NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - South Atlantic Foraminifer Stable Isotope Data, Marine Isotope Stage 11

Oxygen and carbon isotopic gradients in surface waters were reconstructed for the past 450 kyr by analysis of the planktic foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma in cores located at approximately 43°, 47°, and 54°S across the Polar Frontal Zone in the South Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Comparison of the oxygen isotopic records for peak interglacial conditions during the past 450 kyr reveals that Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 was not substantially warmer than other interglacials at high southern latitudes, although the period of warmth lasted longer. The carbonate and carbon isotope chemistry of surface and deep water represent the truly distinctive aspects of Stage 11 in the Southern Ocean. Peak carbonate production occurred at high southern latitudes during MIS 11, resulting in light-colored, high-carbonate sediments deposited throughout the Southern Ocean above the lysocline. Carbon isotopic values of benthic foraminifera in cores bathed by Circumpolar Deep Water (CPDW) were highest during MIS11, suggesting strong input of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) to the Southern Ocean. Planktic δ13C values at high southern latitudes were also highest during MIS 11, which may reflect upwelling of CPDW with a greater contribution of NADW, lower whole-ocean nutrient inventories, higher gas exchange rates, and/or lowered alkalinity of Antarctic surface waters (resulting from carbonate precipitation south of the Polar Front).