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Similar rates of modern and last-glacial ocean thermohaline circulation inferred from radiochemical data

Nature volume 379, pages 689–694 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

Today, the ocean thermohaline circulation transports half of the 231Pa produced by radioactive decay in the Atlantic Ocean water column to the Southern Ocean. This export respectively imparts low and high 231Pa/230Th ratios to the surface sediments of these oceans. Ocean sediments from the Last Glacial Maximum bear a similar isotopic fingerprint, implying that advection of North Atlantic Deep/Intermediate Water into the Circumpolar Deep Water of the Southern Ocean occurred at a similar—or slightly higher—rate during the last glacial period.

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Author notes

  1. Ein-Fen Yu

    Present address: Department of Earth Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, 88, sec 4. Ting-Chou Road, Taipei, 117, Taiwan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, USA

    Ein-Fen Yu, Roger Francois & Michael P. Bacon

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  2. Roger Francois
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  3. Michael P. Bacon
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Yu, EF., Francois, R. & Bacon, M. Similar rates of modern and last-glacial ocean thermohaline circulation inferred from radiochemical data. Nature 379, 689–694 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/379689a0

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