Antiphased dust deposition and productivity in the Antarctic Zone over 1.5 million years ...

The Southern Ocean paleoceanography provides key insights into how iron fertilization and oceanic productivity developed through Pleistocene ice-ages and their role in influencing the carbon cycle. We report the first high-resolution record of dust deposition and ocean productivity for the Antarctic...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Weber, Michael E
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.939650
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.939650
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Summary:The Southern Ocean paleoceanography provides key insights into how iron fertilization and oceanic productivity developed through Pleistocene ice-ages and their role in influencing the carbon cycle. We report the first high-resolution record of dust deposition and ocean productivity for the Antarctic Zone, close to the main dust source, Patagonia. Our deep-ocean records cover the last 1.5 Ma, thus doubling that from Antarctic ice-cores. We find a 5 to 15-fold increase in dust deposition during glacials and a 2 to 5-fold increase in biogenic silica deposition, reflecting higher ocean productivity during interglacials. This antiphasing persisted throughout the last 25 glacial cycles. Dust deposition became more pronounced across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) in the Southern Hemisphere, with an abrupt shift suggesting more severe glaciations since ~0.9 Ma. Productivity was intermediate pre-MPT, lowest during the MPT and highest since 0.4 Ma. Generally, glacials experienced extended sea-ice cover, reduced ...