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Antarctic Holocene climate change: A benthic foraminiferal stable isotope record from Palmer Deep

Shevenell, AE; Kennett, JP; (2002) Antarctic Holocene climate change: A benthic foraminiferal stable isotope record from Palmer Deep. Paleoceanography , 17 (2) , Article 1019. 10.1029/2000PA000596. Green open access

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Abstract

The first moderate- to high-resolution Holocene marine stable isotope record from the nearshore Antarctic continental shelf (Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 1098B) suggests sensitivity of the western Antarctic Peninsula hydrography to westerly wind strength and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-like climate variability. Despite proximity to corrosive Antarctic water masses, sufficient CaCO3 in Palmer Deep sediments exists to provide a high-quality stable isotopic record (especially in the late Holocene). Coherence of benthic foraminifer delta(18)O, delta(13)C, sedimentologic, and CaCO3 fluctuations suggests that rapid (<20 years) Palmer Deep bottom water temperature fluctuations of 1&DEG;-1.5&DEG;C are associated with competitive interactions between two dominant oceanographic/climatic states. An abrupt shift from a warmer, stable Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW) state to a cooler, variable shelf water state occurred at &SIM;3.6 ka. Palmer Deep bottom waters oscillated between UCDW and shelf water-dominated states between &SIM;3.6 and 0.05 ka. Cool shelf water intervals correlate with Neoglacial events, the most recent and largest being the Little Ice Age (LIA; &SIM;0.7-0.2 ka). Similarities between Palmer Deep and global Holocene records and the rapidity of inferred bottom water fluctuations suggest that western Antarctic Peninsula shelf hydrography has not been controlled by thermohaline reorganizations but by variable strength and/or position of the Southern Hemisphere westerly wind field. We suggest that these atmospheric perturbations may have originated in the low-latitude tropical Pacific.

Type: Article
Title: Antarctic Holocene climate change: A benthic foraminiferal stable isotope record from Palmer Deep
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1029/2000PA000596
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2000PA000596
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright 2002 by the American Geophysical Union
Keywords: Antarctic paleoceanography, Stable isotopes, Holocene, Climate change, Benthic foraminifera, Peninsula continental-shelf, Greenland ice-core, Southern-ocean, Sea-ice, North-Atlantic, Last deglaciation, Warm period, Ross sea, El-Nino, Variability
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/11203
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