in the santa barbara basin ne pacific during the past 60 kyr the instability of the northern hemisphere glacial climate over the past 100 kyr has been revealed by at least 20 brief warm interstadial episodes called dansgaard oeschger events recorded in greenland ice cores1 3 and in north atlantic sedimentary records4 5 a few of these events have been recognized elsewhere6 8 here we describe a record of ocean oxygenation and circulation from the santa barbara basin in the northeast pacific ocean which correlates well with the greenland ice core records we see 19 of the 20 dansgaard oeschger events in the form of laminated sediments deposited under anoxic conditions and we can correlate at least 16 of these with the 17 ice core interstadials of the past 60 kyr thus these short term events were not restricted to the north atlantic region the events had substantial ecological and oceanographic effects in the santa barbara basin including changes in benthic faunal populations and in the age and composition of bottom waters similar ventilation changes have been seen in the gulf of california9 10 suggesting that these changes may have been widespread and synchronous along the northeast pacific margin these results suggest sensitivity of broad areas of the ocean atmosphere cryosphere system to short term climate change

characteristic patterns of shelf circulation at the boundary between central and southern california 1 the coastal circulation in the santa barbara channel sbc and the southern central california shelf is described in terms of three characteristic flow patterns the upwelling pattern consists of a prevailing equatorward flow at the surface and at 45 m depth except in the area immediately adjacent to the mainland coast in the sbc where the prevailing cyclonic circulation is strong enough to reverse the equatorward tendency and the flow is toward the west in the surface convergent pattern north of point conception the surface flow is equatorward while the flow at 45 m depth is poleward east of point conception along the mainland coast the flow is westward at all depths and there results a convergence at the surface between point conception and point arguello with offshore transport over a distance on the order of 100 km beneath the surface layer the direction of the flow is consistently poleward the relaxation pattern is almost the reverse of the upwelling pattern with the exception that in the sbc the cyclonic circulation is such that the flow north of the channel islands remains eastward although weak the upwelling pattern is more likely to occur in march and april after the spring transition when the winds first become upwelling favorable and while the surface pressure is uniform the surface convergent pattern tends to occur in summer when the wind is still strong and persistently upwelling favorable and the alongshore variable upwelling has build up alongshore surface pressure gradients the relaxation pattern occurs in late fall and early winter after the end of the period of persistent upwelling favorable winds

the isotopic signature of planktonic foraminifera from ne atlantic surface sediments implications for the reconstruction of past oceanic conditions the stable isotope compositions of the planktonic foraminifera globigerina bulloides globigerinoides ruber white and pink varieties globigerinoides trilobus globorotalia inflata and globorotalia truncatulinoides right and left coiling types were examined as recorders of north atlantic surface water properties based on 40 box core surface sediments between 60 and 30 n while g ruber white and pink varieties and g trilobus mainly reflect summer surface water conditions in their oxygen isotope composition g bulloides reflects temperatures of the northward migrating spring bloom february march in the south to may june in the north our data show that g bulloides cannot be regarded as an indicator for summer temperatures as deduced from duplessy et al s data gt inflata and gt truncatulinoides right and left coiling build their shells in the coldest waters compared with the other species and reflect temperatures between 100 and 400 m water depth the difference in oxygen isotope composition between g bulloides and g inflata serves as a proxy for water mass stratification g bulloides is the only species that gives a distinct pattern in its carbon isotopic composition showing a high correlation with the surface water phosphate values along the transect and may serve as a proxy for palaeonutrients and or productivity

a late wisconsin 32 10k cal a bp history of pluvials droughts and vegetation in the pacific south west united states lake elsinore ca continuous sub centennially resolved paleo terrestrial records are rare from arid environments such as the pacific south west united states here we present a multi decadal to centennial resolution sediment core lake elsinore ca to reconstruct late wisconsin pluvials droughts and vegetation in general the late wisconsin is characterized by a wetter and colder climate than during the holocene specifically conditions between 32 3 and 24 9k cal a bp are characterized by large amplitude hydrologic and ecologic variability highlighting this period is a 2000 year glacial mega drought 27 6 25 7k cal a bp during which the lake shallowed 3 2 4 5 m depth this period is approximately coeval with a lake manix regression and an increase in xeric vegetation in the san bernardino mountains baldwin lake the local last glacial maximum llgm is bracketed between 23 3 and 19 7k cal a bp a 3000 year interval characterized by reduced run off relative to the glacial colder conditions and vegetative stability maximum sustained wetness follows the llgm beginning at 19 7 and peaking by 14 4k cal a bp a two step decrease in runoff characterizes the lateglacial to holocene transition however the vegetation change is more complex particularly at the beginning of the younger dryas chronozone by 12 6 12 4k cal a bp the climate achieved near holocene conditions

mg ca in foraminifera from plankton tows evaluation of proxy controls and comparison with core tops abstract calibrations and validations of the mg ca paleothermometer in planktic foraminifera have traditionally been performed by means of core tops sediment trap samples and culture experiments in this study mg ca ratios have been measured in 8 species of planktic foraminifera non globorotaliids globigerina bulloides neogloboquadrina incompta orbulina universa globigerinoides ruber white and g sacculifer and globorotaliids globorotalia inflata g hirsuta and g truncatulinoides collected live from the north atlantic the southeast atlantic the northeast pacific and the norwegian sea mg ca ratios for n incompta o universa g ruber g sacculifer and g truncatulinoides are similar to available north atlantic core top studies and consistent with previous calibration equations in contrast some g bulloides g inflata and g hirsuta mg ca ratios are higher than predicted based on 18 o values and exhibit considerable scatter this elevation may be in part related to the impact of potential isotopic disequilibrium effects on 18 o derived temperatures which the mg ca ratios are compared to another factor that may affect mg ca ratios in some plankton samples is the lack of low mg test components e g final chambers or gametogenic calcite because of the incompleteness of the life cycle at the time of collection n incompta mg ca ratios are correlated with salinity with mg ca changing about 16 per salinity unit suggesting that salinity may have an important influence on mg ca of some species even in non extreme salinity environments this is the first extensive multispecific plankton tow mg ca data set from different oceanographic regions which has been used to test the mg ca temperature proxy in the context of published calibration data highlighting the complex physiological ecological controls on the acquisition of the proxy signal

changes in deep sea oxygenation in the northeast pacific ocean during 32 10 ka climatic variations in the northeastern ne pacific ocean have been related to the strength of intermediate water driven productivity and global ocean circulation productivity variations and ocean circulation during the late quaternary may have caused changes in the intensity of the oxygen minimum zone omz to understand these changes in productivity and resultant omz fluctuations we analyzed benthic foraminiferal assemblages from the cascadia margin which reveal major faunal and ecological shifts associated with the millennial scale climate changes during 32 10 ka the intermediate waters were highly variable during 20 14 ka with increased productivity and nutrient supply to the subsurface during circa 15 5 14 5 ka our results suggest that suboxic environmental conditions occurred during the warm interstadials and the bolling allerod event was favorable for the dysoxic species our results further indicate that paleoclimate variations in the northeast pacific region were mainly driven by the pacific intermediate water current

calibration of mg ca thermometry in planktonic foraminifera from a sediment trap time series 1 paired mg ca and 18o measurements on planktonic foraminiferal species g ruber white g ruber pink g sacculifer g conglobatus g aequilateralis o universa n dutertrei p obliquiloculata g inflata g truncatulinoides g hirsuta and g crassaformis from a 6 year sediment trap time series in the sargasso sea were used to define the sensitivity of foraminiferal mg ca to calcification temperature habitat depths and calcification temperatures were estimated from comparison of 18o of foraminifera with equilibrium calcite based on historical temperature and salinity data when considered together mg ca mmol mol of all species except two show a significant r 0 93 relationship with temperature t c of the form mg ca 0 38 0 02 exp 0 090 0 003 t equivalent to a 9 0 0 3 change in mg ca for a 1 c change in temperature small differences exist in calibrations between species and between different size fractions of the same species o universa and g aequilateralis have higher mg ca than other species and in general data can be best described with the same temperature sensitivity for all species and pre exponential constants in the sequence o universa g aequilateralis g bulloides g ruber g sacculifer other species this approach gives an accuracy of 1 2 c in the estimation of calcification temperature the 9 sensitivity to temperature is similar to published studies from culture and core top calibrations but differences exist from some literature values of pre exponential constants different cleaning methodologies and artefacts of core top dissolution are probably implicated and perhaps environmental factors yet understood planktonic foraminiferal mg ca temperature estimates can be used for reconstructing surface temperatures and mixed and thermocline temperatures using g ruber pink g ruber white g sacculifer n dutertrei p obliquiloculata etc the existence of a single mg thermometry equation is valuable for extinct species although use of species specific equations will where statistically significant provide more accurate evaluation of mg ca paleotemperature

biogenic sedimentation and surface productivity changes in the southern california borderlands during the last glacial interglacial cycle abstract a variety of geochemical evidence suggests that surface productivity in the california borderlands region was 1 5 2 times higher during the last glacial relative to the holocene high accumulation rates of opaline silica and organic carbon suggest increased glacial productivity while carbonate accumulation records and c org c co 3 ratios point toward a dominantly siliceous plankton community at that time the observed productivity changes are attributed to a southerly migration of the north pacific high pressure cell which resulted in an intensification of the california current and enhanced upwelling south of 40 n during the last glacial

climatically related millennial scale fluctuations in strength of california margin oxygen minimum zone during the past 60 k y a strong oxygen minimum zone omz currently exists along the california margin because of a combination of high surface water productivity and poor intermediate water ventilation however the strength of this omz may have been sensitive to late quaternary ocean circulation and productivity changes along the margin although sediment lamination strength has been used to trace ocean oxygenation changes in the past oxygen levels on the open margin are not sufficiently low for laminations to form in these regions benthic foraminifera are highly sensitive monitors of omz strength and their fossil assemblages can be used to reconstruct past fluctuations benthic foraminiferal assemblages from ocean drilling program site 1017 off point conception exhibit major and rapid faunal oscillations in response to late quaternary millennial scale climate change dansgaard oeschger cycles on the open central california margin these faunal oscillations can be correlated to and are apparently synchronous with those reported from santa barbara basin together they represent major fluctuations in the strength of the omz which were intimately associated with global climate change weakening perhaps disappearing during cool periods and strengthening during warm periods these rapid major omz strength fluctuations were apparently widespread on the northeast pacific margin and must have influenced the evolution of margin biota and altered biogeochemicalmore cycles with potential feedbacks to global climate change less

wetter or colder during the last glacial maximum revisiting the pluvial lake question in southwestern north america abstract well preserved shorelines in estancia basin and a relatively simple hydrologic setting have prompted several inquiries into the basin s hydrologic balance for the purpose of estimating regional precipitation during the late pleistocene estimates have ranged from 86 to 150 of modern the disparity largely the result of assumptions about past temperatures in this study we use an array of models for surface water runoff groundwater flow and lake energy balance to examine previously proposed scenarios for late pleistocene climate constraints imposed by geologic evidence of past lake levels indicate that precipitation for the last glacial maximum lgm may have doubled relative to modern values during brief episodes of colder and wetter climate and that annual runoff was as much as 15 of annual precipitation during these episodes

fluvial tufa evidence of late pleistocene wet intervals from santa barbara california u s a abstract past pluvials in the western united states provide valuable context for understanding regional hydroclimate variability here we report evidence of conditions substantially wetter than today from fluvial tufa deposits located near zaca lake santa barbara county california that have been dated by radiocarbon 14c and infra red stimulated luminescence irsl two successions of tufa deposition occur within a small catchment that drains miocene monterey formation bedrock 1 a fluvial deposit 0 0 5 m thick 200 m in extent that formed along a narrow valley below a modern spring and 2 a perched deposit 10 m higher 2 m thick 15 m in extent irsl and radiocarbon dating of the perched carbonates suggest at least two episodes of carbonate growth one at 19 4 2 4 1 through 17 8 2 8 1 ka and another at 11 9 1 5 1 ka verified with a charcoal 14c age of 10 95 0 12 2 cal ka bp the relationship between the perched and fluvial spring deposits is inferred to represent a drop in the water table of more than 10 m associated with a transition from a wet climate in the late glacial to a dry holocene today the wet period indicated by the perched tufa deposit between 19 4 and 17 8 ka is relatively consistent with other california climate records both north and south of zaca lake however tufa growth ca 12 to 11 ka demonstrates wet conditions occurred as far south as zaca lake during the younger dryas event in contrast to climate records farther south in lake elsinore that indicate a drying trend through this interval a small shift north in the average position of the winter season storm track could explain wet winters at zaca while at the same time generating dry winters at lake elsinore 275 km southwest of zaca if true these data indicate that rather small latitudinal shifts in the average winter season storm track can produce large changes in regional hydroclimate

foraminiferal magnesium in globeriginoides sacculifer as a paleotemperature proxy foraminiferal magnesium shows increasing promise as a paleothermometer but the accuracy and precision are limited by biases introduced by partial dissolution salinity variations mg rich gametogenic calcite and contaminant phases we improved cleaning methods and reduced errors introduced by partial dissolution by sampling from well preserved cores in the equatorial atlantic and the caribbean sea with different dissolution histories all cores reveal a synchronous 25 increase in mg ca from the stage 2 3 boundary to the holocene core top indicating that dissolution is not a controlling factor modern temperatures estimated from core top mg ca are 24 5 25 0 c equal to mean annual water temperatures at 50 100 m we estimate that sea surface temperature increased by 2 6 c 1 3 from the last glacial maximum to the holocene holocene values were comparable to those during isotope stage 5e our data indicate that biases from contaminant phases and partial dissolution can be reduced this paleothermometer holds promise if uncertainties introduced by salinity variations and gametogenic calcite can be constrained

sea level and deep water temperature changes derived from benthic foraminifera isotopic records we show that robust regressions can be established between relative sea level rsl data and benthic foraminifera oxygen isotopic ratios from the north atlantic and equatorial pacific ocean over the last climatic cycle we then apply these regressions to long benthic isotopic records retrieved at one north atlantic and one equatorial pacific site to build a composite rsl curve as well as the associated confidence interval over the last four climatic cycles our proposed reconstruction of rsl is in good agreement with the sparse rsl data available prior to the last climatic cycle we compute bottom water temperature changes at the two sites and at one southern indian ocean site taking into account potential variations in north atlantic local deep water 18o our results indicate that a last glacial maximum lgm enrichment of the ocean mean oxygen isotopic ratio of 0 95 is the lowest value compatible with unfrozen deep waters in the southern indian ocean if local deep water 18o did not increase during glacials with respect to present such a value of the lgm mean ocean isotopic enrichment would impose a maximum decrease in local bottom water 18o at the north atlantic site of 0 30 during glacials

calcification of the planktonic foraminifera globigerina bulloides and carbonate ion concentration results from the santa barbara basin planktonic foraminiferal calcification intensity reflected by shell wall thickness has been hypothesized to covary with the carbonate chemistry of seawater here we use both sediment trap and box core samples from the santa barbara basin to evaluate the relationship between the calcification intensity of the planktonic foraminifera species globigerina bulloides measured by area density g m2 and the carbonate ion concentration of seawater co32 we also evaluate the influence of both temperature and nutrient concentration po43 on foraminiferal calcification and growth the presence of two g bulloides morphospecies with systematically different calcification properties and offset stable isotopic compositions was identified within sampling populations using distinguishing morphometric characteristics the calcification temperature and by extension calcification depth of the more abundant normal g bulloides morphospecies was determined using 18o temperature estimates calcification depths vary seasonally with upwelling and were used to select the appropriate co32 temperature and po43 depth measurements for comparison with area density seasonal upwelling in the study region also results in collinearity between independent variables complicating a straightforward statistical analysis to address this issue we use additional statistical diagnostics and a down core record to disentangle the respective roles of each parameter on g bulloides calcification our results indicate that co32 is the primary variable controlling calcification intensity while temperature influences shell size we report a modern calibration for the normal g bulloides morphospecies that can be used in down core studies of well preserved sediments to estimate past co32

palaeoclimatic and archaeological evidence for a 200 yr recurrence of floods and droughts linking california mesoamerica and south america over the past 2000 years conspicuous grey clay rich flood deposits in the predominantly olive varved sediment in the central santa barbara basin california were dated via varve counting to c ad 212 440 603 1029 1418 and 1605 the 200 yr quasi periodicity and the timing of individual floods match time periods of known supraregional climatic changes and the documented 200 yr periodicity in palaeoclimate records elsewhere the floods of c ad 440 and ad 1418 occurred during global reorganizations of atmospheric circulation cold spells seem to have accompanied the floods of c ad 1029 and ad 1605 california floods and other palaeoclimate records suggest that expressions of regional climates are modulated by solar variability with a 200 yr periodicity our compilation of palaeoclimatic and mesoamerican and south american archaeological records provides evidence that palaeoenvironmental and cultural changes were often coincident within their respective dating uncertainties and occurred in 200 yr steps the matching patte

millennial scale changes in sea surface temperature and ocean circulation in the northeast pacific 10 60 kyr bp 1 a new centennial scale mg ca temperature record from the california margin odp site 1017e reveals large millennial scale oscillations between 10 to 60 kyr this record indicates that sea surface temperature on the california margin warmed rapidly on the deglacial by 7 4 0 8 c and was preceded by a pre bolling temperature oscillation of 2 6 1 2 c millennial scale events of the last glacial episode were marked by sea surface temperature oscillations of between 3 and 7 c on the california margin and interstadials were associated with an increase in surface water salinity the data are consistent with evidence for a glacial southward shift in the polar jet stream and concomitant strengthening of the relatively cold fresh california current during stadial events the data also support previous hypotheses suggesting a tight coupling between the north atlantic and northeast pacific response to climate instability of the last glacial episode

discovery of a giant cold water coral mound province along the northern argentine margin and its link to the regional contourite depositional system and oceanographic setting abstract in the southern oceans only a few cold water coral mound sites have so far been reported compared to the extensively surveyed north atlantic here we document for the first time the widespread occurrence of exposed and buried coral mounds at the northern argentine margin named northern argentine mound province namp the integration of multibeam bathymetry sediment echosounder acoustic doppler current profiler adcp and ctd data allowed the characterisation of its morphosedimentary stratigraphic and hydrodynamic setting the namp covering at least 2000 km2 represents the largest coral mound province in terms of areal extent reported so far and a major site in the southern oceans the coral mound distribution is directly linked to morphosedimentary features of the regional contourite depositional system cds influenced by the antarctic intermediate water aaiw the upper circumpolar deep water ucdw and their interface forming a complex bottom current controlled environment here termed coral contourite system coral mounds are most abundant in the lower aaiw between 900 and 1050 m just above the ewing terrace moat which has been shaped by high velocity currents associated with the aaiw ucdw boundary this clustering appears to be the result of an increased concentration of suspended sediment and food particles transported along the aaiw ucdw density gradient and delivered upward by turbulent hydrodynamic processes which are enhanced by the irregular moat topography within the ewing terrace moat coral mounds are restricted to topographic obstacles modifying the otherwise highly erosive destructive hydrodynamic regime and thereby locally creating favourable conditions for coral growth the low velocity currents of the ucdw currently influencing the ewing terrace promote extensive contourite deposition which has led to a progressive demise and burial of pre existing mounds the presence of these buried mounds suggests past mound aggradation 100 to 150 m deeper likely due to a downward shift of the aaiw during glacials as a consequence of sea level lowering overall the mound formation in the namp seems to be mainly controlled by the availability of suspended particles in combination with a sufficient bottom current strength keeping material in suspension while preventing destructive erosion and excessive sedimentation our study highlights 1 the importance of high energy processes at water mass boundaries for the delivery of sediment and food particles to corals 2 the role of the aaiw as a crucial water mass for coral mound development 3 the variability of mounds in response to glacial interglacial cycles and 4 the potential of cdss in general and the argentine margin in particular as hotspots for coral mounds and thus ideal site for future studies

a simple evaluation of cleaning procedures on fossil benthic foraminiferal mg ca 1 recent studies suggest that benthic foraminiferal mg ca may be useful in reconstructing deep water temperature changes during the quaternary and on longer timescales rosenthal et al 1997 lear et al 2000 martin et al 2002 because changes in deep water temperature may be small sample preparation could play an important role in reconstructing accurate temperatures from shell mg ca a simple examination of changes in measured shell chemistry of benthic foraminifera from two intervals subjected to increasingly rigorous cleaning reveals that fossil benthic foraminiferal samples cleaned by oxidation yield lower mg ca values than samples only rinsed and weak acid leached reductive cleaning further lowered the shell mg ca of one of the two benthic species examined lower mg ca values following oxidation and reduction appear to reflect removal of contaminant mg associated with remnant organic matter and adsorbed phases

investigating the fidelity of mg ca and other elemental data from reductively cleaned planktonic foraminifera 1 there has been considerable discussion about whether reductive cleaning can or should be used when samples are prepared for foraminiferal mg ca analyses the reductive solution causes considerable sample loss through dissolution and the natural dissolution effect on planktonic foraminiferal mg ca raises the question whether the shell chemistry might be affected during cleaning we conducted a series of experiments to explore the effects of the reductive cleaning step on shell chemistry mg ca na ca sr ca fe ca mn ca ree ca and u ca of two planktonic foraminiferal species we then compare these results with natural dissolution in core top specimens from a range of varying natural dissolution intensity our results confirm previous experiments by yu et al 2007 that the citrate used in the reductive solution can play a larger role in decreasing some element ca ratios than hydrazine the reductive agent at least in samples that are not problematic to clean i e have low mn ca fe ca and al ca solutions containing varying concentrations of citrate yield lower mg ca than those without citrate however mg ca reaches an asymptotic value following a dilute application of citrate other element ca ratios are also lowered by citrate and tend toward an asymptotic value at increasing strengths of citrate mg ca data from experiments in which the duration of the reductive cleaning step was varied or repeated suggest that the standard reductive cleaning step should yield reproducible results for most elemental ratios our experiments suggest that the primary mechanism of dissolution by citrate is unlikely to be preferential removal of mg from the lattice and also demonstrate that there are differences between natural and laboratory dissolution effects given that there are situations in which mg ca data are improved by reductive cleaning we conclude that it is acceptable to reductively clean samples before mg ca analysis

quantified intermediate water oxygenation history of the ne pacific a new benthic foraminiferal record from santa barbara basin the oxygen minimum zone omz of the late quaternary california margin experienced abrupt and dramatic changes in strength and depth in response to changes in intermediate water ventilation ocean productivity and climate at orbital through millennial time scales expansion and contraction of the omz is exhibited at high temporal resolution 107 126 year by quantitative benthic foraminiferal assemblage changes in two piston cores forming a vertical profile in santa barbara basin 569 m basin floor 481 m near sill depth to 34 and 24 ka respectively variation in the omz is quantified by new benthic foraminiferal groupings and new dissolved oxygen index based on documented relations between species and water mass oxygen concentrations foraminiferal based paleoenvironmental assessments are integrated with principal component analysis bioturbation grain size caco3 total organic carbon and c 13 to reconstruct basin oxygenation history fauna responded similarly between the two sites although with somewhat different magnitude and taxonomic expression during cool episodes younger dryas and stadials the water column was well oxygenated most strongly near the end of the glacial episode 17 16 ka heinrich 1 in contrast the omz was strong during warm episodes bolling allerod interstadials and pre boreal during the bolling allerod the omz shoaled to 360 m of contemporaneous sea level its greatest vertical expansion of the last glacial cycle assemblages were then dominated by bolivina tumida reflecting high concentrations of dissolved methane in bottom waters short decadal intervals were so severely oxygen depleted that no benthic foraminifera were present the middle to late holocene 6 0 ka was less dysoxic than the early holocene

on the fidelity of shell derived δ18oseawater estimates article i nfo 18 oseawater a robustproxyforsurfacesalinity we assessthe fidelity of shell derived 18 oseawater estimates for the surface dwelling foraminifer globigerinoides ruber white using an atlantic meridional coretop transect spanning basin scale temperature and salinity gradients shell derived and observed 18 oseawater values are well correlated r 2 0 77 but a large systematic bias is observed shell mg ca ratios are significantly elevated above values expected from observed and isotopic calcification temperatures in the saline subtropical gyres of both hemispheres this temperature independent shell mg ca ratio variability termed excess mg ca i s highly correlated with surface salinity r 2 0 77 and the observed salinity dependence 27 4 is much higher than indicated by culture studies 6 2 our coretop data are used to develop new atlantic basin temperature and salinity calibration equations that are accurate 1 1 c and 0 20 respectively precise r 2 0 82 and 0 81 respectively and verifiable using previously published data these results are valid for the relatively high salinities of the subtropical atlantic 35 5 37 3 we discover that inclusion of other published data from lower salinity regions b35 indicates little or no excess mg ca taken together these results point to a strongly non linear positive salinity effect on shell mg ca ratios that significantly affects the accuracy of sst and 18

coastal upwelling in the california current system abstract coastal upwelling in the california current system has been the subject of large scale studies off california and baja california and of small scale studies off oregon recent studies of the winds along the entire coast from 25 n to 50 n indicate that there are significant along shore variations in the strength of coastal upwelling which are reflected in the observed temperature distribution active upwelling appears to be restricted to a narrow coastal band about 10 25 km wide along the entire coast but the region influenced by coastal upwelling may be much wider intensive observations of the upwelling zone during summer off oregon show the presence of a southward coastal jet at the surface a mean vertical shear a poleward undercurrent along the bottom and persistently sloping isopycnals over the continental shelf most of the upwelling there occurs during relatively short periods several days long of upwelling favorable winds during the upwelling season off oregon the offshore ekman transport is carried by the surface ekman layer and the onshore return flow occurs through a quasi geostrophic interior it is not known whether the structure and dynamics observed off oregon are typical of the upwelling zone along the entire coast though some of the same features have been observed off baja california current and future research will eventually show whether the oregon results are also applicable in the region of persistently strong upwelling favorable winds off northern california and in the region of complex bathymetry off central and southern california

variable winter moisture in the southwestern united states linked to rapid glacial climate shifts the last glacial period was characterized by large rapid climate fluctuations an analysis of a speleothem from new mexico shows that the coldest conditions over greenland coincide with increased winter precipitation in the southwestern united states which can be attributed to a southward displacement of the polar jet stream and the north american storm track

planktonic foraminiferal fluxes in the santa barbara basin response to seasonal and interannual hydrographic changes results of a three year time series sediment trap experiment in the santa barbara basin indicate linkages between water column dynamics and variations in plankton fluxes on both seasonal and interannual time scales the two week collection interval utilized for this study allows evaluation of high frequency changes in the production and flux of planktonic foraminifera which are compared to those of siliceous microorganisms diatoms radiolaria and silicoflagellates annual hydrographic conditions in santa barbara basin are influenced by seasonal changes in insolation the wind field and source waters this study includes periods of weak to moderate el nino conditions followed by a transitional period to a non el nino state planktonic foraminiferal fluxes and species turnover are related to seasonal and interannual changes in source waters and water column conditions globigerina bulloides g quinqueloba and neogloboquadrina pachyderma dextral dominate the planktonic foraminiferal population in this location and are present throughout the year globigerina bulloides and g quinqueloba have similar flux patterns and highest fluxes occur in association with diatom blooms the flux patterns of g bulloides and g quinqueloba in general are inversely related to that of n pachyderma dextral globigerina quinqueloba seems to respond earlier to the onset of upwelling than g bulloides three temperature limited species neogloboquadrina dutertrei orbulina universa and globigerinoides ruber are present in lower numbers and show more restricted seasonal ranges in the thermal regime of the santa barbara basin n dutertrei like o universa disappears during upwelling neogloboquadrina dutertrei occurs in highest abundance when the water column is thermally stratified and there is a well developed deep chlorophyll maximum increased fluxes of globigerinoi ruber the most thermally restricted of the dominant species in the basin are associated with the presence of warm oceanic diatoms and warm water radiolarians total planktonic foraminiferal fluxes were lower in 1995 than during the previous two years which were characterized by el nino conditions

multiple jets in the malvinas current 1 the velocity structure of the malvinas current is described based on the analysis of high resolution hydrographic data and direct current observations the data show that though the current width exceeds 150 km the flow is concentrated in two relatively narrow 10 20 km jets within these cores the direct observations indicate surface velocities exceeding 0 5 m s 1 surface drifter satellite derived mean dynamic topography and sea surface temperature data suggest that the high velocity jets are also ubiquitous features of the time mean circulation both jets appear to be continuous features extending more than 900 km along the western slope of the argentine basin these jets closely follow the 200 and 1400 m isobaths additional high velocity cores are apparent in direct current measurements and hydrographic observations but these features are weaker and not continuous along the slope though the malvinas current transport is mostly barotropic baroclinic jets are also identified in relative geostrophic velocity sections the baroclinic jets are colocated with the barotropic jets our results suggest that the main malvinas current core is located over a relatively flat portion of the bottom referred to as the perito moreno terrace this observation is in agreement with recent seismic and geological evidence suggesting that in geological time scales the malvinas current played a key role in the configuration of the bottom sediments over the western slope of the argentine basin

directly dated mis 3 lake level record from lake manix mojave desert california usa abstract an outcrop based lake level curve constrained by 70 calibrated 14 c ages on anodonta shells indicates at least 8 highstands between 45 and 25 cal ka bp within 10 m of the 543 m upper threshold of lake manix in the mojave desert of southern california correlations of manix highstands with ice marine and speleothem records suggest that at least the youngest three highstands coincide with dansgaard oeschger d o stadials and heinrich events 3 and 4 the lake level record is consistent with results from speleothem studies in the southwest that indicate cool wet conditions during d o stadials notably highstands between 43 and 25 ka apparently occurred at times of generally low levels of pluvial lakes farther north as interpreted from core based proxies mojave lakes may have been supported by tropical moisture sources during oxygen isotope stage 3 perhaps controlled by southerly deflection of pacific storm tracks due to weakening of the sea surface temperature gradient in response to north atlantic climate perturbations

palaeoclimate analogue complexity the last deglaciation was punctuated by several millennial scale climate changes in the gulf of california the cold stages were marked by decreased upwelling opposite to the changes expected if these shifts were analogous to modern seasonal variability

glacial climate instability in the northeast pacific ocean recent climate records from greenland ice cores1 2 and north atlantic sediments3a 5 have challenged the long held notion that pleistocene climate fluctuates between two relatively stable states glacials and interglacials it has been appreciated for some time that the transitions from one state to another are not smooth6 but the new records indicate that the glacial and interglacial periods themselves appear to be punctuated by significant climate variability several short interstadial events punctuated the last glacial period for example but it has not been clear whether this climate instability is a global phenomenon or is peculiar to the north atlantic region here we present climate proxy records from sediment cores from the eastern margin of the north pacific ocean which indicate that climate in this region was also highly unstable during the last glaciation our observations suggest that glacial climate instability throughout the northern hemisphere might be linked to rapid changes in the size of the laurentide ice sheet and associated changes in atmospheric circulation

glacial interglacial changes in subantarctic sea surface temperature and δ18o water using foraminiferal mg laboratory culturing experiments with living globigerina bulloides indicate that mg ca is primarily a function of seawater temperature and suggest that mg ca of fossil specimens is an effective paleotemperature proxy using culturing results and a core top neogloboquadrina pachyderma calibration we have estimated glacial interglacial changes in sea surface temperature sst using planktonic mg ca records from core rc11 120 in the subantarctic indian ocean 43 s 80 e and core e11 2 in the subantarctic pacific ocean 56 s 115 w our results suggest that glacial sst was about 4 c cooler in the subantarctic indian ocean and 2 5 c cooler in the subantarctic pacific comparison of sst and planktonic 18o records indicates that changes in sst lead changes in 18o by on average 1 3 kyr the glacial interglacial temperature change indicated by the subantarctic mg ca records suggests that temperature accounts for 40 60 of the foraminiferal 18o change we have used the mg ca based sst estimates and 18o determinations to generate site specific seawater 18o records which suggest that seawater 18o was on average 1 more positive during glacial episodes compared with interglacial episodes

correlation between climate events in the north atlantic and china during the last glaciation episodes of massive iceberg release heinrich events 1 3 into the north atlantic ocean during the last glaciation were associated with recurring episodes of unusually cold north atlantic surface water bond cycles 4 and cold air temperatures over greenland dansgaard oeschger events 5 6 four of the youngest of these cold events have also been reported in climate records from sites outside the north atlantic region7 but until now the entire suite has been identified only in north atlantic marine sediments greenland ice core records and tentatively in french lake sediments8 here we examine grain size data from chinese loess and intercalated accretionary palaeosols of last glacial age for evidence of similar climate signals remote from the north atlantic region we see grain size maxima with ages that match those of the last six heinrich events which we interpret as an indication of the changing strength of the east asian winter monsoon which largely controls the transport and deposition of central asian aeolian dust thus it seems that these heinrich events have left their signature in the chinese loess record this is consistent with simulations of the glacial climate9 which imply that the climates of the north atlantic and china were linked by the effect of westerly winds

the paleoclimatic response of the southern californian margin to the rapid climate change of the last 60 ka a regional overview abstract high resolution planktonic foraminiferal census and stable isotope data from a core transect odp site 1017 893 and 1014 demonstrate remarkable similarities along the southern california margin during the last glacial 60 10 ka bp modern analog technique and 18 o derived sea surface temperatures sst demonstrate sst shifts were regionally expressed supporting the hypothesis that the relative strength of local surface ocean currents affected the advection of subpolar and subtropical water into the region divergent alkenone sst records suggest the flux of planktonic organisms shifted seasonally during the last glacial in response to changing environmental conditions when considered as seasonal sst reconstructions summer oligotrophic surface ocean conditions appear to have a muted response to orbital and millennial scale climate change compared to the surface ocean during high nutrient winter conditions

warmings in the far northwestern pacific promoted pre clovis immigration to america during heinrich event 1 well dated multidecadal to centennial scale sediment records from the subarctic northwest pacific show that the early deglacial 18 5 15 0 ka was marked by 3 pronounced short term warmings of 5 c they lasted 500 1500 yr each and were coeval with early to late stages of cold heinrich event 1 in the north atlantic these regional climate windows may have promoted a pre clovis emigration of people from the cold arid monsoon climate in east asia to the climatically more favorable then emerged beringian and aleutian shelf regions and the americas as suggested by archeological findings

reevaluation of the oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic foraminifera experimental results and revised paleotemperature equations cultured planktonic foraminifera orbulina universa symbiotic and globigerina bulloides nonsymbiotic are used to reexamine temperature 18o relationships at 15 25 c relationships for both species can be described by linear equations equations for o universa grown under low light ll and high light hl share a slope of 4 80 0 21 c 1 with a hl ll offset of 0 33 due to symbiont photosynthetic activity the effect of co32 on o universa is 0 002 mol 1 kg 1 and is insensitive to temperature for g bulloides ontogenetic effects produce size related trends in temperature 18o whereby larger shells are enriched in 18o relative to smaller specimens the o universa temperature 18o relationships are more accurate than previously published equations for describing plankton tow data our equations do not explain planktonic core top data with the same precision but provide a good fit to benthic cibicidoides data below 10 c temperature 18o relationships for g bulloides provide good agreement with field data for this species from the northeast pacific

gisp2 oxygen isotope ratios the gisp2 oxygen isotope record with its high resolution detail yields crucial information on past climate change the glacial 18o oscillations of the gisp2 core with their very fast onsets are templates of a prototype oscillation of variable duration with an amplitude of 3 9 the halfway mark of the cold warm transition is reached in 2 years the top is reached in 50 years the 18o time gradient of the leading front is about 7 8 per 100 yr after reaching the top 18o slowly declines by 0 14 per 100 yr the duration of 18o decline varies from a couple of centuries for fast oscillations to about 4000 yr for slower ones the subsequent 18o downturn during the warm cold transition has a 18o time gradient of 3 2 per 100 yr and lasts about 80 yr

latest quaternary north pacific surface water responses imply atmosphere driven climate instability a full sequence of brief interstadials dansgaard oeschger d o cycles are recorded from 60 to 25 ka in santa barbara basin california ocean drilling program hole 893a by planktonic foraminiferal isotopic and assemblage changes at unparalleled high resolution for the oceans synchronous climatic response between north pacific surface waters and the greenland ice sheet during d o cycling is strongly indicated by remarkable similarities in speed magnitude and character of rapid oceanic and atmospheric reorganizations inferred sea surface temperature warmings of as much as 5 c within a few decades and brief warming overshoots of as much as 3 c suggest involvement of an atmospheric amplification top down in situ atmospheric warming of the ocean is implied by differential responses partial decoupling in the changes recorded in surface and thermoclinal waters

millennial climate oscillations in ne pacific surface waters over the last 82 kyr new evidence from alkenones 1 a climate instability in the last glacial corresponding to dansgaard oeschger d o events has been already recognized in the california margin in northeast pacific detailed sea surface temperature sst changes in this region however have not been so far well elucidated here we report estimates of alkenone derived ssts with the do time scale from odp hole 1017e off point conception over the last 80 kyr our results show that alkenone ssts clearly record d o and heinrich events we also found that alkenone ssts during 82 58 ka and 18 15 ka were considerably higher and those in 15 12 ka were lower than those derived from 18o of planktonic foraminifera these results appear to reflect fluctuations of water masses

paleoclimate history of galapagos surface waters over the last 135 000 yr abstract records of planktonic and benthic foraminiferal 18 o and planktonic mg ca from core tr163 22 just northwest of the galapagos islands reveal a detailed 250 450 year resolution climate history of the region over the last 135 thousand years kyr sea surface temperatures ssts reconstructed from g ruber mg ca averaged 24 3 0 4 c during the holocene 22 6 0 6 c during marine isotope stage mis 2 3 and 4 and 26 0 0 9 c during mis 5e changes in sst lead changes in both planktonic and benthic 18 o by an average 3 kyr suggesting that sst changes in this region predated continental ice volume changes changes in sst display clear millennial scale variability especially in marine isotope stage 3 with behavior somewhat similar to antarctic proxy air temperature and south pacific sst records removal of the temperature component from the planktonic 18 o record demonstrates that glacial interglacial 18 o water changes at this site were 1 0 0 2 similar to estimates for mean ocean shifts implying that salinity changes due to regional hydrological variation between the last glacial maximum and holocene in the galapagos region were minimal comparison between the tr163 22 sst record and an sst record from core tr163 19 north of the equatorial front reveals a largely similar broad scale climate history suggesting that changes in the galapagos region were caused by large scale forcing rather than by local or regional dynamical changes changes in atmospheric greenhouse forcing are the most plausible explanation for the observed large scale climate changes in the eastern equatorial pacific

comparison of alkenone estimates with other paleotemperature proxies 1 to a certain degree all sea surface temperature sst proxies suffer from uncertainty due to signal preservation problems and to perturbations by other environmental variables however a multiproxy reconstruction is justified because most biases should in principle cancel out as they are specific to the biological groups and or to the analyzed chemical species such a multiproxy strategy has proven crucial for calibrating these proxies and is also useful in assessing downcore profiles until now there have been only a dozen deep sea cores where it is possible to compare directly alkenone based ssts with other paleotemperature records from this still limited data set the broad picture is of general agreement for the amplitude of changes at low and middle latitudes the few observed discrepancies suggest that alkenone based temperatures are more comparable to those based on mg ca ratios than those obtained through statistical analysis of the foraminiferal distribution more systematic differences are noted at higher latitudes where alkenones indicate warmer temperatures during the glacial period than transfer functions based on foraminifera or diatoms several reasons have been invoked to resolve the mismatch but more ground truthing work is needed before deciding which temperature changes are the most accurate

circulation in the point conception santa barbara channel region during spring and early summer 1983 fifteen current moorings were deployed around the periphery of santa barbara channel and over the continental shelf to the west off point conception data from these moorings have been used to describe the regional circulation and to address problems of wind forcing and the spatial coherency scales for current fluctuations the mean circulation in santa barbara channel was dominated by a westward jet which occupied the northwestern portion of the channel current and temperature fluctuations were generally well correlated among all locations around the channel and time lags suggested cyclonic propagation of events around the channel the time fluctuations were dominated by a relatively few low frequency events it was impossible to determine exactly either the driving mechanisms for these events or their relationships to regional flow the flow regime was considerably different off point conception than in the channel locally wind driven upwelling was observed in both the mean and fluctuating flows and the time scales of current variability i e spectral shapes mimicked those of the local winds a dramatic change in the regime off point conception occurred in late may before the transition currents and sea levels had been well correlated in time with both local and remote winds after late may the relation to fluctuating winds was less clear and the alongshore structure of sea level variability had changed radically

seasonal and interannual variation in santa barbara basin water temperatures observed in sediment trap foraminiferal mg ca 1 we have generated a santa barbara basin sediment trap mg ca record to evaluate culture based calibration equations for the temperate subpolar planktonic foraminiferal species globigerina bulloides and neogloboquadrina pachyderma dextral g bulloides and n pachyderma mg ca are significantly correlated with seasonal variations in temperature of the near surface and subthermocline depths respectively the average deviation between mg based and 18o based temperature estimates is 0 6 c for g bulloides and 0 8 c for n pachyderma differences between mg derived temperatures and instrumental temperatures may be due to cleaning methods environmental factors such as seasonal variations in foraminiferal depth habitats or possible secondary effects on mg ca core top mg ca of both g bulloides and n pachyderma is in excellent agreement with average values from the sediment trap lending strong support for the interpretation of downcore mg ca from these species as annual average near surface and thermoclinal temperatures

foraminiferal proxy response to ocean temperature variability and acidification over the last 150 years in the santa barbara basin california abstract the last 150 years on the california margin have been marked by high variability in precipitation temperature sea surface temperature and ocean chemistry in response to both natural and anthropogenic changes deciphering climate history from ocean sediments is dependent on our understanding of the various influences on marine proxies sediment from santa barbara basin sbb california box core spr0901 10bc provides an opportunity to compare multiple marine proxies with instrumental records of climate of the past 150 years and extend them beyond the historical record here we use three planktonic foraminiferal proxies 18ocalcite mg ca and size normalized shell weight to reconstruct the surface temperature and 18owater in sbb california at near annual resolution from ad 1850 2000 results indicate that globigerina bulloides mg ca reflects the instrumental temperature trends over the last 150 years with average mg ca temperatures approximately 2 c lower than instrumental values due to the slightly deeper habitat preference of g bulloides similarly temperature is the dominant control on g bulloides 18ocalcite and both mg ca and 18ocalcite reflect variability consistent with changes in the intensification of enso over the past 150 years shell weights of the planktic foraminifer g bulloides are inversely correlated with historical sea surface temperatures over the last 150 years in sbb sediments greater shell weight associated with cooler surface ocean temperatures does not support the anticipated relationship between coastal upwelling of cool low ph water and shell thinning due to co 3 2 undersaturation however in contrast to the previous 130 years g bulloides shells deposited on the sea floor since the late 1970s exhibit a distinctive smooth shell structure indicative of partial dissolution we hypothesize that a mid 1970s shift in intermediate water flow from predominantly equatorward to anomalously poleward led to the influx of relatively corrosive bottom water into sbb with subsequent carbonate dissolution at the sediment water interface

pore fluid constraints on the temperature and oxygen isotopic composition of the glacial ocean pore fluids from the upper 60 meters of sediment 3000 meters below the surface of the tropical atlantic indicate that the oxygen isotopic composition 18 o of seawater at this site during the last glacial maximum was 0 8 0 1 per mil higher than it is today combined with the 18 o change in benthic foraminifera from this region the elevated ratio indicates that the temperature of deep water in the tropical atlantic ocean was 4 c colder during the last glacial maximum extrapolation from this site to a global average suggests that the ice volume contribution to the change in 18 o of foraminifera is 1 0 per mil which partially reconciles the foraminiferal oxygen isotope record of tropical sea surface temperatures with estimates from barbados corals and terrestrial climate proxies

millennial scale variability to 735 ka high resolution climate records from santa barbara basin ca 1 determining the ultimate cause and effect of millennial scale climate variability remains an outstanding problem in paleoceanography partly due to the lack of high resolution records predating the last glaciation recent cores from santa barbara basin provide 2500 5700 year windows of climate with 10 50 year resolution ages for three cores determined by seismic stratigraphic correlation oxygen isotope stratigraphy and biostratigraphy date to 293 ka mis 8 450 ka mis 12 and 735 ka mis 18 these records sample the late pleistocene during which the 100 kyr cycle strengthened and the magnitude of glacial interglacial cyclicity increased thus these records provide a test of the dependence of millennial scale behavior on variations in glacial interglacial cyclicity the stable isotopic 18o composition of planktonic foraminifera shows millennial scale variability in all three intervals with similar characteristics duration cyclicity to those previously documented during mis 3 at this site stadial g bulloides 18o values are 2 75 1 75 average 2 25 and interstadial values are 1 75 0 5 average 1 with rapid decadal scale interstadial and stadial initiations of 1 2 as in mis 3 interstadials lasted 250 1600 years and occurred every 650 1900 years stadial paleotemperatures were 3 5 9 5 c and interstadial paleotemperatures were 7 5 13 c upwelling evidenced by planktonic foraminiferal assemblages and 13c increased during interstadials similar to mis 3 high productivity during some stadials was reminiscent of the last glacial maximum this study builds upon previous records in showing that millennial scale shifts were an inherent feature of northern hemisphere glacial climates since 735 ka and they remained remarkably constant in the details of their amplitude cyclicity and temperature variability

the california current system as a transmitter of millennial scale climate change on the northeastern pacific margin from 10 to 50 ka a high resolution record of 18o and mg ca based temperatures spanning 10 50 ka has been reconstructed from the vancouver margin of the northeastern pacific ocean md02 2496 from two planktonic foraminiferal species neogloboquadrina pachyderma s and globigerina bulloides while 18ocalcite appears synchronous with dansgaard oeschger interstadials dois throughout the record millennial scale variability in sea surface temperatures ssts and reconstructed 18oseawater are frequently out of phase with greenland climate changes in water mass characteristics such as 18ocalcite and enriched 15n events apparently responded to millennial scale climate change during marine isotope stage 3 mis 3 such that negative 18ocalcite excursions coincided with heavier 15n these water mass characteristic shifts are suggestive of the presence of surface water advected from the eastern tropical north pacific etnp by relative strengthening of the california undercurrent cuc bringing warm salty tropical waters poleward the linkage between the strength of the cuc on the ne pacific margin and millennial scale climate change may be related to increased sea surface heights off central america as the intertropical convergence zone itcz shifted northward in response to changes in north atlantic ocean circulation poor correlations between proxies exist through late mis 3 into mis 2 ice sheet growth could have disrupted the linkage between cuc and the ne pacific margin as the laurentide ice sheet disrupted atmospheric circulation and the cordilleran ice sheet increasingly influenced regional paleoceanography

the salinity contrast between the atlantic and pacific oceans during glacial time in today s ocean the salinity of low latitude surface waters in the pacific is on the average 1 per mil lower than in the atlantic oxygen isotope records for planktonic foraminifera suggest that an even larger salinity deficit may have existed for pacific surface water during glacial time if so the transport of water vapor from the atlantic to the pacific must have been as strong as or even stronger to balance the tendency toward salt buildup the atlantic would have had to export during glacial time waters saltier than it received from the other oceans

controls on shell mg ca and sr ca in cultured planktonic foraminiferan globigerinoides ruber white mg ca and sr ca ratios were determined on a single species of planktonic foraminiferan globigerinoides ruber white collected from the gulf of eilat and cultured in seawater at five different salinities 32 to 44 five temperatures 18 to 30 c and four ph values 7 9 to 8 4 the mg ca temperature calibration of cultured g ruber with an exponential slope of 8 3 c agrees well with previously published calibrations from core tops and sediment traps however the dependence of mg ca on salinity with an exponential slope of 5 3 psu is also significant and should be included in the calibration equation with this purpose we calculated a calibration equation for g ruber dependent on both temperature and salinity within the 95 confidence limits mg ca mmol mol exp 0 06 0 02 s psu 0 08 0 02 t c 2 8 1 0 r2 0 95 the influence of ph on mg ca ratios is negligible at ambient seawater ph 8 1 to 8 3 however we observe a dominating ph control on shell mg ca when the ph of seawater is lower than 8 0 sr ca in g ruber shows a significant positive correlation with average growth rate presumably part of the variability in shell sr ca in the geological record is linked to changes in growth rates of foraminifera as a response to changing environmental conditions

the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater during the last glacial maximum high resolution oxygen and hydrogen isotope measurements were made on pore fluids from deep sea sediments from sites in the north and south atlantic the data provide direct measurements of changes in the isotopic composition of bottom waters during the last glacial maximum lgm results from ocean drilling program odp site 981 in the north atlantic currently bathed in north atlantic deep water nadw reproduces previous results from the ceara and bermuda rises constraining the glacial interglacial change in 18 o of the deep atlantic to be 0 7 0 8 results from site 984 which is located north of site 981 and at a shallower water depth yield a similar value 0 8 providing insight into the properties of glacial north atlantic intermediate water gnaiw sites from odp leg 177 in the south atlantic span the modern boundary between northern and southern sources of deep water data from the northern site 1088 yield a similar result to sites in the tropical and north atlantic 0 7 at the southern site 1093 located south of the polar front the change is substantially larger 1 1 representing the change in 18 o of southern source waters since the lgm these results confirm previous estimates that the global average change in 18 o of seawater is 1 0 0 1 hydrogen isotopes measured on pore fluids from three sites are consistent with the oxygen isotopes from these locations giving further support to these results at all sites studied the temperature of the deep ocean during the lgm calculated by combining the pore fluid results with oxygen isotope data from benthic foraminifera was within 1 c of the freezing point of seawater

collapse of the california current during glacial maxima linked to climate change on land time series of alkenone unsaturation indices gathered along the california margin reveal large 4 to 8 c glacial interglacial changes in sea surface temperature sst over the past 550 000 years interglacial times with ssts equal to or exceeding that of the holocene contain peak abundances in the pollen of redwood the distinctive component of the temperate rainforest of the northwest coast of california in the region now dominated by the california current ssts warmed 10 000 to 15 000 years in advance of deglaciation at each of the past five glacial maxima ssts did not rise in advance of deglaciation south of the modern california current front glacial warming along the california margin therefore is a regional signal of the weakening of the california current during times when large ice sheets reorganized wind systems over the north pacific both the timing and magnitude of the sst estimates suggest that the devils hole nevada calcite record represents regional but not global paleotemperatures and hence does not pose a fundamental challenge to the orbital milankovitch theory of the ice ages

evidence for general instability of past climate from a 250 kyr ice core record recent results1 2 from two ice cores drilled in central greenland have revealed large abrupt climate changes of at least regional extent during the late stages of the last glaciation suggesting that climate in the north atlantic region is able to reorganize itself rapidly perhaps even within a few decades here we present a detailed stable isotope record for the full length of the greenland ice core project summit ice core extending over the past 250 kyr according to a calculated timescale we find that climate instability was not confined to the last glaciation but appears also to have been marked during the last interglacial as explored more fully in a companion paper3 and during the previous saale holstein glacial cycle this is in contrast with the extreme stability of the holocene suggesting that recent climate stability may be the exception rather than the rule the last interglacial seems to have lasted longer than is implied by the deep sea specmap record4 in agreement with other land based observations5 6 we suggest that climate instability in the early part of the last interglacial may have delayed the melting of the saalean ice sheets in america and eurasia perhaps accounting for this discrepancy

bottom water oxygenation and environmental change in santa monica basin southern california during the last 23 kyr abstract the southern california borderland is a region that experiences strong natural variations in bottom water oxygen and ph we use marine sediments from santa monica basin to reconstruct environmental conditions in the basin s bottom water from the last glacial maximum lgm to present we then compare the records to the adjacent santa barbara basin and santa lucia slope high resolution records of benthic foraminiferal oxygen and carbon isotopes 18o and 13c benthic foraminiferal assemblages and bulk sedimentary organic matter geochemistry records exhibit major changes associated with late quaternary millennial scale global climate oscillations our data show the dominance of low oxygen benthic foraminiferal assemblages during warm intervals and assemblages representing higher dissolved oxygen during cooler intervals as also seen in santa barbara basin and santa lucia slope however our record shows a stronger and longer lasting oxygen minimum zone omz between the mid younger dryas yd and the early holocene than at neighboring sites indicated by dominance of bolivina tumida characteristic of major hypoxia in the assemblage the middle to late holocene from 9 to 0 kyr had weaker hypoxia than the early holocene with assemblages mainly composed of bolivina argentea and uvigerina peregrina santa monica basin remained slightly hypoxic throughout the past 23 kyr however differences in the degree of hypoxia from santa barbara basin and santa lucia slope especially from the b a to the early holocene are seen the santa monica basin bottom water is affected by regional processes such as changes in the source of intermediate water and or changing ventilation oxygenation of the intermediate water source this is due to the greater depth and the more southern geographic position of the basin which reduces exposure to the oxygenated north pacific intermediate water current additional local processes also affect the basin such as the effects of sediment influx from submarine canyons this analysis utilizing parallel geochemical and micropaleontological records brings new insights into bottom water and climate conditions in santa monica basin indicating regional similarities and differences from adjacent basins and provides insight into the causes for changes in bottom water oxygenation

palynological evidence for late quaternary climate and marine primary productivity changes along the california margin a high resolution sedimentary record of dinoflagellate cysts from ocean drilling program hole 1017e off point conception california margin reflects how marine primary productivity has changed in response to major shifts in climate and ocean circulation along the california margin over the past 42 kyr throughout the studied sequence dinoflagellate cyst assemblages are dominated by upwelling related taxa signifying the continued presence of coastal upwelling on the margin during the late quaternary the cyst record suggests that marine primary productivity was enhanced during the holocene and bolling and to a lesser extent during the late glacial and most dansgaard oeschger events while an apparent reduction in primary productivity can be seen during the younger dryas the best analogue technique based on a modern dinoflagellate cyst assemblage database from the northeast pacific was used for quantitative reconstruction of past sea surface conditions it points to dynamic changes in annual marine primary productivity 235 331 g c m 2 yr 1 and sea surface temperature 10 1 12 6 c in winter 13 1 14 3 c in summer while sea surface salinity appears to be confined to a narrower range 32 9 33 4 in summer our results also indicate noticeable climate variability during the holocene in this region