Comment on “Deep-Sea Temperature and Ice Volume Changes Across the Pliocene-Pleistocene Climate Transitions”

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Yu, Jimin, Broecker, Wally S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2010
• Subjects: Ice Sheet; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1186544; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1186544

Sosdian and Rosenthal (Reports, 17 July 2009, p. 306) used magnesium/calcium ratios in benthic foraminifera from the North Atlantic to reconstruct past bottom-water temperatures. They suggested that both ice volume change and ice-sheet dynamics played important roles during the late Pliocene and mid-Pleistocene climate transitions. We present evidence that their record of deep ocean temperature is not reliable, thus raising doubts about their conclusions.