Carbon 13 Isotopes Reveal Limited Ocean Circulation Changes Between Interglacials of the Last 800 ka

• Published in: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology
• Main Authors: Bouttes, Nathaëlle, Vazquez Riveiros, Natalia, Govin, Aline, Swingedouw, Didier, Sanchez-Goni, Maria F., Crosta, Xavier, Roche, Didier M.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), UMR 5805 Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Modélisation du climat (CLIM), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Unité de recherche Géosciences Marines (Ifremer) (GM), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Climat et Magnétisme (CLIMAG), École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL), The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 656625, project CHOCOLATE., European Project: 656625,H2020,H2020-MSCA-IF-2014,CHOCOLATE(2015)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: interglacial; carbon 13; modeling; iLOVECLIM; [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; Antarc*; Antarctica; ice core
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02844111; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02844111/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02844111/file/2019PA003776.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2019PA003776

International audience Ice core data have shown that atmospheric CO2 concentrations during interglacials were lower before the Mid-Brunhes Event (MBE, ~430 ka), than after the MBE by around 30 ppm. To explain such a difference, it has been hypothesized that increased bottom water formation around Antarctica or reduced Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) could have led to greater oceanic carbon storage before the MBE, resulting in less carbon in the atmosphere. However, only few data on possible changes in interglacial ocean circulation across the MBE have been compiled, hampering model-data comparison. Here we present a new global compilation of benthic foraminifera carbon isotopic (δ13C) records from 31 marine sediment cores covering the last 800 ka, with the aim of evaluating possible changes of interglacial ocean circulation across the MBE. We show that a small systematic difference between pre- and post-MBE interglacial δ13C is observed. In pre-MBE interglacials, northern source waters tend to have slightly higher δ13C values and penetrate deeper, which could be linked to an increased northern sourced water formation or a decreased southern sourced water formation. Numerical model simulations tend to support the role of abyssal water formation around Antarctica: Decreased convection there associated with increased sinking of dense water along the continental slopes results in increased δ13C values in the Atlantic in agreement with pre-MBE interglacial data. It also yields reduced atmospheric CO2 as in pre-MBE records, despite a smaller simulated amplitude change compared to data, highlighting the need for other processes to explain the MBE transition.