Description: Diatom assemblages preserved in 16 sediment cores recovered in the eastern Indian, Atlantic and Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean are used for the reconstruction of the variability of summer sea surface temperature (SSST) and sea ice concentration during the Last Interglacial (LIG) or Marine Isotope Stage 5 (MIS 5). The large coverage of the core sites allows for reconstructions on latitudinal and longitudinal transects across the Southern Ocean and thus for the comparison of the environmental signal evolution in different sedimentary basins of the Southern Ocean. Such information is crucial for the understanding of climate signal propagation in the Southern Ocean and on inter-hemispheric scale. The quantitative temperature and sea ice records are derived with newly established diatom-based transfer functions at millennial to centennial resolution. Stratigraphic age assignment relies on a combination of oxygen isotope stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, core-core correlation using physical, geochemical and microfossil abundance pattern together with a tuning of sediment core signals with climate records in Antarctic ice cores. All records display a rapid transition from glacial (MIS 6) to MIS 5 conditions to reach maximum temperatures in the latest MIS 6/MIS 5 transition (Termination II) and the early LIG attributed to MIS 5.5. The amplitude of the SSST change is up to 5◦C, with generally smaller values in the Pacific sector. During this period Southern Ocean temperature may exceed modern surface temperatures by up to 3◦C and the winter sea ice edge is located south of the modern ice edge. Higher resolution cores display short-term temperature rebounds during the Termination II warming. Such cold rebounds are not discerned in the ice core records. The Southern Ocean warming could be triggered by precessional changes influencing high latitude summer insolation and potentially be accelerated by feedback mechanisms such as the reduction of surface albedo (sea ice), CO2 outgassing of the Southern Ocean and changes in meridional overturning circulation. The new set of data fills a gap in information in the global evolution of Earth climate during the Last Interglacial and will be useful for the testing of numerical modeling results of the last distinctly warmer and higher sea level than present climate period.

Description: Organic geochemical and micropaleontological analyses of surface sediments collected in the southern Drake Passage and the Bransfield Strait, Western Antarctic Peninsula, enable a proxy-based reconstruction of recent sea ice conditions in this climate-sensitive area. We study the distribution of the sea ice biomarker IPSO25, and biomarkers of open marine environments such as more unsaturated highly branched isoprenoid alkenes and phytosterols. Comparison of the sedimentary distribution of these biomarker lipids with sea ice data obtained from satellite observations and diatom-based sea ice estimates provide for an evaluation of the suitability of these biomarkers to reflect recent sea surface conditions. The distribution of IPSO25 supports earlier suggestions that the source diatom seems to be common in near-coastal environments characterized by annually recurring sea ice cover, while the distribution of the other biomarkers is highly variable. Offsets between sea ice estimates deduced from the abundance of biomarkers and satellite-based sea ice data are attributed to the different time intervals recorded within the sediments and the instrumental records from the study area, which experienced rapid environmental changes during the past 100 years. To distinguish areas characterized by permanently ice-free conditions, seasonal sea ice cover and extended sea ice cover, we apply the concept of the PIP25 index from the Arctic Ocean to our data and introduce the term PIPSO25 as a potential sea ice proxy. While the trends in PIPSO25 are generally consistent with satellite sea ice data and winter sea ice concentrations in the study area estimated by diatom transfer functions, more studies on the environmental significance of IPSO25 as a Southern Ocean sea ice proxy are needed before this biomarker can be applied for semi-quantitative sea ice reconstructions.

Description: During the last glacial termination, the upper North Pacific Ocean underwent dramatic and rapid changes in oxygenation that lead to the transient intensification of oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), recorded by the widespread occurrence of laminated sediments on circum-Pacific continental margins. We present a new laminated sediment record from the mid-depth (1100 m) northern Bering Sea margin that provides insight into these deglacial OMZ maxima with exceptional, decadal-scale detail. Combined ultrahigh-resolution micro-X-ray-fluorescence (micro-XRF) data and sediment facies analysis of laminae reveal an alternation between predominantly terrigenous and diatom-dominated opal sedimentation. The diatomaceous laminae are interpreted to represent spring/summer productivity events related to the retreating sea ice margin. We identified five laminated sections in the deglacial part of our site. Lamina counts were carried out on these sections and correlated with the Bølling–Allerød and Preboreal phases in the North Greenland Ice Core (NGRIP) oxygen isotope record, indicating an annual deposition of individual lamina couplets (varves). The observed rapid decadal intensifications of anoxia, in particular within the Bølling–Allerød, are tightly coupled to short-term warm events through increases in regional export production. This dependence of laminae formation on warmer temperatures is underlined by a correlation with published Bering Sea sea surface temperature records and δ18O data of planktic foraminifera from the Gulf of Alaska. The rapidity of the observed changes strongly implies a close atmospheric teleconnection between North Pacific and North Atlantic regions. We suggest that concomitant increases in export production and subsequent remineralization of organic matter in the Bering Sea, in combination with oxygen-poor waters entering the Being Sea, drove down oxygen concentrations to values below 0.1 mL L−1 and caused laminae preservation. Calculated benthic–planktic ventilation ages show no significant variations throughout the last deglaciation, indicating that changes in formation rates or differing sources of North Pacific mid-depth waters are not prime candidates for strengthening the OMZ at our site. The age models established by our correlation procedure allow for the determination of calendar age control points for the Bølling–Allerød and the Preboreal that are independent of the initial radiocarbon-based chronology. Resulting surface reservoir ages range within 730–990 yr during the Bølling–Allerød, 800–1100 yr in the Younger Dryas, and 765–775 yr for the Preboreal.