1. Deglacial changes in the strength of deep southern component water and sediment supply at the Argentine continental margin
- Author
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Ruediger Henrich, Grit Warratz, Hendrik Lantzsch, Gerhard Kuhn, Ines Voigt, and Cristiano Mazur Chiessi
- Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Terrigenous sediment ,Paleontology ,Last Glacial Maximum ,Contourite ,15. Life on land ,010502 geochemistry & geophysics ,Oceanography ,01 natural sciences ,Antarctic Bottom Water ,Continental margin ,13. Climate action ,Circumpolar deep water ,Interglacial ,14. Life underwater ,Glacial period ,Geology ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
The deep southern component water (SCW), comprising Lower Circumpolar Deep Water (LCDW) and Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), is a major component of the global oceanic circulation. It has been suggested that the deep Atlantic water mass structure changed significantly during the last glacial/interglacial cycle. However, deep SCW source-proximal records remain sparse. Here we present three coherent deep SCW paleocurrent records from the deep Argentine continental margin shedding light on deep water circulation and deep SCW flow strength in the Southwest Atlantic since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Based on increased sortable silt values, we propose enhanced deep SCW flow strength from 14 to 10 cal ka B.P. relative to the early deglacial/LGM and the Holocene. We propose a direct influence of deep northern component water (NCW) on deep SCW flow strength due to vertical narrowing of deep SCW spreading, concurrent with a migration of the high-energetic LCDW/AABW interface occupying our core sites. We suggest a shoaled NCW until 13 cal ka B.P., thereby providing space for deep SCW spreading that resulted in reduced carbonate preservation at our core sites. Increased carbonate content from 13 cal ka B.P. indicates that the NCW expanded changing deep water properties at our core sites in the deep Southwest Atlantic. However, southern sourced terrigenous sediments continued to be deposited at our core sites, suggesting that deep SCW flow was uninterrupted along the Argentine continental margin since the LGM.
- Published
- 2017
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