Seasonal variations of alkenones and U37 in the Chesapeake Bay water column

Alkenone unsaturation indices (U^K₃₇ and U^K′₃₇) have long been used as proxies for surface water temperature in the open ocean. Recent studies have suggested that in other marine environments, variables other than temperature may affect both the production of alkenones and the values of the indices. Here, we present the results of a reconnaissance field study in which alkenones were extracted from particulate matter filtered from the water column in Chesapeake Bay during 2000 and 2001. A multivariate analysis shows a strong positive correlation between U^K₃₇ (and U^K′₃₇) values and temperature, and a significant negative correlation between U^K₃₇ (and U^K′₃₇) values and nitrate concentrations. However, temperature and nitrate concentrations also co-vary significantly. The temperature vs. U^K₃₇ relationships (U^K₃₇=0.018 (T)−0.162, R²=0.84, U^K′₃₇=0.013 (T)−0.04, R²=0.80) have lower slopes than the open-ocean equations of Prahl et al. [1988. Further evaluation of long-chain alkenones as indicators of paleoceanographic conditions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 52, 2303–2310] and Müller et al. [1998. Calibration of the alkenone paleotemperature index U^K′₃₇ based on core-tops from the eastern South Atlantic and the global ocean (60°N–60°S). Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 62, 1757–1772], but are similar to the relationships found in controlled studies with elevated nutrient levels and higher nitrate:phosphate (N:P) ratios. This implies that high nutrient levels in Chesapeake Bay have either lowered the U^K₃₇ vs. temperature slope, or nutrient levels are the main controller of the U^K₃₇ index. In addition, particularly high abundances (>5% of total C₃₇ alkenones) of the tetra-unsaturated ketone, C_37:4, were found when water temperatures reached 25 °C or higher, thus posing further questions about the controls on alkenone production as well as the biochemical roles of alkenones.     

Mid-latitude Southern Indian Ocean response to Northern Hemisphere Heinrich events

The lack of temporal resolution and accurate chronology of Southern Ocean marine cores has hampered comparison of glacial millennial-scale oscillations between the Southern Ocean, Antarctic ice and other records from both hemispheres. In this study, glacial climate variability is investigated over the last 50 ka using a multi-proxy approach. A precise chrono-stratigraphy was developed on the high-sedimentation rate core MD94-103 (Indian Southern Ocean, 45°35′S 86°31′E, 3560 m water depth) by geomagnetic synchronization between the later core and NAPIS75, and ¹⁴C dates. High-resolution time-series of δ¹⁸O in planktonic foraminifera Globigerina bulloides and Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) estimated from the alkenone U^K′₃₇ index and foraminifera assemblages have been generated. Temporal evolution of the two temperature proxy records is notably different during the last glacial period. While foraminifera data indicate a consistent cooling towards the last glacial maximum, anomalous warm glacial alkenone temperatures suggest a strong advection of warm “detrital” alkenones by surface waters of the Agulhas current. Superimposed to this general trend, during Heinrich events, foraminiferal SSTs point to warmer surface waters, while concurrent alkenone SSTs exhibit apparent coolings probably caused by enhanced local alkenone production. By analogy to modern observations, possible influence of ENSO-like conditions on the subantarctic Southern Ocean SSTs is discussed.     

高压气相色谱法快速测定痕量长链烯酮

建立了高压气相色谱快速分析痕量长链烯酮的分析方法。选用快速分离色谱柱,对进样口压力、柱温箱程序升温速率进行优化,选择最佳的分析条件,使被测组分C37:2、C37:3和C37:4长链烯酮达到基线分离,仪器分析周期减少至40 min。方法精密度(RSD,n=13)各长链烯酮均小于4%,检出限为10 ng/mL。     

Alkenones and coccoliths in ice‐rafted debris during the Last Glacial Maximum in the North Atlantic: implications for the use of UK37′ as a sea surface temperature proxy

The U^K₃₇′ index has proven to be a robust proxy to estimate past sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over a range of time scales, but like any other proxy, it has uncertainties. For instance, in reconstructions of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the northern North Atlantic, U^K₃₇′ indicates higher temperatures than those derived from foraminiferal proxies. Here we evaluate whether such warm glacial estimates are caused by the advection of reworked alkenones in ice‐rafted debris (IRD) to deep‐sea sediments. We have quantified both coccolith assemblages and alkenones in sediments from glaciogenic debris flows in the continental margins of the northern North Atlantic, and from a deep‐sea core from the Reykjanes Ridge. Certain debris flow deposits in the North Atlantic were generated by the presence of massive ice‐sheets in the past, and their associated ice streams. Such deposits are composed of the same materials that were present in the IRD at the time they were generated. We conclude that ice rafting from some locations was a transport pathway to the deep sea floor of reworked alkenones and pre‐Quaternary coccolith species during glacial stages, but that not all of the IRD contained alkenones, even when reworked coccoliths were present. We speculate that the ratio of reworked coccoliths to alkenone concentration might be useful to infer whether significant reworked alkenone inputs from IRD did occur at a particular site in the glacial North Atlantic. We also observe that alkenones in some of the debris flows contain a colder signal than estimated for LGM sediments in the northern North Atlantic. This is also clear in the deep‐sea core studied where the warmest intervals do not correspond to the intervals with large inputs of reworked coccoliths or IRD. We conclude that any possible bias to U^K₃₇′ estimates associated with reworked alkenones is not necessarily towards higher values, and that the high SST anomalies for the LGM are unlikely to be the result of a bias caused by IRD inputs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

长链烯酮在西北大西洋重建全新世气候变化的研究进展

大量研究表明,长链烯酮不饱和度(UK37?指数)可用于重建过去的海面温度(sea surface tempera-ture,SST),然而是否存在其他因素导致实际温度与重建的SST之间存在差异,以及重建的温度是代表年均SST还是季节性温度都仍有争议.除了反映温度,在受季节性海冰影响或SST较低的区域,长链烯酮C37:4...     

Alkenones in Cretaceous black shales, Blake-Bahama Basin, western North Atlantic

We here report the discovery of unusual distributions of long-chain alkenones (C₃₇-C₄₂) in two Cretaceous black shales from the Blake-Bahama Basin, western North Atlantic. These sediments are Cenomanian (c. 95 Ma) and mid-Albian (c. 105 Ma) in age, thus significantly extending the geological range of these compounds. The precise source of these lipids is, as yet, unknown, although they may derive from an ancient ancestor of Emiliania huxleyi.     

长链烯酮化合物与生物化石

本文研究了南海北部３１孔岩芯样的长链烯酮化合物的分布与微体古生物（钙质超微化石和浮游有孔虫）的关系。烯酮化合物主要来自定鞭金藻的赫胥黎艾氏石Ｅｍｉｌｉａｎｉｓａｈｕｘｌｅｙｉ，其中Ｃ３７∶２Ｍｅ含量在３１％～７０％。应用Ｃ３７的不饱和比值（Ｕ３７ｋ）计算了南海３１孔柱状样的海水古温度，波动幅度在２３．２～２８．３℃之间，平均为２５．３℃，低于该海域海水实测年平均温度（２８．１℃）。Ｕ３７ｋ值的变化与浮游有孔虫壳体的氧同位素值分期有着对应的关系，亦可相应分成５期。     

东南极拉斯曼丘陵湖泊沉积生物标志物记录及其环境气候意义

东南极拉斯曼丘陵地区莫愁湖（69°22.3’ S,76°22.0’ E）沉积柱中的有机生物标志物记录了全新世中晚期该地区气候演变过程。不饱和长链烯酮在沉积柱111-76 cm （6450-5100 cal. yr. BP）和36-30 cm（3700-3500 cal. yr. BP）深度有检出,76 cm深度以上基本消失,表明该地区在5100 cal. yr. BP前后气候开始由冷转暖,冰川消融,陆壳抬升,相对海平面下降,同时大量的冰融水使湖泊逐渐淡化。沉积柱底部长链烯酮的检出阶段与东南极相对海平面较高时期相一致,而沉积柱36-30 cm（3700-3500 cal. yr. BP）深度不饱和长链烯酮的痕量检出则揭示了一个短暂的气候干冷,湖泊盐度升高的时期。沉积物中正构烷烃反映的当地气候变化所控制的湖生植物群落演变过程与上述过程基本一致。     

Planktonic Foraminiferal and Alkenone Records of the Last Deglaciation from the Eastern Arabian Sea

The oxygen isotope record of planktonic foraminifera from tropical core MD77194 (Eastern Arabian Sea) exhibits a clear two-step deglaciation with a brief δ¹⁸O transient event. In the tropics, this δ¹⁸O maximum could correspond to a cooling or to a change in the δ¹⁸O content of sea water. In this study, past sea-surface temperature (SST) and primary production (PP) are reconstructed from foraminiferal transfer functions and compared to values estimated from alkenone measurements. SST and PP records from both proxies indicate a 1.5–2.5°C deglacial warming, coupled with a PP decrease, and a 0.5–1°C cooling during the Younger Dryas (YD). A detailed comparison between independent micropaleontological and geochemical proxies helps us identify potential biases and thus strengthen the paleo-reconstructions.     

Palaeoclimatic signals recognized by chemometric treatment of molecular stratigraphic data

The high-resolution stratigraphy of various marker compounds has been studied, using GC, HPLC and GC-MS, in a 13 m gravity core recovered from the Kane Gap region, eastern equatorial Atlantic, which provides a record of the glacial/interglacial episodes over the last million years. Downhole variations in many presumed source-specific components are observed (e.g. in n-alkanes from terrigenous land plants and dinosterol from dinoflagellates), which may be due to perturbations or cyclicities resulting from climatic change. Fluctuations in the unsaturation of alkenones attributable to variations in water temperatures show correlations with the glacial/interglacial cycles recorded in the δ¹⁸O values for planktonic foraminifera, thereby providing a potential organic geochemical measure of past climates. These molecular abundance data can be linked to the palaeotemperature record, following computer treatments using principal component and spectral analyses. Molecular stratigraphy shows promise as a new chemostratigraphical tool where other means of stratigraphy fail, for example, through calcium carbonate dissolution.