Biogenic opal production changes during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition in the Bering Sea (IODP Expedition 323 Site U1343)

Biogenic opal content and mass accumulation rate (MAR) at IODP Expedition 323 Site U1343 were found to fluctuate consistently, generally being high under warm conditions and low under cold conditions during the last 2.4 Ma. Continuous wavelet transform analysis of the normalized biogenic opal content indicates that export production in the Bering Sea varied predominantly at 41-ka periodicity before 1.25 Ma, and shifted to 100-ka periodicity at the onset of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT; 1.25–0.7 Ma). The 100-ka cycles dominated until the Holocene. Export production in the Bering Sea decreased markedly in the Bering Sea two times during the MPT: the first occurred at the beginning of the MPT (1.25 Ma) and the second in the middle of the MPT (0.9 Ma). These decreases coincided with both increases in the relative abundance of sea-ice diatoms and decreases in the warm-water diatom species Neodenticula seminae, indicating that reductions in export production in the Bering Sea during the MPT were associated with climate cooling. Decreases in export production in the Bering Sea during the MPT were most likely associated with the increased influence of polar/Arctic domains on the high-latitude North Pacific.     

白令海冰间湖的数值模拟及影响模拟准确度的关键因素

冬季在北白令海陆架区域频繁地出现潜热冰间湖,对当地的生态系统和北极盐跃层贡献很大.将CICE海冰模式应用到该区域,采用高分辨率(6.37 km)网格,模拟2002年11月至2003年4月的海冰变化过程,模拟的海冰总面积和海冰密集度与AMSR-E/Aqua卫星遥感结果吻合很好,其中两者日平均海冰总面积在模拟期间的相关系数达到0.97.模拟结果表明,东北风将海冰向南输运在东西走向的海岸南部形成冰间湖,反映了潜热冰间湖形成和演化的动力过程.对卫星观测数据,将海冰密集度<75%作为冰间湖的判据;而对数值模拟结果,确定海冰密集度<70%为冰间湖的判据.据此讨论白令海4个区域的冰间湖形成过程,与卫星数据进行比较,大部分冰间湖得到很好的模拟.深入讨论了影响冰间湖模拟准确度的主要因素,认为选用恰当的阈值、提高气象强迫场的空间和时间分辨率有助于提高模拟效果.对部分海域的冰间湖模拟效果不佳,需要发展冰海耦合模式才能最终解决.     

Planktonic foraminifers in the southern Bering Sea: Changes in composition and productivity during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene

Taxonomic composition and distribution of planktonic foraminifers are studied in section of Core GC-11 that penetrated through Upper Quaternary sediments of the Bowers Ridge western slope, the southern Bering Sea. As is shown, structure of foraminiferal assemblage and productivity have varied substantially during the last 32000 calendar years in response to changes in surface water temperatures and water mass circulation in the northern part of the Pacific, the Bering Sea included. The productivity was maximal during deglaciation epoch, being notably lower in the Holocene and minimal at the glaciation time.     

白令海北部陆坡100ka来的古海洋学记录及海冰的扩张历史

白令海北部陆坡B2-9柱状样中生源组分的研究显示, 自MIS5.3期以来表层生产力指标的粗组分和蛋白石含量呈阶梯状增加, 反映表层生产力阶段式的增长.全新世表层生产力达到最高, 并且MIS3.2~2期高, 比MIS5.3~3.3期最低.高有机碳含量对应于高C/N比值, 显示有机碳混合来源, 不能作为表层生产力的指标.MIS5.1, 3.3~3.2期和全新世高的有机碳含量和C/N比值反映间冰期陆源有机物质输入量的增加.MIS5.3期至中全新世, 不断增加的陆源砂级和粉砂级颗粒组分说明随着气候的逐渐变冷, 陆架海冰在不断扩张.伐冰碎屑和碳屑颗粒冰期、间冰段和末次冰消期升高, 而间冰期降低, 反映冰期白令海陆架海冰扩张和间冰期海冰消融的过程.冰期海冰扩张与北美大陆气候的相互关联, 揭示了晚第四纪冰期旋回中白令海海冰扩张及其对全球气候变化的响应.      

Stable Isotope and Lithologic Evidence of Late-Glacial and Holocene Oceanography of the Northwestern Pacific and Its Marginal Seas

Stable isotopes, geochemical, lithological, and micropaleontological results from cores from the far northwest (FNW) Pacific and the Okhotsk and Bering seas are used to reconstruct the regional environment for the last glaciation, the deglacial transition, and the Holocene. δ¹⁸O records of planktonic foraminifera of the region show two “light” shifts during deglacial time, provoked by the freshening of the surface water and climate warming. These north Pacific terminal events (T1ANP and T1BNP) with ages of 12,500 and 9300 yr B.P., respectively, occur almost simultaneously with two episodes of accelerated glacier melting around the North Atlantic. Along with the isotopic shifts, the CaCO₃content in regional sediments increased abruptly (1A and 1B carbonate peaks), probably due to changes of productivity and pore water chemistry of surface sediments. Organic matter and opal concentration increased during the transition (between T1ANP and T1BNP events) in the sediments of the FNW Pacific and the southern part of the Bering Sea and opal content increased in the Holocene in the Bering and Okhotsk Seas. δ¹³C records of cores from the Okhotsk and Bering seas and the FNW Pacific do not contradict the hypothesis of increased intermediate water formation in the region during glaciation. During deglaciation, accumulation of the coarse terrigenous component decreased in sediments of the Bering Sea and the FNW Pacific before the T1ANP event, probably as a result of rising sea level and opening of the Bering Strait.     

白令海楚科奇海的海冰范围变化特征

白令海和楚科奇海位于北极太平洋一侧的海冰外缘线附近,具有较强烈的气冰海相互作用.采用滑动t检验和小波分析方法对白令海和楚科奇海1953—2004年海冰范围的年际变化、年代际变化和总体趋势变化进行分析.结果表明:20世纪70年代后期,海冰范围在白令海存在显著的均值突变现象,而楚科奇海在对应阶段则表现为更明显的变频现象;在突变点前后两个时段里,阿留申低压中心低压加强、核心位置偏移以及对应风场分布的变化是导致白令海海冰范围明显缩小的主要动力原因.楚科奇海海冰范围的年际变化中存在由低频向高频变化的现象,该现象除了在局地气温变化中存在之外,在北冰洋区域风涡度、波弗特海纬向风、东西伯利亚海经向风等动力因素中也有所体现.因此,除热力因素外,动力因素引起的海冰的平流与该变频现象也存在一定的联系.     

Late Pleistocene paleo-oceanography of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea: Benthic foraminiferal evidence

Fluctuations in benthic foraminiferal faunas over the last 130,000 yr in four piston cores from the Norwegian Sea are correlated with the standard worldwide oxygen-isotope stratigraphy. One species, Cibicides wuellerstorfi, dominates in the Holocene section of each core, but alternates downcore with Oridorsalis tener, a species dominant today only in the deepest part of the basin. O. tener is the most abundant species throughout the entire basin during periods of particularly cold climate when the Norwegian Sea presumably was ice covered year round and surface productivity lowered. Portions of isotope Stages 6, 3, and 2 are barren of benthic foraminifera; this is probably due to lowered benthic productivity, perhaps combined with dilution by ice-rafted sediment; there is no evidence that the Norwegian Sea became azoic. The Holocene and Substage 5e (the last interglacial) are similar faunally. This similarity, combined with other evidence, supports the presumption that the Norwegian Sea was a source of dense overflows into the North Atlantic during Substage 5e as it is today. Oxygen-isotope analyses of benthic foraminifera indicate that Norwegian Sea bottom waters warmer than they are today from Substage 5d to Stage 2, with the possible exception of Substage 5a. These data show that the glacial Norwegian Sea was not a sink for dense surface water, as it is now, and thus it was not a source of deep-water overflows. The benthic foraminiferal populations of the deep Norwegian Sea seem at least as responsive to near-surface conditions, such as sea-ice cover, as they are to fluctuations in the hydrography of the deep water. Benthic foraminiferal evidence from the Norwegian Sea is insufficient in itself to establish whether or not the basin was a source of overflows into the North Atlantic at any time between the Substage 5e/5d boundary at 115,000 yr B.P. and the Holocene.     

The Younger Dryas and the Sea of Ancient Ice

We propose that prior to the Younger Dryas period, the Arctic Ocean supported extremely thick multi-year fast ice overlain by superimposed ice and firn. We re-introduce the historical term paleocrystic ice to describe this. The ice was independent of continental (glacier) ice and formed a massive floating body trapped within the almost closed Arctic Basin, when sea-level was lower during the last glacial maximum. As sea-level rose and the Barents Sea Shelf became deglaciated, the volume of warm Atlantic water entering the Arctic Ocean increased, as did the corresponding egress, driving the paleocrystic ice towards Fram Strait. New evidence shows that Bering Strait was resubmerged around the same time, providing further dynamical forcing of the ice as the Transpolar Drift became established. Additional freshwater entered the Arctic Basin from Siberia and North America, from proglacial lakes and meltwater derived from the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Collectively, these forces drove large volumes of thick paleocrystic ice and relatively fresh water from the Arctic Ocean into the Greenland Sea, shutting down deepwater formation and creating conditions conducive for extensive sea-ice to form and persist as far south as 60°N. We propose that the forcing responsible for the Younger Dryas cold episode was thus the result of extremely thick sea-ice being driven from the Arctic Ocean, dampening or shutting off the thermohaline circulation, as sea-level rose and Atlantic and Pacific waters entered the Arctic Basin. This hypothesis focuses attention on the potential role of Arctic sea-ice in causing the Younger Dryas episode, but does not preclude other factors that may also have played a role.     

Last glacial–interglacial sea-ice cover in the SW Atlantic and its potential role in global deglaciation

Sea-ice growth and decay in Antarctica is one of the biggest seasonal changes on Earth, expanding ice cover from 4 × 10⁶ km² to a maximum of 19 × 10⁶ km² during the austral winter. Analyses of six marine sediment cores from the Scotia Sea, SW Atlantic, yield records of sea-ice migration across the basin since the Lateglacial. The cores span nearly ten degrees of latitude from the modern seasonal sea-ice zone to the modern Polar Front. Surface sediments in the cores comprise predominantly diatomaceous oozes and muddy diatom oozes that reflect Holocene conditions. The cores exhibit similar down-core stratigraphies with decreasing diatom concentrations and increasing magnetic susceptibility from modern through to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Sediments in all cores contain sea-ice diatoms that preserve a signal of changing sea-ice cover and permit reconstruction of past sea-ice dynamics. The sea-ice records presented here are the first to document the position of both the summer and winter sea-ice cover at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the Scotia Sea. Comparison of the LGM and Holocene sea-ice conditions shows that the average winter sea-ice extent was at least 5° further north at the LGM. Average summer sea-ice extent was south of the most southerly core site at the LGM, and suggests that sea-ice expanded from approximately ～61°S to ～52°S each season. Our data also suggest that the average summer sea-ice position at the LGM was not the maximum extent of summer sea-ice during the last glacial. Instead, the sediments contain evidence of a pre-LGM maximum extent of summer sea-ice between ～30 ka and 22 ka that extended to ～59°S, close to the modern average winter sea-ice limit. Based on our reconstruction we propose that the timing of the maximum extent of summer sea-ice and subsequent retreat by 22 ka, could be insolation controlled and that the strong links between sea-ice and bottom water formation provide a potential mechanism by which Southern Hemisphere regional sea-ice dynamics at the LGM could have a global impact and promote deglaciation.     

白令海与西北冰洋表层沉积物中四醚膜类脂物研究及其生态和环境指示意义

通过对中国第3次和第4次北极考察在白令海和西北冰洋采集的65个表层样沉积物中生物标记物四醚膜类脂物(GDGTs)的研究,发现西北冰洋表层沉积物中类异戊二烯和支链GDGTs的浓度分布大致以楚科奇海和波弗特海的陆坡为界线,呈现南高北低的特征,这一特征主要与水体生产力和陆源有机质的输入量有关.基于GDGTs的陆源输入指数BIT显示,从楚科奇海北部到高纬度区的阿尔法脊,陆源有机质的相对比例明显增加,与有机碳稳定同位素等结果一致,表明BIT可以用来指示北极陆源有机质输入量的变化.应用前人TEXL86-SST方程估算的研究区表面海水温度SST与现代年均SST和夏季平均SST的相关性较差,原因可能与陆源输入的类异戊二烯GDGTs干扰以及低的古菌生产力有关.从季节性海冰覆盖区到永久性海冰覆盖区,基于支链GDGTs的环化指数CBT明显升高,可能反映了CBT对海冰覆盖状况的响应,但其响应机制还不清楚.基于支链GDGTs的环化指数CBT和甲基化指数MBT估算的北极陆地年均大气温度和土壤pH差异较大,可能是由表层沉积物的来源复杂以及混合作用造成的.     

国际综合大洋钻探计划IODP323白令海航次介绍

国际综合大洋钻探计划IODP323航次于2009年7月6日开始至9月4日结束在白令海实施.该航次的主要科学目标是通过钻取白令海的海底沉积物岩心样品,获得高纬度边缘海的较长时间尺度沉积序列,用于研究该海区上新世-更新世的从千年尺度到米兰科维奇尺度气候变化及其与太平洋和北冰洋的关联.经历近2个月的海上钻探与研究工作,在7个井位上共钻取5 741 m岩芯,获得上新世(近5 Ma)以来的不同位置岩芯样品,并取得微体古生物与沉积学等分析测试的初步结果.     

The variations of stable carbon isotope ratio of land plant-derived n-alkanes in deep-sea sediments from the Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean during the last 250,000 years

Two piston cores, one located far from the continents (The North Pacific Ocean: ES core), and another located comparatively closer to the continents (The Bering Sea: BOW-8a core) were investigated to reconstruct environmental changes on source land areas. The results show significant contribution of terrestrial organic matter to sediments in both cores. The δ¹³C values of n-C₂₇, n-C₂₉, and n-C₃₁ alkanes in sediments from the North Pacific ES core show significant glacial to interglacial variation whereas those from the Bering Sea core do not. Variations of δ¹³C values of land plant n-alkanes are related to the environmental or vegetational changes in the source land areas. Environmental changes, especially, aridity, rainfall, and pCO₂ during glacial/interglacial transitional periods can affect vegetation, and therefore C₃ / C₄ plant ratios, resulting in δ¹³C changes in the preserved land plant biomarkers. Maximum values of δ¹³C as well as maximum average chain length values of long chain n-alkanes in the ES core occur mostly at the interglacial to glacial transition zones reflecting a time lag related to incorporation of living organic matter into soil and transportation into ocean basins via wind and/or ability of C₄ plants to adapt for a longer period before being replaced by C₃ plants when subjected to gradual climatic changes. Irregular variations with no clear glacial to interglacial trends in the BOW-8a core may result from complex mixture of aerosols from westerly winds and riverine organic matter from the Bering Sea catchments. In addition, terrestrial organic matter entering the Bering Sea could originate from multiple pathways including eolian, riverine, and ice rafted debris, and possibly be disturbed by turbidity and other local currents which can induce re-suspension and re-sedimentation causing an obliterated time relation in the Bering Sea biomarker records.     

白令海表层沉积物中硅质生物的变化及其环境控制因素

中国首次北极科学考察在白令海采取了12个表层沉积物样品, 其中对硅质生物和陆源碎屑的详细研究发现, 它们主要由硅藻、放射虫和海绵骨针组成.其中, 硅藻在样品中的丰度均占绝对优势, 高出放射虫和海绵骨针一个数量级.它们与环境控制因素关系的分析表明, 硅藻、放射虫和海绵骨针丰度的高低及其保存程度与深度、温度、盐度和受大规模季节性气候变化控制的表层海水的高营养和高生产力, 以及陆源物质输入的变化密切相关.这一研究结果对白令海第四纪的古气候与古海洋学研究具有十分重要的意义.      

Late Holocene variations in Arctic shelf hydrology and sea-ice regime: evidence from north of the Lena Delta

Diatom assemblage studies are used to interpret past changes in river runoff (salinity) and sea-ice regime in the vicinity of the vast Lena River delta, southern Laptev Sea shelf. On the basis of their distribution in surface sediments, the shelf region outside the strong influence of riverine waters is characterized by a dominance in sea-ice diatoms and other marine species. Their numbers increase steeply (>20%) within the area of drifting pack ice. In contrast, the marginal zone of the delta, where exceedingly low salinities prevail, is marked by freshwater diatoms showing values higher than 70%. Using the environmental information from the surface sediments, the downcore distribution patterns of the main ecological groups of diatoms were investigated on a sediment core that covers the past 2800 cal. years BP. Although the freshwater group indicates some temporal variations in salinities, the study site north of the Lena River delta remained under a dominantly riverine influence for most of the three recognized phases. In contrast, the relative abundance of sea-ice species gives evidence that pack-ice conditions were more severe during the oldest phase (older than ~2700 cal. years BP). The most significant changes are observed in the uppermost core section (younger than ~300 cal. years BP) when the relative abundance of freshwater diatoms decreases from 80% down to below 20%. This dramatic decrease is interpreted as a major shift from a more northward-directed to the modern, dominantly eastern outflow pattern. Because the dispersal and fate of riverine waters and its role on the ice regime as well as on water mass properties is a central issue in understanding short- and longer-term climatic changes in the Arctic and beyond, it needs to be tested using more cores if this most recent change in outflow pattern from the delta is connected to climate change or simply a result of channel migration within the delta.     

Late Quaternary vegetation and climate history of the central Bering land bridge from St. Michael Island, western Alaska

Pollen analysis of a sediment core from Zagoskin Lake on St. Michael Island, northeast Bering Sea, provides a history of vegetation and climate for the central Bering land bridge and adjacent western Alaska for the past ≥30,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. During the late middle Wisconsin interstadial (≥30,000-26,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) vegetation was dominated by graminoid-herb tundra with willows (Salix) and minor dwarf birch (Betula nana) and Ericales. During the late Wisconsin glacial interval (26,000-15,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) vegetation was graminoid-herb tundra with willows, but with fewer dwarf birch and Ericales, and more herb types associated with dry habitats and disturbed soils. Grasses (Poaceae) dominated during the peak of this glacial interval. Graminoid-herb tundra suggests that central Beringia had a cold, arid climate from ≥30,000 to 15,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Between 15,000 and 13,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., birch shrub-Ericales-sedge-moss tundra began to spread rapidly across the land bridge and Alaska. This major vegetation change suggests moister, warmer summer climates and deeper winter snows. A brief invasion of Populus (poplar, aspen) occurred ca.11,000-9500 ¹⁴C yr B.P., overlapping with the Younger Dryas interval of dry, cooler(?) climate. During the latest Wisconsin to middle Holocene the Bering land bridge was flooded by rising seas. Alder shrubs (Alnus crispa) colonized the St. Michael Island area ca. 8000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Boreal forests dominated by spruce (Picea) spread from interior Alaska into the eastern Norton Sound area in middle Holocene time, but have not spread as far west as St. Michael Island.     

A climate-related oxidizing event in deep-sea sediment from the Bering Sea

Many cores from the deep basins of the Bering Sea have a thin oxidized zone within otherwise reduced sediment. This oxidized zone began to form about 6000 yr ago and represents an interval of about 3200 yr. Mineralogically, the oxidized and reduced sediments are similar, but chemically they differ. Concentrations of Fe and C are lower, and concentrations of Mn, Ba, Co, Mo, and Ni are higher in the oxidized than in the reduced sediment. Mn is enriched about 10-fold in the oxidized zone relative to its concentration in the reduced sediment, Mo about threefold, and Ba, Co, and Ni about twofold. These data suggest that the oxidized zone developed diagenetically as the result of the balance between the flux of organic matter and the available dissolved oxygen in bottom and interstitial waters.We propose that the Bering Sea was substantially ice covered when global glacial conditions prevailed. during the transition to global interglacial conditions, seasonal meltwater from thawing sea ice formed a lens of fresh water that decreased organic productivity. During the winter seasons, however, sea ice reformed and caused downwelling of dense, oxygen-rich waters to recharge bottom waters. The combination of lower organic productivity and more oxygen-rich bottom water allowed oxidized sediment to accumulate. Once full interglacial conditions were established, the volume of sea ice produced was insufficient to affect either productivity or the supply of dissolved oxygen and so bottom conditions again became reducing.Similar events probably occurred during the onset of global glacial conditions, and similar oxidized layers probably formed at these times. Such oxidized zones are highly unstable, however, in a reducing environment and, once buried beyond the influence of bacterial and infaunal activities, are depleted of their available oxygen and converted to reduced sediment.     

Biomarker records of phytoplankton productivity and community structure changes in the Japan Sea over the last 166 kyr

Glacial-interglacial sea level changes have caused drastic variations in the surface hydrography, ventilation and ecosystem structure in the Japan Sea. Previous reconstructions using microfossils and geochemical proxies suggested decreased productivity and a more calcareous plankton community during glacial periods. However, the inferred community structure change is not consistent with significantly lower salinity in the Japan Sea during the glacials, which would have had a deleterious effect on calcareous plankton growth. Here, biomarker records of ODP Site 797 are generated to further evaluate phytoplankton productivity and community structure changes in the Japan Sea over the last 166 kyr. Although the contents of the phytoplankton biomarkers changed by two to three orders of magnitude, there were no clear glacial-interglacial patterns as sediment biomarker contents reflected the combined effect of production and water column degradation. The collective assessments of our biomarker records and published records support previous conclusions of decreased productivity in the Japan Sea during the glacials. However, a community structure proxy based on the alkenone/brassicasterol ratio reveals a shift from a diatom-dominated community during the glacials to a coccolithophorid-dominated community during the interglacials, mainly as a result of surface salinity variations in the Japan Sea controlled by sea-level changes. Previous community structure reconstruction using biogenic carbonate/silica ratio could have been complicated by the different environmental factors governing silica and CaCO₃ dissolution in the Japan Sea.     

Synoptic forcing of wave states in the southeast Chukchi Sea, Alaska, at an offshore location

A bottom-mounted Recording Doppler Current Profiler was placed at an offshore location (depth of 34 m) in the southeast Chukchi Sea, Alaska, from July through December 2007 (UTC) with the objective of linking observed wave activity—wind-sea and swells—to their synoptic drivers. A total of 47 intervals of elevated wave state were recorded: 29 exceeding 1 m significant wave height (SWH), 16 exceeding 2 m SWH, and 3 m exceeded on two occasions; during one of those, a SWH of 4 m was observed. Detailed analysis of the two large events, including comparison with high-resolution reanalysis wind data (North America Regional Reanalysis), showed wave direction from the east, varied about 15° to the north (counterclockwise) from the wind direction, and current flow in the opposite direction (from the west). This is thought to be the influence of a strong “wind-sea” presence. Regarding classic wave limitations, although the SE Chukchi Sea is a large embayment bordered by land to the east, fetch limitations from the northeast and southeast did not appear to be a constraint for the wind speeds indicated by reanalysis. These two events appeared to be driven by winds associated with cyclonic systems that moved into the eastern Bering Sea and stalled. Examination of smaller waves associated with these events suggested that waves of 1.5 m SWH or less are likely part of another regime and can either be swell or wind-sea, moving in from the open Chukchi Sea to the northwest or through the Bering Strait to the south.     

Causes of interannual variability in the sea ice cover of the Eastern Bering Sea

It has been shown that large-scale weather patterns in both the tropical South Pacific (El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, events) and the North Pacific (Pacific-North American, or PNA, patterns) have strong teleconnection effects on the air, ice, and ocean environments of the Bering Sea. This signal apparently comes via the atmosphere and not the ocean. The connection between variability of the Bering Sea and the ENSO and PNA appears to be the winter position of the Aleutian Low. Interannual variability in air temperatures, ice cover, and surface winds in the Bering Sea generally are in phase with each other, whereas sea-surface temperatures (SST) tend to lag these variables by 1–3 months. These Bering Sea time-series are significantly correlated with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) time-series (an indicator of ENSO events) when the Bering sea data are lagged behind the SOI for up to 18 months. The correlations suggest that warming in the Bering Sea follows negative anomalies in the SOI (i.e., El Niño events). Cooling in the Bering Sea tends to follow positive anomalies (i.e., precursors of El Niños) in the SOI. Maximal correlations for the PNA also lag the SOI by a mouth or two.Analyses of variance indicate that the SOI can explain 30–40% of the variability in the Bering Sea. Stepwise multiple regressions can explain up to 54% of the variation in air temperatures, up to 39% of the variation in sea ice cover, and up to 46% of the variation in SST in the Bering Sea. PNA and SOI were significant variables only in the equation for air temperatures, indicating a close relationship between them and the atmosphere in the Bering Sea and suggesting that energy is transmitted to the water and ice via the atmosphere. The three variables airtemps, ice, and SST were significant each time they were used as independent variables, indicating a rapid and strong feedback relationship among them.Three ENSO events have occurred since the mid-1970s, but none have been typical. There have been either two positive SOI anomalies preceding an El Niño or there have been none preceding an El Niño. When there has been a positive anomaly, ice cover has been above normal, but neither a positive anomaly nor above-normal ice has occurred in the past two ENSO events. An ice retreat has occurred any time there has been an ENSO event, except in the case of the great El Niño of 1982–1983; the anomalous position of the Aleutian Low at that time explains the lack of response of the ice. Finally, one ice retreat occurred that was unrelated to an ENSO event, but was related to a PNA event.     

Sea-Surface Temperatures and the History of Monsoon Upwelling in the Northwest Arabian Sea during the Last 500,000 Years

Arabian Sea sediments record changes in the upwelling system off Arabia, which is driven by the monsoon circulation system over the NW Indian Ocean. In accordance with climate models, and differing from other large upwelling areas of the tropical ocean, a 500,000-yr record of productivity at ODP Site 723 shows consistently stronger upwelling during interglaciations than during glaciations. Sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) reconstructed from the alkenone unsaturation index (U^K′₃₇) are high (up to 27°C) during interglaciations and low (22-24°C) during glaciations, indicating a glacial-interglacial temperature change of >3°C in spite of the dampening effect of enhanced or weakened upwelling. The increased productivity is attributed to stronger monsoon winds during interglacial times relative to glacial times, whereas the difference in SSTs must be unrelated to upwelling and to the summer monsoon intensity. The winter (NE) monsoon was more effective in cooling the Arabian Sea during glaciations then it is now.