Productivity and dissolved oxygen controls on the Southern Ocean deep‐sea benthos during the Antarctic Cold Reversal
The Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR; 14.7 to 13 thousand years ago; ka) phase of the last deglaciation saw a pause in the rise of atmospheric CO2 and Antarctic temperature, that contrasted with warming in the North. A re-expansion of sea ice and a northward shift in the position of the westerly winds i...
Published in: | Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
American Geophysical Union
2021
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/531210/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/531210/1/2021PA004288.pdf https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021PA004288 |
Summary: | The Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR; 14.7 to 13 thousand years ago; ka) phase of the last deglaciation saw a pause in the rise of atmospheric CO2 and Antarctic temperature, that contrasted with warming in the North. A re-expansion of sea ice and a northward shift in the position of the westerly winds in the Southern Ocean are well-documented, but the response of deep-sea biota and the primary drivers of habitat viability remain unclear. Here we present a new perspective on ecological changes in the deglacial Southern Ocean, including multi-faunal benthic assemblage (foraminifera and cold-water corals) and coral geochemical data (Ba/Ca and δ11B) from the Drake Passage. Our records show that, during the ACR, peak abundances of thick-walled benthic foraminifera Uvigerina bifurcata and corals are observed at shallow depths in the sub-Antarctic (∼300 m), while coral populations at greater depths and further south diminished. Our ecological and geochemical data indicate that habitat shifts were dictated by (i) a northward migration of food supply (primary production) into the Subantarctic Zone and (ii) poorly oxygenated seawater at depth during this Antarctic cooling interval. |
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