Isotopic Characterization of Water Masses in the Southeast Pacific Region: Paleoceanographic Implications

In this study, we used stable isotopes of oxygen (δ18O), deuterium (δD), and dissolved inorganic carbon (δ13CDIC) in combination with temperature, salinity, oxygen, and nutrient concentrations to characterize the coastal (71°–78°W) and an oceanic (82°–98°W) water masses (SAAW—Subantarctic Surface Wa...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Reyes-Macaya, Dharma, Hoogakker, Babette, Martínez-Méndez, Gema, Llanillo, Pedro J., Grasse, Patricia, Mohtadi, Mahyar, Mix, Alan, Leng, Melanie J., Struck, Ulrich, McCorkle, Daniel C.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
oxygen and deuterium stable isotopes in seawater
carbon stable isotopes in dissolved inorganic carbon
Southeast Pacific
water mass distribution
paleoceanography proxies
ddc:550
Antarctic
Pacific
Antarc*
Online Access:https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/34305
https://doi.org/10.17169/refubium-34022
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017525
Description
Summary:In this study, we used stable isotopes of oxygen (δ18O), deuterium (δD), and dissolved inorganic carbon (δ13CDIC) in combination with temperature, salinity, oxygen, and nutrient concentrations to characterize the coastal (71°–78°W) and an oceanic (82°–98°W) water masses (SAAW—Subantarctic Surface Water; STW—Subtropical Water; ESSW—Equatorial Subsurface water; AAIW—Antarctic Intermediate Water; PDW—Pacific Deep Water) of the Southeast Pacific (SEP). The results show that δ18O and δD can be used to differentiate between SAAW-STW, SAAW-ESSW, and ESSW-AAIW. δ13CDIC signatures can be used to differentiate between STW-ESSW (oceanic section), SAAW-ESSW, ESSW-AAIW, and AAIW-PDW. Compared with the oceanic section, our new coastal section highlights differences in both the chemistry and geometry of water masses above 1,000 m. Previous paleoceanographic studies using marine sediments from the SEP continental margin used the present-day hydrological oceanic transect to compare against, as the coastal section was not sufficiently characterized. We suggest that our new results of the coastal section should be used for past characterizations of the SEP water masses that are usually based on continental margin sediment samples.

Similar Items