NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Brazil Margin LGM-Holocene Benthic Stable Isotope Data

Stable isotope tracer budget results suggest the transport to vertical diffusivity ratio for Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) in the Atlantic was higher at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Reduced mixing across the upper boundary of AABW is consistent with movement of this surface away from the seafloor and may be a factor in sequestering CO2 in the abyssal Atlantic. Two key unknowns in the budget are the isotopic composition of AABW and the spatial representativeness of isolated vertical profiles of d18O and d13C. Due to a lack of core material below 3 km water depth, Lund et al. (2011) based their Holocene budget on water column data and their LGM budget on extrapolation of isotopic trends from shallower cores. Here we determine d18O and d13C for AABW using new isotopic records from 3 to 4 km water depth at the Brazil Margin. The core top data yield tracer budget parameters consistent with water column data in the broader Southwest Atlantic. At the LGM, benthic d18O reaches 4.9‰ at 4 km water depth, the highest LGM d18O value in the published literature. The corresponding d13C of -0.2‰ is less depleted than expected and >0.5‰ greater than d13C in the Southeast Atlantic. Our Peclet number estimates suggest d13C acted conservatively during both the Holocene and LGM. Both d18O and d13C imply the transport to vertical diffusivity ratio for AABW was an order of magnitude larger during the LGM, due to enhanced AABW transport or reduced mixing across its upper boundary.