Inferring surface water equilibrium calcite δ18O during the last deglacial period from benthic foraminiferal records : implications for ocean circulation

• Published in: Paleoceanography
• Main Authors: Amrhein, Daniel E., Gebbie, Geoffrey A., Marchal, Olivier, Wunsch, Carl
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: John Wiley & Sons 2015
• Subjects: Oxygen isotopes; Inverse modeling; Deglaciation; Tracers; Ocean circulation; Green's function; Southern Ocean; Planktonic foraminifera
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1912/7807

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Paleoceanography 30 (2015): 1470-1489, doi:10.1002/2014PA002743. The ocean circulation modifies mixed layer (ML) tracer signals as they are communicated to the deep ocean by advection and mixing. We develop and apply a procedure for using tracer signals observed “upstream” (by planktonic foraminifera) and “downstream” (by benthic foraminifera) to constrain how tracer signals are modified by the intervening circulation and, by extension, to constrain properties of that circulation. A history of ML equilibrium calcite δ18O (δ18Oc) spanning the last deglaciation is inferred from a least-squares fit of eight benthic foraminiferal δ18Oc records to Green's function estimated for the modern ocean circulation. Disagreements between this history and the ML history implied by planktonic records would indicate deviations from the modern circulation. No deviations are diagnosed because the two estimates of ML δ18Oc agree within their uncertainties, but we suggest data collection and modeling procedures useful for inferring circulation changes in future studies. Uncertainties of benthic-derived ML δ18Oc are lowest in the high-latitude regions chiefly responsible for ventilating the deep ocean; additional high-resolution planktonic records constraining these regions are of particular utility. Benthic records from the Southern Ocean, where data are sparse, appear to have the most power to reduce uncertainties in benthic-derived ML δ18Oc. Understanding the spatiotemporal covariance of deglacial ML δ18Oc will also improve abilities of δ18Oc records to constrain deglacial circulation. 2016-05-12