Nature 327, 477 - 482 (11 June 1987); doi:10.1038/327477a0

Variations in mode of formation and temperature of oceanic deep waters over the past 125,000 years

L. D. Labeyrie^*, J. C. Duplessy^* & P. L. Blanc^†

^* Centre des Faibles Radioactivites, Laboratoire Mixte CNRS/CEA Pare du CNRS 91190 Gif/Yvette, France
^† CEA/IPSN/DPT CEN/FAR BP no. 6-92265 Fontenay aux Roses Cedex, France

Marked changes in the deep-water temperature of the different oceanic basins during the past 125 kyr are revealed by a detailed comparison of the oxygen isotopic composition ofbenthicforaminiferafrom sediment cores taken from the Norwegian Sea, and the Pacific, Atlantic and Southern oceans. The last interglacial deep-water temperatures were similar to the modern ones. At the 5e/5d transition, around 115 kyr BP, the deep-water temperatures dropped below approximately 0 °C in the Pacific and southern Indian oceans. In the Atlantic Ocean, the deep-water temperature dropped in 2 successive steps at ~115 and 75ky BP. The global ocean deep-water temperatures were in the 0 to -1 °C range for the whole of the last ice age (isotope stages 4–2).

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