scholarly journals Are Past Sea-Ice Reconstructions Based on Planktonic Foraminifera Realistic? Study of the Last 50 ka as a Test to Validate Reconstructed Paleohydrography Derived from Transfer Functions Applied to Their Fossil Assemblages

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 409
Author(s):  
Frédérique Eynaud ◽  
Sébastien Zaragosi ◽  
Mélanie Wary ◽  
Emilie Woussen ◽  
Linda Rossignol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
World Ocean ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Degree Of Confidence ◽  
World Ocean Atlas ◽  
Climate Events ◽  
The Last Glacial

Since its existence, paleoceanography has relied on fossilized populations of planktonic foraminifera. Except for some extreme environments, this calcareous protist group composes most of the silty-to-sandy fraction of the marine sediments, i.e., the foraminiferal oozes, and its extraction is probably the simplest among the currently existing set of marine fossil proxies. This tool has provided significant insights in the building of knowledge on past climates based on marine archives, especially with the quantification of past hydrographical variables, which have been a turning point for major comprehensive studies and a step towards the essential junction of modelling and paleodata . In this article, using the modern analog technique and a database compiling modern analogs (n = 1007), we test the reliability of this proxy in reconstructing paleohydrographical data other than the classical sea-surface temperatures, taking advantage of an update regarding a set of extractions from the World Ocean Atlas for transfer functions. Our study focuses on the last glacial period and its high climatic variability, using a set of cores distributed along the European margin, from temperate to subpolar sites. We discuss the significance of the reconstructed parameters regarding abrupt and extreme climate events, such as the well-known Heinrich events. We tested the robustness of the newly obtained paleodata by comparing them with older published reconstructions, especially those based on the complementary dinoflagellate cyst proxy. This study shows that the potential of planktonic foraminifera permits going further in reconstructions, with a good degree of confidence; however, this implies considering ecological forcings in a more holistic perspective, with the corollary to integrate the message of this fossil protist group, i.e., the obtained parameters, in light of a cohort of other data. This article constitutes a first step in this direction.

scholarly journals Mismatch between the depth habitat of planktonic foraminifera and the calibration depth of SST transfer functions may bias reconstructions

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 859-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Telford ◽  
C. Li ◽  
M. Kucera
Keyword(s):  
Climate Sensitivity ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Thermal Structure ◽  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
The North ◽  
Temperature Reconstructions ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The Last Glacial

Abstract. We demonstrate that the temperature signal in the planktonic foraminifera assemblage data from the North Atlantic typically does not originate from near-surface waters and argue that this has the potential to bias sea surface temperature reconstructions using transfer functions calibrated against near-surface temperatures if the thermal structure of the upper few hundred metres of ocean changes over time. CMIP5 climate models indicate that ocean thermal structure in the North Atlantic changed between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the pre-industrial (PI), with some regions, mainly in the tropics, of the LGM ocean lacking good thermal analogues in the PI. Transfer functions calibrated against different depths reconstruct a marked subsurface cooling in parts of the tropical North Atlantic during the last glacial, in contrast to previous studies that reconstruct only a modest cooling. These possible biases in temperature reconstructions may affect estimates of climate sensitivity based on the difference between LGM and pre-industrial climate. Quantifying these biases has the potential to alter our understanding of LGM climate and improve estimates of climate sensitivity.

scholarly journals Millennial and sub-millennial scale climatic variations recorded in polar ice cores over the last glacial period

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Capron ◽  
A. Landais ◽  
J. Chappellaz ◽  
A. Schilt ◽  
D. Buiron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Dronning Maud Land ◽  
Mis 5 ◽  
The Last Glacial ◽  
Millennial Scale

Abstract. Since its discovery in Greenland ice cores, the millennial scale climatic variability of the last glacial period has been increasingly documented at all latitudes with studies focusing mainly on Marine Isotopic Stage 3 (MIS 3; 28–60 thousand of years before present, hereafter ka) and characterized by short Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events. Recent and new results obtained on the EPICA and NorthGRIP ice cores now precisely describe the rapid variations of Antarctic and Greenland temperature during MIS 5 (73.5–123 ka), a time period corresponding to relatively high sea level. The results display a succession of long DO events enabling us to highlight a sub-millennial scale climatic variability depicted by i) short-lived and abrupt warming events preceding some Greenland InterStadial (GIS) (precursor-type events) and ii) abrupt warming events at the end of some GIS (rebound-type events). The occurrence of these secondary events is suggested to be driven by the Northern Hemisphere summertime insolation at 65° N together with the internal forcing of ice sheets. Thanks to a recent NorthGRIP-EPICA Dronning Maud Land (EDML) common timescale over MIS 5, the bipolar sequence of climatic events can be established at millennial to sub-millennial timescale. This provides evidence that a linear relationship is not satisfactory in explaining the link between Antarctic warming amplitudes and the duration of their concurrent Greenland Stadial (GS) for the entire glacial period. The conceptual model for a thermal bipolar seesaw permits a reconstruction of the Antarctic response to the northern millennial and sub-millennial scale variability over MIS 5. However, we show that when ice sheets are extensive, Antarctica does not necessarily warm during the whole GS as the thermal bipolar seesaw model would predict.

scholarly journals Hydrological processes affecting the subtropical NE Atlantic (34–38° N) over the last 30 ka: evidence from phyto- and zooplankton assemblages

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 2281-2327 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Penaud ◽  
F. Eynaud ◽  
A. Voelker ◽  
F. Marret ◽  
J. L. Turon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Distinct Species ◽  
Ekman Transport ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Gulf Of Cadiz ◽  
Ne Atlantic ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Gulf Of Cádiz ◽  
The Last Glacial

Abstract. New dinocyst analyses were conducted on core MD99-2339 retrieved from the central Gulf of Cadiz. Dinocyst and foraminiferal assemblages from this core are combined with existing data off SW Portugal and NW Morocco to investigate past hydrological and primary productivity regimes in the subtropical NE Atlantic Ocean over the last 30 ka. Our results have revealed highest upwelling intensity during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS 1) and the Younger Dryas and weaker upwelling cells during the Last Glacial Maximum and HS 2, off the SW Iberian and NW Moroccan margins. Similar assemblages between Cadiz and Morocco and distinct species off Portugal were observed during the cold climatic extremes that punctuated the last 30 ka. This pattern has been linked to the occurrence of a hydrological structure between SW Iberia and Cadiz during the last glacial period, probably similar to the modern Azores Front. This front was probably responsible locally for heterotrophic dinocysts found in the Gulf of Cadiz during the last glacial period, even if this sector is not conductive to upwelling phenomena by Ekman transport. Regional reconstructions of paleo-sea-surface temperatures using dinocyst and foraminiferal transfer functions, as well as alkenones, are also discussed and depict coherent scenarios over the last 30 ka. However, some mismatches are observed between the different quantitative reconstructions such as during HS 1 in the Gulf of Cadiz and during the LGM at the three core locations.

Radiocarbon calibration beyond 20,000 14C yr B.P. by means of planktonic foraminifera of the Iberian Margin

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edouard Bard ◽  
Frauke Rostek ◽  
Guillemette Ménot-Combes
Keyword(s):  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Polynomial Curve ◽  
Abrupt Changes ◽  
Image Position ◽  
Reservoir Age ◽  
Iberian Margin ◽  
Good Agreement ◽  
The Last Glacial

We present a new set of 14C ages obtained by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) on planktonic foraminifera from a deep-sea core collected off the Iberian Margin (MD952042). This site, at 37°N, is distant from the high-latitude zones where 14C reservoir age is large and variable. Many independent proxies — alkenones, magnetic susceptibility, ice-rafted debris, foraminifera stable isotopes, abundances of foraminifera, pollen, and dinoflagellates — show abrupt changes correlative with Dansgaard-Oeschger and Heinrich events of the last glacial period. The good stratigraphic agreement of all proxies — from the fine to the coarse-size fractions — indicates that the foraminifera 14C ages are representative of the different sediment fractions. To obtain reliable 14C ages of foraminifera beyond 20,000 14C yr B.P. we leached the shells prior to carbonate hydrolysis and subsequent analysis. For a calendar age scale, we matched the Iberian Margin profile with that of Greenland Summit δ18O. Both are proxies for temperature, which in models varies synchronously in the two areas. The match creates no spurious jumps in sedimentation rate and requires only a limited number of tie points. Except for ages older than 40,000 14C yr B.P. Greenland's GISP2 and GRIP records yield similar calendars. The 14C and imported calendar ages of the Iberian Margin record are then compared to data — from lacustrine annual varves and from corals and speleothems dated by U–Th — previously used to extend the calibration beyond 20,000 14C yr B.P. The new record follows a smooth pattern between 23,000 and 50,000 cal yr B.P. We find good agreement with the previous data sets between 23,000 and 31,000 cal yr B.P. In the interval between 33,000 and 41,000 cal yr B.P. for which previous records disagree by up to 5000 cal yr, the Iberian Margin record closely follows the polynomial curve that was previously defined by an interpolation of the coral ages and runs between the Lake Suigetsu and the Bahamian speleothem data sets.

scholarly journals Millennial and sub-millennial scale climatic variations recorded in polar ice cores over the last glacial period

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Capron ◽  
A. Landais ◽  
J. Chappellaz ◽  
A. Schilt ◽  
D. Buiron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Mis 5 ◽  
The Last Glacial ◽  
Millennial Scale

Abstract. Since its discovery in Greenland ice cores, the millennial scale climatic variability of the last glacial period has been increasingly documented at all latitudes with studies focusing mainly on Marine Isotopic Stage 3 (MIS 3; 28–60 thousand of years before present, hereafter ka) and characterized by short Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events. Recent and new results obtained on the EPICA and NorthGRIP ice cores now precisely describe the rapid variations of Antarctic and Greenland temperature during MIS 5 (73.5–123 ka), a time period corresponding to relatively high sea level. The results display a succession of abrupt events associated with long Greenland InterStadial phases (GIS) enabling us to highlight a sub-millennial scale climatic variability depicted by (i) short-lived and abrupt warming events preceding some GIS (precursor-type events) and (ii) abrupt warming events at the end of some GIS (rebound-type events). The occurrence of these sub-millennial scale events is suggested to be driven by the insolation at high northern latitudes together with the internal forcing of ice sheets. Thanks to a recent NorthGRIP-EPICA Dronning Maud Land (EDML) common timescale over MIS 5, the bipolar sequence of climatic events can be established at millennial to sub-millennial timescale. This shows that for extraordinary long stadial durations the accompanying Antarctic warming amplitude cannot be described by a simple linear relationship between the two as expected from the bipolar seesaw concept. We also show that when ice sheets are extensive, Antarctica does not necessarily warm during the whole GS as the thermal bipolar seesaw model would predict, questioning the Greenland ice core temperature records as a proxy for AMOC changes throughout the glacial period.

scholarly journals Last glacial fire regime variability in western France inferred from microcharcoal preserved in core MD04-2845, Bay of Biscay

2009 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Laure Daniau ◽  
Maria Fernanda Sánchez Goñi ◽  
Josette Duprat
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Bay Of Biscay ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Heinrich Events ◽  
Neogloboquadrina Pachyderma ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractHigh resolution multiproxy analysis (microcharcoal, pollen, organic carbon, Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (s), ice rafted debris) of the deep-sea record MD04-2845 (Bay of Biscay) provides new insights for understanding mechanisms of fire regime variability of the last glacial period in western France. Fire regime of western France closely follows Dansgaard–Oeschger climatic variability and presents the same pattern than that of southwestern Iberia, namely low fire regime associated with open vegetation during stadials including Heinrich events, and high fire regime associated with open forest during interstadials. This supports a regional climatic control on fire regime for western Europe through fuel availability for the last glacial period. Additionally, each of Heinrich events 6, 5 and 4 is characterised by three episodes of fire regime, with a high regime bracketed by lower fire regime episodes, related to vegetational succession and complex environmental condition changes.

scholarly journals Mismatch between the depth habitat of planktonic foraminifera and the calibration depth of SST transfer functions may bias reconstructions

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 4075-4103 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Telford ◽  
C. Li ◽  
M. Kucera
Keyword(s):  
Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
Climate Sensitivity ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Thermal Structure ◽  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
The Last Glacial

Abstract. We demonstrate that the temperature signal in the planktonic foraminifera assemblage data from the North Atlantic typically does not originate from near surface waters and argue that this has the potential to bias sea surface temperature reconstructions using transfer functions calibrated against near surface temperatures if the thermal structure of the upper few hundred metres of ocean changes over time. CMIP5 climate models indicate that ocean thermal structure in the N Atlantic changed between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the pre-industrial (PI), with some regions, mainly in the tropics, of the LGM ocean lacking good thermal analogues in the PI. Transfer functions calibrated against different depths reconstruct a marked subsurface cooling in the tropical Atlantic during the last glacial, in contrast to previous studies that reconstructed only a modest cooling. These possible biases in temperatures reconstructions may affect estimates of climate sensitivity based on the difference between LGM and pre-industrial climate. Quantifying these biases has the potential to alter our understanding of Last Glacial Maximum climate and improve estimates of climate sensitivity.

scholarly journals Assessment of sea surface temperature changes in the Gulf of Cadiz during the last 30 ka: implications for glacial changes in the regional hydrography

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 2295-2316 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Penaud ◽  
F. Eynaud ◽  
A. Voelker ◽  
M. Kageyama ◽  
F. Marret ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Distinct Species ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Ekman Transport ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Gulf Of Cadiz ◽  
Last Glacial Period ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Gulf Of Cádiz ◽  
The Last Glacial

Abstract. New dinocyst analyses were conducted on core MD99-2339 retrieved from the central Gulf of Cadiz. Dinocyst and foraminiferal assemblages from this core are combined with existing data off SW Portugal and NW Morocco to investigate past hydrological and primary productivity regimes in the subtropical NE Atlantic Ocean over the last 30 ka. Our results have revealed highest upwelling intensity during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS 1) and the Younger Dryas and weaker upwelling cells during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and HS 2, off the SW Iberian and NW Moroccan margins. Similar assemblages between the Gulf of Cadiz and the NW Moroccan margin, and distinct species off Portugal, were observed during the cold climatic extremes that punctuated the last 30 ka. This pattern has been linked to the occurrence of a hydrological structure between SW Iberia and Cadiz during the last glacial period, perhaps similar to the modern Azores Front. This front was probably responsible locally for heterotrophic dinocysts found in the Gulf of Cadiz during the last glacial period, even if this sector is not conductive to upwelling phenomena by Ekman transport. Regional reconstructions of paleo-sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) using dinocyst and foraminiferal transfer functions, as well as alkenones, are also discussed and depict coherent scenarios over the last 30 ka. Seasonal reconstructions of LGM SSTs obtained with this multi-proxy panel are discussed jointly with model outputs in order to contribute to ongoing efforts in model-data comparison.

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