Deglacial carbon cycle changes observed in a compilation of 127 benthic δ 13 C time series (20–6 ka)

• Published in: Climate of the Past
• Main Authors: C. D. Peterson, L. E. Lisiecki
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2018
• Subjects: Environmental pollution; TD172-193.5; Environmental protection; TD169-171.8; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; ice core
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1229-2018; https://doaj.org/article/b96c3dbfeea14de2bf22cbc4f4b08bc4

We present a compilation of 127 time series δ 13 C records from Cibicides wuellerstorfi spanning the last deglaciation (20–6 ka) which is well-suited for reconstructing large-scale carbon cycle changes, especially for comparison with isotope-enabled carbon cycle models. The age models for the δ 13 C records are derived from regional planktic radiocarbon compilations (Stern and Lisiecki 2014). The δ 13 C records were stacked in nine different regions and then combined using volume-weighted averages to create intermediate, deep, and global δ 13 C stacks. These benthic δ 13 C stacks are used to reconstruct changes in the size of the terrestrial biosphere and deep ocean carbon storage. The timing of change in global mean δ 13 C is interpreted to indicate terrestrial biosphere expansion from 19–6 ka. The δ 13 C gradient between the intermediate and deep ocean, which we interpret as a proxy for deep ocean carbon storage, matches the pattern of atmospheric CO 2 change observed in ice core records. The presence of signals associated with the terrestrial biosphere and atmospheric CO 2 indicates that the compiled δ 13 C records have sufficient spatial coverage and time resolution to accurately reconstruct large-scale carbon cycle changes during the glacial termination.