Sea surface temperature variability in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean over the past 700 kyr

Type Article
Date 2012-10
Language English
Author(s) Ho Sze Ling1, Mollenhauer Gesine1, Lamy Frank1, Martinez-Garcia Alfredo2, Mohtadi Mahyar3, Gersonde Rainer1, Hebbeln Dierk3, Nunez-Ricardo Samuel4, Rosell-Mele Antoni5, 6, Tiedemann Ralf1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Alfred Wegener Inst Polar & Marine Res, DE-27515 Bremerhaven, Germany.
2 : ETH, Inst Geol, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
3 : Univ Bremen, MARUM Ctr Marine Environm Sci, D-28359 Bremen, Germany.
4 : Univ Concepcion, Fac Ciencias Nat & Oceanog, Dept Zool, Concepcion, Chile.
5 : Inst Catalana Recerca & Estud Avancats, Barcelona, Spain.
6 : Univ Autonoma Barcelona, Inst Ciencia & Tecnol Ambientals, Bellaterra, Spain.
Source Paleoceanography (0883-8305) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2012-10 , Vol. 27 , N. PA4202 , P. 1-15
DOI 10.1029/2012PA002317
WOS© Times Cited 57
Abstract In spite of the important role played by the Southern Ocean in global climate, the few existing paleoceanographic records in the east Pacific sector do not extend beyond one glacial-interglacial cycle, hindering circumpolar comparison of past sea surface temperature (SST) evolution in the Southern Ocean. Here we present three alkenone-based Pleistocene SST records from the subantarctic and subtropical Pacific. We use a regional core top calibration data set to constrain the choice of calibrations for paleo SST estimation. Our core top data confirm that the alkenone-based U-37(K) and U-37(K') values correlate linearly with the SST, in a similar fashion as the most commonly used laboratory culture-based calibrations even at low temperatures (down to similar to 1 degrees C), rendering these calibrations appropriate for application in the subantarctic Pacific. However, these alkenone indices yield diverging temporal trends in the Pleistocene SST records. On the basis of the better agreement with delta O-18 records and other SST records in the subantarctic Southern Ocean, we propose that the U-37(K) is a better index for SST reconstruction in this region than the more commonly used U-37(K') index. The U-K(37)-derived SST records suggest glacial cooling of similar to 8 degrees C and similar to 4 degrees C in the subantarctic and subtropical Pacific, respectively. Such extent of subantarctic glacial cooling is comparable to that in other sectors of the Southern Ocean, indicating a uniform circumpolar cooling during the Pleistocene. Furthermore, our SST records also imply massive equatorward migrations of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) frontal systems and an enhanced transport of ACC water to lower latitudes during glacials by the Peru-Chile Current.
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Ho Sze Ling, Mollenhauer Gesine, Lamy Frank, Martinez-Garcia Alfredo, Mohtadi Mahyar, Gersonde Rainer, Hebbeln Dierk, Nunez-Ricardo Samuel, Rosell-Mele Antoni, Tiedemann Ralf (2012). Sea surface temperature variability in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean over the past 700 kyr. Paleoceanography, 27(PA4202), 1-15. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1029/2012PA002317 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00265/37610/