DECIPHERING ANTARCTIC INTERMEDIATE WATER VARIABILITY DURING THE PLIO-PLEISTOCENE

Abstract:

Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) plays a fundamental role in the modern global thermohaline circulation because it is the coldwater route from the Southern Hemisphere to the North Atlantic Ocean replacing North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) (e.g. Oppo and Curry, 2012). Additionally, AAIW is also an important source water in (sub)tropical upwelling regions in the equatorial eastern Pacific and Benguela region (Kubota et al., 2014; Sarmiento et al., 2004). Deciphering AAIW variability through time is critical to understanding its role in global climate change (e.g. Santoso and England, 2004). Our study focuses on reconstructing AAIW during the warm Pliocene (~4 million years ago) and early Pleistocene. This time period marks the transition from warm Pliocene greenhouse conditions towards icehouse conditions, which most likely affected AAIW variability (Karas et al., 2011). To reconstruct changes in AAIW formation, northward extent and possible influence on (sub)tropical upwelling regions, we will use foraminiferal neodymium isotopes (εNd) and benthic Mg/Ca from South Atlantic Site 516 and Southwest Pacific Site 1125.