Deglacial carbon cycle changes observed in a compilation of 127 benthic δ13C time series (20–6 ka)

Type Article
Date 2018-08
Language English
Author(s) Peterson Carlye D.1, 2, Lisiecki Lorraine E.2
Affiliation(s) 1 : Department of Earth Sciences, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
2 : Department of Earth Science, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA
Source Climate Of The Past (1814-9324) (Copernicus GmbH), 2018-08 , Vol. 14 , N. 8 , P. 1229-1252
DOI 10.5194/cp-14-1229-2018
WOS© Times Cited 13
Note Special issue Paleoclimate data synthesis and analysis of associated uncertainty (BG/CP/ESSD inter-journal SI) Editor(s): A. Paul, C. Ohlwein, and L. Jonkers Special issue jointly organized between Biogeosciences, Climate of the Past, and Earth System Science Data
Abstract

We present a compilation of 127 time series δ13C records from Cibicides wuellerstorfi spanning the last deglaciation (20–6 ka) which is well-suited for reconstructing large-scale carbon cycle changes, especially for comparison with isotope-enabled carbon cycle models. The age models for the δ13C records are derived from regional planktic radiocarbon compilations (Stern and Lisiecki, 2014). The δ13C records were stacked in nine different regions and then combined using volume-weighted averages to create intermediate, deep, and global δ13C stacks. These benthic δ13C stacks are used to reconstruct changes in the size of the terrestrial biosphere and deep ocean carbon storage. The timing of change in global mean δ13C is interpreted to indicate terrestrial biosphere expansion from 19–6 ka. The δ13C gradient between the intermediate and deep ocean, which we interpret as a proxy for deep ocean carbon storage, matches the pattern of atmospheric CO2 change observed in ice core records. The presence of signals associated with the terrestrial biosphere and atmospheric CO2 indicates that the compiled δ13C records have sufficient spatial coverage and time resolution to accurately reconstruct large-scale carbon cycle changes during the glacial termination.

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