detailed sedimentary n isotope records from cariaco basin for terminations i and v local and global implications 1 for the last deglaciation and termination v the initiation of mis 11 at around 430 ka we report high resolution sedimentary nitrogen isotope 15n records from cariaco basin in the caribbean sea during both terminations the previously reported interglacial decrease in 15n clearly lags local changes such as water column anoxia as well as global increases in denitrification by several thousand years on top of the glacial interglacial change several 15n peaks were observed during the last deglaciation the deglacial signal in cariaco basin can be best explained as a combination of 1 local variations in suboxia and water column denitrification as the reason for the millennial scale peaks 2 a deglacial maximum in mean ocean nitrate 15n and 3 increasing n2 fixation in response to globally increased denitrification causing the overall deglacial 15n decrease in the holocene much of the decrease in 15n occurred between 6 and 3 ka coinciding with an expected precession modulated increase in african dust transport to the tropical north atlantic and the caribbean this begs the hypothesis that n2 fixation in this region increased in response to interglacial maxima in denitrification elsewhere but that this response strengthened with increased mid holocene iron input it remains to be seen whether the data for mis 11 support this interpretation

rapid changes of glacial climate simulated in a coupled climate model abrupt changes in climate termed dansgaard oeschger and heinrich events have punctuated the last glacial period approximately 100 10 kyr ago but not the holocene the past 10 kyr here we use an intermediate complexity climate model to investigate the stability of glacial climate and we find that only one mode of atlantic ocean circulation is stable a cold mode with deep water formation in the atlantic ocean south of iceland however a warm circulation mode similar to the present day atlantic ocean is only marginally unstable and temporary transitions to this warm mode can easily be triggered this leads to abrupt warm events in the model which share many characteristics of the observed dansgaard oeschger events for a large freshwater input such as a large release of icebergs the model s deep water formation is temporarily switched off causing no strong cooling in greenland but warming in antarctica as is observed for heinrich events our stability analysis provides an explanation why glacial climate is much more variable than holocene climate

glacial interglacial modulation of the marine nitrogen cycle by high latitude o2 supply to the global thermocline 1 an analysis of sedimentary nitrogen isotope records compiled from widely distributed marine environments emphasizes the global synchrony of denitrification changes and provides evidence for a strong temporal coupling of these variations to changes in nitrogen fixation as previously inferred we explain the global coherence of these records by a simple physical control on the flux of dissolved oxygen to suboxic zones and the coupling to fixation via the supply of phosphorus to diazotrophs in suitable environments according to our hypothesis lower glacial stage sea surface temperature increased oxygen solubility while stronger winds in high latitude regions enhanced the rate of thermocline ventilation the resultant colder rapidly flushed thermocline lessened the spatial extent of denitrification and consequently n fixation during warm periods sluggish circulation of warmer less oxygen rich thermocline waters caused expansion of denitrification zones and a concomitant increase in n fixation local fluctuations in export productivity would have modulated this global signal

tectonic evolution of northeastern siberia and adjacent regions abstract previous models for the tectonic evolution of northeastern siberia have proposed the existence of a kolyma plate composed of the kolyma and omolon massifs of presumed precambrian age lithologic similarities between the siberian platform and the cherskiy mountains and the presence of oceanic and island arc type deposits in the kolyma indigirka interfluve suggest that no such plate exists the eastern margin of the siberian plate is suggested to lie along a line between the ulakhan sis range the alazeya uplift and the arga tas range the cherskiy mountains and the verkhoyansk fold belt are parts of the siberian plate the paleozoic deposits of the omolon massif are unlike those found in the cherskiys or siberia paleomagnetic data from the omolon massif are discordant from data from siberia it is suggested that the omolon massif represents a microplate which accreted onto siberia in the jurassic ophiolites in central chukotka are of the same emplacement age as in the western brooks range and may have been emplaced at the initiation of the rotation of arctic alaska geometric and limited stratigraphic data suggest that the east siberian sea may be floored by oceanic crust left by an incomplete closure between arctic alaska siberia and omolon the tectonic position of the prikolymsk massif remains ambiguous

coupling of millennial scale changes in sea surface temperature and precipitation off northeastern brazil with high latitude climate shifts during the last glacial period 1 high resolution records of alkenone derived sea surface temperatures and elemental ti ca ratios from a sediment core retrieved off northeastern brazil 4 s reveal short term climate variability throughout the past 63 000 a large pulses of terrigenous sediment discharge caused by increased precipitation in the brazilian hinterland coincide with heinrich events and the younger dryas period terrigenous input maxima related to heinrich events h6 h2 are characterized by rapid cooling of surface water ranging between 0 5 and 2 c this signature is consistent with a climate model experiment where a reduction of the atlantic meridional overturning circulation amoc and related north atlantic cooling causes intensification of ne trade winds and a southward movement of the intertropical convergence zone resulting in enhanced precipitation off northeastern brazil during deglaciation the surface temperature evolution at the core site predominantly followed the antarctic warming trend including a cooling prior to the younger dryas period an abrupt temperature rise preceding the onset of the bolling allerod transition agrees with model experiments suggesting a southern hemisphere origin for the abrupt resumption of the amoc during deglaciation caused by southern ocean warming and associated with northward flow anomalies of the south atlantic western boundary current

nitrogen isotope dynamics of the cariaco basin venezuela 1 we report 15n 14n measurements of water column nitrate and ammonium sinking particles and sediments from the cariaco basin an anoxic marine basin off the coast of venezuela water column denitrification occurring in the basin has only a very small isotopic imprint on nitrate in the basin because nitrate consumption is nearly complete in the actively denitrifying water near the oxic anoxic interface 275 m being free of a large denitrification signal the 15n of shallow thermocline nitrate is 3 5 significantly lower than the mean deep ocean nitrate 15n of 5 this may be due to the nitrification of newly fixed n whether it occurs within the basin or in open atlantic waters that flow into the cariaco over the sill the 15n 14n of the sinking flux in the deepest trap 1250 m is similar to that of thermocline nitrate as expected given the complete consumption of nitrate in the surface layer moreover the 15n 14n of the seafloor sediment is similar to that of the sinking flux as is common in environments of high export production low o2 and good organic matter preservation thus the modern cariaco basin records the 15n 14n of the thermocline nitrate which in turn may record the input of newly fixed n to the upper ocean be it local or more regional in origin

denitrification under glacial and interglacial conditions a physical approach 1 recent analysis of sedimentary 15n records over the last 200 000 years has shown an expansion of water column denitrification zones during warmer periods and a shrinkage of these oxygen poor regions during glacial periods two different mechanisms could be responsible for driving the changes in the denitrification records variations in local productivity leading to a change in remineralization rates and or changes in the ocean circulation and ocean temperature resulting in variations of the physical supply of dissolved oxygen here we focus on the supply mechanism by using a fully coupled atmosphere ocean sea ice land surface scheme model the university of victoria earth system climate model to examine oxygen supply under varying physical conditions while maintaining an invariant biological oxygen utilization scheme we show that circulation changes can be the cause for the observed changes in dissolved oxygen in the glacial ocean lower temperatures and enhanced formation of antarctic intermediate water and north pacific intermediate water during glacial periods increase the physical supply of oxygen and therefore decrease water column denitrification in our last glacial maximum simulations the change in water characteristics in the eastern tropical pacific is important enough to reduce denitrification by 46 to 65 compared to present day conditions depending on the wind fields used as boundary conditions the consequences of our findings could be substantial for the near future with a warming climate denitrification zones could expand leading to changes in the biological pump and the flux of n2o into the atmosphere

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

nitrogen fixation in the south atlantic gyre and the benguela upwelling system 1 dinitrogen n2 fixation is recognized as an important input of new nitrogen n to the open ocean gyres contributing to the export of organic matter from surface waters however very little n2 fixation research has focused on the south atlantic gyre where dust deposition of iron fe an important micronutrient for diazotrophs is seasonally low recent modeling efforts suggest that n2 fixation may in fact be closely coupled to and greatest in areas of denitrification as opposed to the oceanic gyres one of these areas the benguela upwelling system lies to the east of the south atlantic gyre in this study we show that n2 fixation in surface waters across the south atlantic gyre was low overall 1 5 nmol n l 1 d 1 with highest rates seen in or near the benguela upwelling system up to 8 nmol n l 1 d 1 surface water dissolved fe dfe concentrations were very low in the gyre 0 3 nm or lower while soluble reactive phosphorus srp concentrations were relatively high 0 15 m n2 fixation rates across the entire sampling area were significantly positively correlated to dfe but also to srp and no3 thus high no3 concentrations did not exclude n2 fixation in the upwelling region which provides evidence that n2 fixation may be occurring in previously unrecognized waters specifically near denitrification zones however the gene encoding for a nitrogenase component nifh was not detected from known diazotrophs at some stations in or near the upwelling where n2 fixation was greatest suggesting the presence of unknown diazotrophs in these waters

bromine counts from xrf scanning as an estimate of the marine organic carbon content of sediment cores 1 xrf sediment core scanning technology is increasingly used to quantify sediment composition the overall good correlation between biophilic halogen bromine br and sedimentary total organic carbon toc potentially allows the fast estimation of down core toc profiles by xrf scanning in order to test this approach we present data from the arabian sea and a mediterranean brine basin comparing xrf core scanning br data with discrete sample toc analyses overall br counts and toc show a clear correlation except when stable carbon isotope and c n data indicate intervals characterized by enhanced input of terrestrial organic matter hence solid phase br is exclusively associated with marine organic matter moc and can be used as a direct estimate of this parameter after a calibration is established high pore water br in the brine core steepens the br toc correlation but after salt correction shows a nearly identical gradient to that of the arabian sea core

reconstructing marine productivity of the cariaco basin during marine isotope stages 3 and 4 using organic walled dinoflagellate cysts 1 an organic walled dinoflagellate cyst analysis was carried out on sediment core md03 2622 retrieved from the cariaco basin the core comprises the 73 30 ka interval down core changes in cyst abundance accumulation rate and composition of cyst assemblages were used to identify climatic and oceanographic changes at orbital and millennial time scales in this near equatorial seasonal upwelling area throughout the sequence dinoflagellate cyst assemblages were dominated by heterotrophic dinocysts mainly brigantedinium spp with the exception of four autotrophic dominated mainly spiniferites ramosus intervals around 58 53 46 and 37 ka at orbital time scales changes in the dinoflagellate productivity seem to follow low latitude insolation with the highest productivities coinciding with maximum february insolation 47 38 ka at millennial scales cyst accumulation rates appeared to coincide with dansgaard oeschger d o variability with significant increments occurring during warm interstadials the opposite was true during stadials short periods of high nutrient availability and stratified conditions followed heinrich events h4 h5 h5a and h6 and concurred with enhanced river runoff spectral analyses confirm the existence of these and other higher frequency periodicities and support the idea of a tightly coupled terrestrial marine and tropical high latitude climate system during the last glacial period

a 0 6 million year record of millennial scale climate variability in the tropics a 600 kyr long scanning x ray fluorescence record of redox variability from the cariaco basin venezuela provides insight into rapid climate change in the tropics over the past five glacial interglacial cycles variations in the sediment accumulation of the redox sensitive element molybdenum mo can be linked to changes in intertropical convergence zone migration and reveal that millennial scale variability is a persistent feature of tropical climate over the past 600 kyr including during periods of interglacial warmth this new record supports the idea that high frequency tropical climate variability is not controlled solely by ice volume changes with implications for the role of high latitude forcing of intertropical convergence zone position and tropical hydrology on millennial timescales

variability in the mean latitude of the atlantic intertropical convergence zone as recorded by riverine input of sediments to the cariaco basin venezuela abstract changes in the strength and position of the intertropical convergence zone itcz are an important component of climate variability in the tropical atlantic the cariaco basin located on the northern margin of venezuela is sensitive to tropical atlantic climate change and its sediments provide a record of past itcz behavior today the cariaco basin experiences two distinct seasons that reflect the annual migration of the atlantic itcz between january and march when the itcz lies south of the equator northeasterly trade winds sit directly over cariaco basin and strong coastal upwelling and dry conditions dominate beginning in june july as the itcz moves north local rainfall reaches a maximum and the upwelling diminishes or disappears here we summarize new and previously published data on the river derived terrigenous fraction of cariaco basin sediments as well as comparisons to other paleoclimate records which together suggest a coherent climatologic response in the tropical atlantic triggered by a pattern of itcz migration that mimics the seasonal cycle during periods of cooler north atlantic ssts on time scales ranging from the little ice age to the younger dryas to the cold stadials of the last glacial decreased detrital delivery to cariaco basin from local rivers suggests a southward shift in the mean latitudinal position of the itcz during warm interstadials and periods of holocene and deglacial warmth northward shifts in itcz position and its belt of convective rainfall are inferred from increased detrital delivery to the basin whether the rapid shifts in itcz position and precipitation recorded by cariaco basin sediments and other regional records reflect a response to forcing originating in the high latitude atlantic or to forcing potentially sourced in the tropics is a key question yet to be fully answered

millennial scale sea surface temperature variability in the western tropical north atlantic from planktonic foraminiferal census counts planktonic foraminiferal census counts are used to construct high resolution sea surface temperature sst and subsurface thermocline temperature records at a core site in the tobago basin lesser antilles the record is used to document climatic variability at this tropical site in comparison to middle and high latitude sites and to test current concepts of cross equatorial heat transports as a major player in interhemispheric climate variability temperatures are estimated using transfer function and modern analog techniques glacial maximum cooling of 2 5 3 c is indicated maximum cooling by 4 c is inferred for isotope stage 3 the sst record displays millennial scale variability with temperature jumps of up to 3 c and closely tracks the structure of ice core dansgaard oeschger cycles sst variations in part of the record run opposite to the sst evolution at high northern latitude sites pointing to thermohaline circulation and marine heat transport as an important factor driving sst in the tropical and high latitude atlantic both on orbital and suborbital timescales

a minimum thermodynamic model for the bipolar seesaw 1 the simplest possible model is proposed to explain a large fraction of the millennial climate variability measured in the isotopic composition of antarctic ice cores the model results from the classic bipolar seesaw by coupling it to a heat reservoir in this thermal bipolar seesaw the heat reservoir convolves northern time signals with a characteristic timescale applying the model to the data of grip and byrd we demonstrate that maximum correlation can be obtained using a timescale of about 1000 1500 years higher correlations are obtained by first filtering out the long term variability which is due to astronomical and greenhouse gas forcing and not part of the thermal bipolar seesaw the model resolves the apparent confusion whether northern and southern climate records are in or out of phase synchronous or time lagged

sensitivity of the atlantic intertropical convergence zone to last glacial maximum boundary conditions 1 recent paleoproxy records suggest that the mean latitude of the atlantic intertropical convergence zone itcz varied synchronously with north atlantic climate over a range of timescales throughout the holocene and last glacial maximum we show that the present day meridional mode of atmosphere ocean variability in the tropical atlantic is a potentially useful model for understanding these paleoclimate changes the tropical atlantic in a coupled atmospheric general circulation and slab ocean model responds to last glacial maximum conditions with a southward displacement of the itcz this response arises primarily through the land ice sheet that forces increased north atlantic trades analogous to the forcing on the present day meridional mode changes to sea ice coverage and to ocean heat transport associated with a weakened atlantic thermohaline circulation also cause a meridional mode response though through different mechanisms our results highlight the potential for tropical atlantic paleoclimate to be driven from the high latitude influences in particular land ice on glacial interglacial timescales

large fluctuations of dissolved oxygen in the indian and pacific oceans during dansgaard oeschger oscillations caused by variations of north atlantic deep water subduction a s and s h were supported by the paleoclimate program of the national science foundation as part of the paleovar project atm 0602395

deglacial nitrogen isotope changes in the gulf of mexico evidence from bulk sedimentary and foraminifera bound nitrogen in orca basin sediments 1 constraining variations in marine n2 fixation over glacial interglacial timescales is crucial for determining the role of the marine nitrogen cycle in modifying ocean productivity and climate yet paleo records from n2 fixation regions are sparse here we present new nitrogen isotope 15n records of bulk sediment and foraminifera test bound fb nitrogen extending back to the last ice age from the oligotrophic gulf of mexico gom previous studies indicate a substantial terrestrial input during the last ice age and early deglacial for which we attempt to correct the bulk sediment 15n using its observed relationship with the c n ratio both corrected bulk and fb 15n reveal a substantial glacial to holocene decrease of 15n toward holocene values of around 2 5 similar to observations from the caribbean this 15n change is most likely due to a glacial to holocene increase in regional n2 fixation a deglacial peak in the fb 15n of thermocline dwelling foraminifera orbulina universa probably reflects a whole ocean increase in the 15n of nitrate during deglaciation the 15n of the surface dwelling foraminifera globigerinoides ruber and the corrected bulk 15n show little sign of this deglacial peak both decreasing from last glacial values much earlier than does the 15n of o universa this may indicate that g ruber and bulk n reflect the euphotic zone signal of an early local increase in n2 fixation our results add to the evidence that during the last ice age the larger iron input from dust did not lead to enhanced n2 fixation in this region rather the glacial to holocene decrease in 15n is best explained by a response of n2 fixation within the atlantic to the deglacial increase in global ocean denitrification

the influence of rapid millennial scale climate change on nitrogen isotope dynamics of the cariaco basin during marine isotope stage 3 understanding changes to the marine nitrogen cycle on millennial and shorter time scales can help determine the influence of rapid climate change on the fixed n pool and its sources and sinks rapid changes in denitrification have been observed in the eastern tropical north pacific etnp and arabian sea however millennial scale 15n records in regions influenced by n2 fixation are sparse we present a sedimentary 15n record from the cariaco basin during marine isotope stage mis 3 35 55 ka the 15n record displays a pattern of millennial scale variability that tracks the greenland ice core dansgaard oeschger cycles with higher values observed during interstadial periods lower values during stadial periods and abrupt transitions in between conditions during interstadials are similar to those at present in the cariaco basin with the sedimentary 15n signal reflecting a combination of local processes and an imported regional signal if interpreted to reflect regional processes the interstadial 15n values average 5 1 support the argument that n2 fixation did not increase in the tropical north atlantic during the last glacial the lower 15n values during stadials when lower sea level resulted in increased physical isolation of the basin can be explained primarily by local processes in spite of the importance of local processes striking similarity is observed between the cariaco record and millennial scale 15n records from the etnp and arabian sea the apparent synchronicity of changes observed in all three regions suggests an atmospheric teleconnection between the three sites and high latitude climate forcing during mis 3

nitrogen isotope and productivity variations along the northeast pacific margin over the last 120 kyr surface and subsurface paleoceanography 1 glacial interglacial changes in sedimentary 15n over the last 120 kyr display a remarkably similar pattern in timing and amplitude in core records extending from the denitrification zone in the eastern tropical north pacific etnp where subsurface denitrification is active to the oregon margin where no denitrification occurs today low 15n values 4 6 generally characterize glacial stages 2 and 4 and higher 15n values 7 10 are representative of the holocene millennial scale periods within stage 3 and stage 5 the inferred synchroneity of 15n variations along the entire margin implies that the nitrate isotopic signal produced in the oxygen poor subsurface waters in the etnp is rapidly advected northward and recorded at sites far beyond the boundaries of the modern denitrification zone similar to 15n primary production indicators percent corg ba al and percent opal show glacial interglacial as well as millennial scale variations along the ne pacific margin with higher primary production during warm periods however the relative phasing between 15n and paleoproduction tracers within individual records changes latitudinally whereas 15n and primary production vary approximately synchronously in the midlatitudes production lags 15n in the etnp by several kiloyears this lag calls for a new understanding of the processes driving denitrification in the etnp we suggest that oxygen input by the equatorial undercurrent as well as local organic matter flux controls denitrification rates in the etnp moreover the differences in relative timing point to a time transgressive development of upwelling favorable winds along the ne pacific margin after the last glaciation with those in the north developing several kiloyears earlier

surface and deep ocean variability in the northern sargasso sea during marine isotope stage 3 new geochemical proxy data from bermuda rise piston cores reveal ocean and climate conditions in the northern sargasso sea during marine isotope stage 3 using 18o on the planktonic foraminifer globigerinoides ruber we can correlate explicitly with every stadial interstadial change in greenland ice between 32 and 58 ka these data suggest repetitive changes of 4 c in the annual average sea surface temperature sst with maximum cooling comparable to or greater than sst during glacial maximum conditions the extent of sst depression is about the same for typical stadial events and for heinrich events 4 and 5 which we have identified on the bermuda rise by traces of ice rafting benthic foraminiferal 13c decreases during every stadial event consistent with reduced production of the deepest component of north atlantic deep water and shoaling of its interface with antarctic bottom water this interpretation is supported by benthic cd ca data from the climate cycle associated with interstadial 8

thermal requirements for extensional emplacement of granitoids numerical models of magma emplacement during crustal extension show that shallow 10 km rhyolitic to andesitic magma chambers can form and be maintained at typical rates of extension of continental crust chambers at depths of 8 km form within 90 ka after emplacement of a total width of 4 km of magma at half extension rates of 2 cm yr once even a small 1 km wide shallow chamber has formed by any process it can be maintained by extension at a half rate of 1 cm yr high temperatures are maintained at a half rate of 0 5 cm yr continental rifts and dilational jogs along strike slip faults in arcs provide areas where extension rates are most appropriate large granitoids and batholiths can form by this process over millions of years actual chambers at any one time may be considerably smaller than preserved granitoids

evidence for massive discharges of icebergs into the north atlantic ocean during the last glacial period sediments in the north atlantic ocean contain a series of layers that are rich in ice rafted debris and unusually poor in foraminifera1 here we present evidence that the most recent six of these heinrich layers deposited between 14 000 and 70 000 years ago record marked decreases in sea surface temperature and salinity decreases in the flux of planktonic foraminifera to the sediments and short lived massive discharges of icebergs originating in eastern canada the path of the icebergs clearly marked by the presence of ice rafted detrital carbonate can be traced for more than 3 000 km a remarkable distance attesting to extreme cooling of surface waters and enormous amounts of drifting ice the cause of these extreme events is puzzling they may reflect repeated rapid advances of the laurentide ice sheet perhaps associated with reductions in air temperatures yet temperature records from greenland ice cores appear to exhibit only a weak corresponding signal moreover the 5 10 000 yr intervals between the events are inconsistent with milankovitch orbital periodicities raising the question of what the ultimate cause of the postulated cooling may have been

the acceleration of oceanic denitrification during deglacial warming the marine nitrogen cycle was altered during the transition from glacial to interglacial conditions an analysis of 15n records throughout the world s oceans suggests that rates of denitrification in the water column accelerated during the last deglaciation