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Export of nutrient rich Northern Component Water preceded early Oligocene Antarctic glaciation

Nature Geoscience volume 11, pages 190–196 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

The onset of the North Atlantic Deep Water formation is thought to have coincided with Antarctic ice-sheet growth about 34 million years ago (Ma). However, this timing is debated, in part due to questions over the geochemical signature of the ancient Northern Component Water (NCW) formed in the deep North Atlantic. Here we present detailed geochemical records from North Atlantic sediment cores located close to sites of deep-water formation. We find that prior to 36 Ma, the northwestern Atlantic was stratified, with nutrient-rich, low-salinity bottom waters. This restricted basin transitioned into a conduit for NCW that began flowing southwards approximately one million years before the initial Antarctic glaciation. The probable trigger was tectonic adjustments in subarctic seas that enabled an increased exchange across the Greenland–Scotland Ridge. The increasing surface salinity and density strengthened the production of NCW. The late Eocene deep-water mass differed in its carbon isotopic signature from modern values as a result of the leakage of fossil carbon from the Arctic Ocean. Export of this nutrient-laden water provided a transient pulse of CO2 to the Earth system, which perhaps caused short-term warming, whereas the long-term effect of enhanced NCW formation was a greater northward heat transport that cooled Antarctica.

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Fig. 1: Site locations of the sections included in this study.
Fig. 2: New and published Atlantic benthic δ18O and δ13C (Cibicidoides adjusted (Methods)).
Fig. 3: Sites 647 and U1411 multiproxy data.
Fig. 4: Depth–latitude compilation of Atlantic benthic δ13C and δ18O during the late Eocene to early Oligocene, constructed using natural neighbour interpolation.

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Acknowledgements

Samples were provided by the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), which includes the predecessors the International Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). We thank J. Becker and M. Spencer for technical assistance with the stable isotopes, and H. Öste and E. Axelsson for preparing the core samples. H.K.C. was supported by a Royal Society Research Fellowship, Swedish Funding agency (VR) no. DNR 2008-2859 and the Bolin Centre for Climate Research, and T.vdF. by NERC Grants NE/I006257/1 and NE/L004607/1. K.K.S. acknowledges financial support from the Danish Council for Independent Research/Natural Sciences (DFF/FNU; Grant 11-107497).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Helen K. Coxall, Matt O’Regan, Agatha M. de Boer & Jan Backman

  2. Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Claire E. Huck & Tina van de Flierdt

  3. Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Claire E. Huck

  4. Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Matthew Huber

  5. Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA

    Matthew Huber

  6. School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Caroline H. Lear

  7. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Alba Legarda-Lisarri

  8. Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, GEUS, Copenhagen K, Denmark

    Kasia K. Sliwinska

  9. Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel, The Netherlands

    Kasia K. Sliwinska

  10. Earth & Planetary Sciences Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA

    James C. Zachos

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Contributions

H.K.C. and J.B. conceived the project. H.K.C. directed the research, generated the stable isotope data for Sites 112, 647 and U1411, compiled the proxy records and led writing of the paper. A.L.-L. produced the new Site 612 data and age model. C.H.L. conducted the trace metal analysis. C.E.H. produced and interpreted the Nd data with the help of T.vdF. M.O. produced the palaeogeographic map for Fig. 1 and conducted the subsidence modelling. K.K.S. helped produce the Site 647 age model. M.H. helped with the interpretative framework and produced the interpolated Atlantic depth isotopic transects and maps. J.C.Z. and A.M.d.B. helped interpret the data. All of the authors contributed to writing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Helen K. Coxall.

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Supplementary Data 1

Stable isotope data

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Trace-metal data and palaeotemperatures

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Coxall, H.K., Huck, C.E., Huber, M. et al. Export of nutrient rich Northern Component Water preceded early Oligocene Antarctic glaciation. Nature Geosci 11, 190–196 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0069-9

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