ORCID
- Bailey, Ian: 0000-0002-6865-8306
Abstract
AbstractThe Southern Ocean paleoceanography provides key insights into how iron fertilization and oceanic productivity developed through Pleistocene ice-ages and their role in influencing the carbon cycle. We report a high-resolution record of dust deposition and ocean productivity for the Antarctic Zone, close to the main dust source, Patagonia. Our deep-ocean records cover the last 1.5 Ma, thus doubling that from Antarctic ice-cores. We find a 5 to 15-fold increase in dust deposition during glacials and a 2 to 5-fold increase in biogenic silica deposition, reflecting higher ocean productivity during interglacials. This antiphasing persisted throughout the last 25 glacial cycles. Dust deposition became more pronounced across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) in the Southern Hemisphere, with an abrupt shift suggesting more severe glaciations since ~0.9 Ma. Productivity was intermediate pre-MPT, lowest during the MPT and highest since 0.4 Ma. Generally, glacials experienced extended sea-ice cover, reduced bottom-water export and Weddell Gyre dynamics, which helped lower atmospheric CO2 levels.
DOI
10.1038/s41467-022-29642-5
Publication Date
2022-04-19
Publication Title
Nature Communications
Volume
13
Issue
1
ISSN
2041-1723
Embargo Period
2022-04-29
Organisational Unit
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Recommended Citation
Weber, M. E., Bailey, I., Hemming, S., Martos, Y., Reilly, B., Ronge, T., Brachfeld, S., Williams, T., Raymo, M., Belt, S., Smik, L., Vogel, H., Peck, V., Armbrecht, L., Cage, A., Cardillo, F., Du, Z., Fauth, G., Fogwill, C., Garcia, M., Garnsworthy, M., Glüder, A., Guitard, M., Gutjahr, M., Hernández-Almeida, I., Hoem, F., Hwang, J., Iizuka, M., Kato, Y., Kenlee, B., OConnell, S., Pérez, L., Seki, O., Stevens, L., Tauxe, L., Tripathi, S., Warnock, J., & Zheng, X. (2022) 'Antiphased dust deposition and productivity in the Antarctic Zone over 1.5 million years', Nature Communications, 13(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29642-5
