Description: The last glacial to interglacial transition was studied using down core records of stable isotopes in diatoms and foraminifera as well as surface water temperature, sea ice extent, and ice-rafted debris (IRD) concentrations from a piston core retrieved from the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Sea ice is the first variable to change during the last deglaciation, followed by nutrient proxies and sea surface temperature. This sequence of events is independent of the age model adopted for the core. The comparison of the marine records to Antarctic ice CO2 variation depends on the age model as 14C determinations cannot be obtained for the time interval of 29.5-14.5 ka. Assuming a constant sedimentation rate for this interval, our data suggest that sea ice and nutrient changes at about 19 ka B.P. lead the increase in atmospheric pCO2 by approximately 2000 years. Our diatom-based sea ice record is in phase with the sodium record of the Vostok ice core, which is related to sea ice cover and similarly leads the increase in atmospheric CO2. If gas exchange played a major role in determining glacial to interglacial CO2 variations, then a delay mechanism of a few thousand years is needed to explain the observed sequence of events. Otherwise, the main cause of atmospheric pCO2 change must be sought elsewhere, rather than in the Southern Ocean.

Description: Changes in Atlantic deep water circulation were reconstructed by comparing the benthic foraminiferal delta13C record at ODP Site 1090 in the South Atlantic with similar records from the North Atlantic (Sites 982, 607, 925, 929) and deep Pacific (Site 849) oceans. Important deep water circulation changes occurred in the early Pleistocene at 1.55 Myr and during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition at 0.9 Myr. At 1.55 Myr, glacial delta13C values in the Southern Ocean became significantly lower than those in the deep Pacific, establishing a pattern that persisted throughout the late Pleistocene. We propose that the lowering of delta13C values of Southern Component Water (SCW) at this time resulted from expansion of sea ice and reduced ventilation of deep water during glacial periods after marine isotope stage 52. Accompanying this change in Southern Ocean deep water circulation was enhanced interhemispheric coupling between the North and South Atlantic after 1.55 Myr. At ~0.9 Myr, the magnitude of glacial-to-interglacial variabilityin delta13C increased and shifted to a longer frequency (100 kyr) along with oceanic delta18O (ice volume). Calculation of percent Northern Component Water (NCW) using Site 1090 as the SCW end member yielded 20-30% less reduction of NCW during glacial periods of the late Pleistocene. Also, a trend toward reduced glacial suppression of NCW during the past 400 kyr is not evident. The apparent decoupling of ice volume and deep water circulation reported previously maybe an artifact of using a Pacific, rather than a Southern Ocean, carbon isotopic record to calculate past mixing ratios of NCW and SCW.

Description: While onboard ship during Leg 177, we used variations in sediment physical properties (mainly percent color reflectance) in conjunction with biomagnetostratigraphy to correlate among sites and predict the position of marine isotope stages (MISs) (e.g., see fig. F11 in Shipboard Scientific Party, 1999, p. 45). Our working assumption was that physical properties of Leg 177 sediments are controlled mainly by variations in carbonate content. Previous studies of Southern Ocean sediment cores have shown that carbonate concentrations are relatively high during interglacial stages and low during glacial stages at sites located within the Polar Frontal Zone (PFZ). Today, the PFZ marks a lithologic boundary in underlying sediment separating calcareous oozes to the north and silica-rich facies to the south (Hays et al., 1976). Although there is debate whether the position of the "physical" PFZ actually moved during glacial-interglacial cycles (Charles and Fairbanks, 1990; Matsumoto et al., 2001), the "biochemical" PFZ, as expressed by the CaCO3/opal boundary in sediments, certainly migrated north during glacials and south during interglacials. This gave rise to lithologic variations that are useful for stratigraphic correlation. At Leg 177 sites located north of the PFZ and at sublysoclinal depths, we expected the same pattern of carbonate variation because cores in the Atlantic basin are marked by increased carbonate dissolution during glacial periods and increased preservation during interglacials (Crowley, 1985).

Description: Coccolithophore assemblages at ODP Site 1089 in the southern Cape Basin (~41°S) were used to reconstruct surface-water conditions for the late Quaternary (Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 1-15) in a region of strong hydrographic gradients in the southeast Atlantic. Stratigraphic control was provided by oxygen isotope stratigraphy and calcareous nannofossil events that are thought to be synchronous over a broad range of latitudes. The greatest coccolith abundances occurred at glacial terminations and, to a lesser degree, during glacial stages. Conversely, coccolithophores were the least abundant during the transition between interglacial to glacial stages, when calcium carbonate dissolution was strong. With the exception of these intervals, coccolith preservation is moderate to good, allowing study of the assemblages. The total abundance of coccolithophores and calcium carbonate variations at Site 1089 result both from variations in dissolution and carbonate production. During terminations, for example, the greatest calcium carbonate concentrations occurred at the same time as a moderate-to-poor preservation of coccoliths and foraminifers. Carbonate production was relatively high during these intervals. However, during terminations IV and V, maxima in carbonate production in the ocean were linked to high-dissolution processes at Site 1089. This trend is not observed for terminations I, II and III [Hodell et al., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 192 (2001) 109-124, doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(01)00430-7]. The interval from MIS 9 to 13 is coincident with high abundances of highly calcified species such as Gephyrocapsa caribbeanica. Here we discuss the contribution of this ubiquitous species to the production of calcium carbonate and their paleoecological significance. Except for occasional coccolith-barren intervals during interglacial periods, subtropical coccolith species were present continuously at ODP Site 1089 during the late Pleistocene. This suggests that the Polar Front has been south of Site 1089 for the last 600 kyr.

Description: Visual counts of ice-rafted debris (IRD), foraminifera, and radiolaria were made for ~1500 samples in Site 1094 spanning the last four climatic cycles (marine isotope stages 1-11). Most, but not all, of the IRD variability is captured by whole-core physical properties including magnetic susceptibility and Q-ray attenuation bulk density. Glacial periods are marked by high IRD abundance and millennial-scale variability, which may reflect instability of ice shelves in the Weddell Sea region. Each interglacial period exhibits low IRD and high foraminiferal abundance during the early part of the interglacial, indicating relatively warm sea-surface temperatures and reduced influence of sea ice. IRD increases and foraminiferal abundances decrease during the latter part of each interglacial, indicating a return to more glacial-like conditions. Glacial terminations I and V are each characterized by a step-wise reduction in ice-rafting punctuated by a brief pulse in IRD delivery and reversal in delta18O. The coarse fraction of the sediment is dominated by ash and radiolaria, and the relative abundance of these components is remarkably similar to the concentration of Na+ in Vostok. Each of these variables is believed to be controlled mainly by sea-ice cover, thereby providing a means for sediment-ice core correlation.