| Summary: | The Southern Ocean is a key region for the overturning and mixing of water masses within the global ocean circulation system. Because Southern Ocean dynamics are influenced by the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds (SWW), changes in the westerly wind forcing could significantly affect the circulation and mixing of water masses in this important location. While changes in SWW forcing during the Holocene (i.e. the last ~11,700 years) have been documented, evidence of the oceanic response to these changes is equivocal. Here we use the neodymium (Nd) isotopic composition of absolute-dated cold-water coral skeletons to show that there have been distinct changes in the chemistry of the Southern Ocean water column during the Holocene. Our results reveal a pronounced mid-Holocene excursion (peaking around ~7000 to 6000 years before present), at the depth level presently occupied by Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW), towards Nd isotope values more typical of Pacific waters. We suggest that poleward-reduced SWW forcing during the mid-Holocene led to both reduced Southern Ocean deep mixing and enhanced influx of Pacific Deep Water into UCDW, inducing a water mass structure that was significantly different from today. Poleward SWW intensification during the late Holocene could then have reinforced deep mixing along and across density surfaces, thus enhancing the release of accumulated CO2 to the atmosphere.
|
|---|