NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - North Atlantic millennial scale changes in climate and circulation

Two late Quaternary series of high resolution percent carbonate data from western North Atlantic sediment drifts (Bermuda Rise and Bahama Outer Ridge) show millennial-scale oscillations superimposed on the familiar, longer-period oscillations of orbital origin. The dominant high-frequency oscillation in these records has a quasi-period of about 4000 years. These percent CaCO3 changes most likely result from the influence of climate change on the flux of terrigenous material from eastern Canada, the resuspension of continental margin sediment by deep eddy kinetic energy, and carbonate dissolution. Sediment is transported to the Bermuda Rise by deep recirculating gyres and to the Bahama Outer Ridge by the deep western boundary current system. Stable isotope results on foraminifera across several of these oscillations from interstadial climate conditions and from a glacial inception display variability similar to that of percent CaCO3. Oxygen isotope ratios of planktonic foraminifera suggest large variations in near-surface temperature and/or salinity, and carbon isotope ratios of benthic foraminifera indicate that there were significant oscillations in the flux of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). These data support models which couple surface ocean conditions in the North Atlantic, production of NADW, North Atlantic heat flux, and evidence for temperature oscillations in ice cores.

本存档的古气候学研究数据集可由美国国家海洋和大气管理局（National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA）下属的国家环境信息中心（National Centers for Environmental Information, NCEI）通过世界古气候数据服务（World Data Service for Paleoclimatology, WDS）获取。该数据集对应的NCEI研究类型为古海洋学（Paleoceanography）。数据涵盖北太平洋区域的古海洋学参数，时间覆盖范围为距今138710至853个日历年前（before present, BP）。如需了解参数与研究区位的详细信息，请查阅元数据（metadata）。使用本数据集时，请引用本研究。