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Stable Atlantic Deep Water Mass Sourcing on Glacial‐Interglacial Timescales
Author(s) -
Pöppelmeier Frerk,
Gutjahr Marcus,
Blaser Patrick,
Schulz Hartmut,
Süfke Finn,
Lippold Jörg
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2021gl092722
Subject(s) - north atlantic deep water , glacial period , oceanography , geology , authigenic , interglacial , water mass , sink (geography) , circumpolar deep water , provenance , climatology , thermohaline circulation , physical geography , paleontology , geography , sedimentary rock , cartography
Increased deep ocean carbon storage is often invoked as the major sink for lower atmospheric CO 2 concentrations during past ice ages. In order to improve the understanding of the changes in ocean dynamics facilitating such increased oceanic carbon storage, we assess the variability of deep water provenance in the Atlantic by reconstructing authigenic Nd isotopes from North Atlantic site U1313 over the past ∼100 kyr. Under consideration of these new constraints for the northern Nd isotope end‐member, we find only limited long‐term variations in the meridional and intra‐basin water‐mass gradients suggesting a prevalence of northern‐sourced water (NSW) throughout the past 100 kyr. Tentative results suggest that during the glacial period of Marine Isotope Stage 4 NSW proportions even increased by additional ∼15% in the equatorial and Northeast Atlantic, calling into question the notion that cold climates promote the expansion of southern‐sourced water.