Delayed Collapse of the North Pacific Intermediate Water After the Glacial Termination

Carbon release from the North Pacific in glacial-interglacial cycles has been mainly linked to the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) formation and associated carbon/nutrient water upwelling and biological productivity changes. However, relationship between NPIW and atmospheric CO2 change in th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Zhao, Debo, Wan, Shiming, Lu, Zhengyao, Zhai, Lina, Feng, Xuguang, Shi, Xuefa, Li, Anchun
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION 2021
Subjects:
Okinawa Trough
NPIW
redox environment
marine sediment
trace elements
Geology
Geosciences
Multidisciplinary
MILLENNIAL-SCALE VARIATIONS
CLIMATE-CHANGE
STORM TRACKS
SEA
PRODUCTIVITY
TEMPERATURES
SEDIMENTS
SURFACE
VENTILATION
Pacific
Southern Ocean
Online Access:http://ir.qdio.ac.cn/handle/337002/176384
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092911
Description
Summary:Carbon release from the North Pacific in glacial-interglacial cycles has been mainly linked to the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) formation and associated carbon/nutrient water upwelling and biological productivity changes. However, relationship between NPIW and atmospheric CO2 change in the early interglacial remains unclear. Here we report a high-resolution sediment record of NPIW evolution based on paleo-redox changes in the Western North Pacific during the last 400 ka. Our proxy and model results reveal a delayed collapse of NPIW after the glacial termination was coeval with decreased salinity of intermediate water and increased net rainfall in the North Pacific. Such weakened NPIW formation in the North Pacific probably make a contribution to maintain high atmospheric CO2 concentrations through weakened intermediate-to-deep ocean stratification and reduced subsurface biological pump net efficiency, countering the return to more stratified conditions in the Southern Ocean, which should drive down atmospheric CO2 during the early interglacial.

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