FN Archimer Export Format PT J TI Sea-surface salinity variations in the northern Caribbean Sea across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition BT AF SEPULCRE, S. VIDAL, L. TACHIKAWA, K. ROSTEK, F. BARD, E. AS 1:1;2:1;3:1;4:1;5:1; FF 1:;2:;3:;4:;5:; C1 Univ Aix Marseille, CNRS, Coll France, CEREGE,IRD, F-13545 Aix En Provence, France. C2 COLL FRANCE, FRANCE IN DOAJ IF 3.509 TC 16 UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00228/33887/32232.pdf LA English DT Article CR MD 132 / P.I.C.A.S.S.O.-IMAGES11 BO Marion Dufresne AB By reconstructing past hydrologic variations in the Northern Caribbean Sea and their influence on the stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) during the last 940 ka, we seek to document climate changes in this tropical area in response to the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT). Using core MD03-2628, we estimated past changes in sea surface salinity (SSS) using Delta delta O-18, the difference between the modern, and the past delta O-18 of seawater (obtained by combining alkenone thermometer data with the delta O-18 of the planktonic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber (white) and corrected for ice-sheet volume effects). Today, the lowest SSS values in the area studied are associated with the northernmost location of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The Delta delta O-18 record obtained from core MD03-2628 exhibits glacial/interglacial cyclicity with higher values during all glacial periods spanning the last 940 ka, indicating increased SSS. A long-term trend was also observed in the Delta delta O-18 values that exhibited a shift toward lower values for interglacial periods during the last 450 ka, as compared to interglacial stages older than 650 ka. A rise in SSS during glacial stages may be related to the southern-most location of the ITCZ, which is induced by a steeper cross-equator temperature gradient and associated with reduced northward cross-equatorial oceanic transport. Therefore, the results suggest a permanent link between the tropical salinity budget and the AMOC during the last 940 ka. Following the MPT, lower salinities during the last five interglacial stages indicated a northernmost ITCZ location that was forced by changes in the cross-equator temperature gradient and that was associated with the poleward position of Southern Oceanic Fronts that amplify the transport of heat and moisture to the North Atlantic. These processes may have contributed to the amplification of the climate cycles that followed the MPT. PY 2011 SO Climate Of The Past SN 1814-9324 PU Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh VL 7 IS 1 UT 000288992700008 BP 75 EP 90 DI 10.5194/cp-7-75-2011 ID 33887 ER EF