Enhanced Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation supports the Last Glacial Inception

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a key feature of the climate system. However, its role during climate change is still poorly constrained particularly during an Interglacial to Glacial climate transition and the associated global cooling. We present here the first reconstruction of the evolution of the vertical structure of the rate of the AMOC from the Last Interglaciation to the subsequent glaciation (128,000–60,000 years ago) based on sedimentary (²³¹Pa/²³⁰Th) records. We show a deep AMOC during the interglacial warmth Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5.5 and a shallower glacial one during glacial MIS 4. The change between these two patterns occurred mostly during the glacial inception, i.e. the transition from MIS 5.5 to MIS 5.4. Our data show that AMOC was enhanced during this latter transition as a consequence of a large increase of the overturning rate of the Intermediate Waters, above 2500 m. We suggest that this AMOC pattern required a reinforced Gulf Stream-North Atlantic Current system that ultimately supported ice-sheet growth by providing heat and moisture to the Northern high latitudes. From MIS 5.4 to MIS 5.1, the AMOC was broadly continuous below 2000 m and supported periods of ice-sheet growth. As a result, a glacial AMOC is triggered at the beginning of MIS 4 due to the extension of ice-sheet and the subsequent reorganization of deep-water formation. This study highlights the role of intermediate waters as a major player during climate change.     

Dysaerobic conditions during Heinrich events 4 and 5: Evidence from phosphorus distribution in a North Atlantic deep-sea core

Reactive phosphorus undergoes diagenetic transformation once transferred into marine sediments. The degree of regeneration and redistribution of phosphorus depends on early diagenetic and environmental conditions, which may be linked to larger scale phenomena, such as bottom water circulation, water column ventilation, and organic carbon flux. Phosphorus phases of the <50-μm-sized fraction of deep-sea sediments from core SU 90-09 (North Atlantic, 43°31′N, 30°24′W, 3375 m below sea level) have been analyzed using a sequential extraction technique (SEDEX method) to reconstruct phosphorus geochemistry during Heinrich events 4 and 5. Comparison with Holocene samples from the same site indicates that postdeposition diagenetic transformation has not affected phosphorus distribution in the deep part of the sediments. Total and reactive phosphorus average 0.40 ± 0.04 mg/g and 0.30 ± 0.05 mg/g, respectively, and are comparable to values found in analog deep-sea environments in the North Atlantic. Detrital phosphorus, the phase linked to igneous- and metamorphic-derived material, sharply increases during Heinrich events and covaries with the ice-rafted debris record, whereas authigenic and Fe-bound phosphorus phases, both influenced by redox conditions, decrease or even disappear. These findings suggest that during the deposition of Heinrich layers (HLs), environmental parameters hampered the precipitation of these phases. Large freshwater discharges in relation to iceberg surges may have provoked a temporary stratification of the water column. Accordingly, dysaerobic conditions in the sediments may have fostered the loss of dissolved phosphorus from the sediments to the water column, in a direct and rapid response to the changed conditions. Decreasing trends in organic matter elemental ratios (total organic carbon/organic phosphorus) and Rock-Eval oxygen index values, along with the presence of partly authigenic dolomite and ankerite within HLs, also support this assumption.     

Enabling global exchange of groundwater data: GroundWaterML2 (GWML2)

GWML2 is an international standard for the online exchange of groundwater data that addresses the problem of data heterogeneity. This problem makes groundwater data hard to find and use because the data are diversely structured and fragmented into numerous data silos. Overcoming data heterogeneity requires a common data format; however, until the development of GWML2, an appropriate international standard has been lacking. GWML2 represents key hydrogeological entities such as aquifers and water wells, as well as related measurements and groundwater flows. It is developed and tested by an international consortium of groundwater data providers from North America, Europe, and Australasia, and facilitates many forms of data exchange, information representation, and the development of online web portals and tools.