The Mg/Ca of calcite from the marine ostracod genus Krithe may be an important tool for reconstructing past changes in oceanic bottom water temperature (150–4000 m water depth). Rigorous cleaning procedures, routinely used to remove clays, organic matter and Fe–Mn oxyhydroxide coatings in trace element studies of foraminifera, are not regularly applied to marine ostracods despite the potential for Mg contamination. Here we apply standard oxidative and reductive foraminiferal cleaning procedures to core top Krithe pernoides valves from boxcore OCE205-50BC (26.23°N, 77.7°W, 817 m water depth) to evaluate the effects of contamination on Mg/Ca ratios and assess the impact of cleaning techniques on contaminant removal and ostracod valve chemistry. Our results show that clays and Fe–Mn oxyhydroxides influence the Mg/Ca of Krithe. Following sonication in methanol/ultrapure water, there is a 1.6 mmol/mol (11%) decrease in Mg/Ca (equivalent to a reduction in reconstructed temperature of 1.5 °C), indicating that this is a critical step in the preparation of Krithe valves for Mg/Ca analyses. Oxidation with buffered hydrogen peroxide has little effect on the Mg/Ca of valves from our site. Reductive cleaning reduces inter-valve variability from 12% to 5%, resulting in an equivalent temperature precision of ± 0.6 °C. However, reductive cleaning also decreases Mg/Ca ratios due to the partial dissolution of the valve surface. Reductive cleaning offers the potential to improve Krithe Mg/Ca paleotemperature reconstructions and should be utilised in future Krithe Mg/Ca studies. Future work should also aim to constrain the effects of partial dissolution of the valve surface.
The East Antarctic continental margin, which extends from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea (Fig. 1h), surrounds the largest and oldest ice mass on Earth; however, it has only been studied at a few locations because of its remoteness and persistent sea ice. The shelf is 100–150 km wide over most of its length but broadens where major crustal structures intersect it, such as in Prydz Bay (Fig. 1a) where the shelf is 200–300 km wide. This paper reviews what is known presently about the geomorphology of the best-studied sectors of the East Antarctic margin: the deep re-entrant of Prydz Bay and the narrower shelves of George V and Mac.Robertson Land (Fig. 1h). Only a small proportion of the East Antarctica shelf has been surveyed with multibeam bathymetry, so this review is also dependent on compilations of single-beam bathymetry, seismic-reflection profiles and side-scan sonar data. In particular, we use George V Digital Elevation Model (GVDEM, Beaman et al. 2011) and International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO; Arndt et al. 2013). The slope has been more widely studied, with large amounts of seismic-reflection data available (e.g. Kuvaas & Leitchenkov 1992; Escutia et al. 2000; Solli et al. 2007; Close et al. 2007).
Fig. 1.
( a ) Prydz Bay and sub-Amery Ice Shelf bathymetry. (IBCSO v. 1.0; Arndt et al. 2013). ( b ) Long profile of Amery Ice Shelf from upstream of the modern grounding zone to the trough-mouth fan on the continental slope. VE×140. ( c ) Cross-section of Amery Ice Shelf valley at its southern end. VE×20. ( d ) Shaded-relief image of multibeam data collected by N. B. Palmer in 2001 (Leventer et al. 2005). The image covers the transition from streamlined bedrock to moulded basin sediment in the Svenner Channel. Image from GEOMAPAPP (www.geomapapp.org). ( e ) Seismic …
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) represents a large potential source of sea level rise. Observations of ice sheet instabilities in the region have increased in recent decades, with a 77% recorded increase in the net loss of glaciers the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) sector of the WAIS since 1973. This has been attributed to increasing basal melting of floating ice shelves caused by warmer Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) upwelling onto the shelf. Understanding the role of CDW in glacial retreat in the ASE over longer timescales is key to reducing the uncertainty of future sea level predictions. The aim of this research is to reconstruct CDW incursions onto the ASE continental shelf and correlate them to the glacial history of the area since the Last Glacial Maximum. To achieve this, it is crucial to develop a proxy for detecting the presence or absence of CDW.
Whilst foraminiferal preservation is rare in this locality due to the corrosive nature of water masses around the Antarctic Peninsula, several cores from the ASE contain specimens including the benthic species Trifarina angulosa, which is a shallow infaunal species therefore ideal for Mg/Ca temperature reconstructions. Here we present a core-top calibration for T. angulosa for temperatures between -1.75°C and +1.5°C from sites situated in the Southern Ocean. We apply this Mg/Ca temperature calibration to down-core archives at several sites, which are well-dated using radiocarbon. The results are presented here along with benthic and planktonic foraminiferal stable isotope data and complementary trace metal data.
Keywords: Circumpolar deep water, foraminifera, Mg/Ca
a N d S t e V e N m .B o h at y aBStr act.Much of what is known about the evolution of Antarctica's cryosphere in the geologic past is derived from ice-distal deep-sea sedimentary records.Recent advances in drilling technology and climate proxy methods have made it possible to retrieve and interpret high-quality ice-proximal sedimentary sequences from Antarctica's margins and the Southern Ocean.These records contain a wealth of information about the individual histories of the East and West Antarctic Ice Sheets and associated temperature change in the circum-Antarctic seas.Emerging studies of Antarctic drill cores provide evidence of dynamic climate variability on both short and long timescales over the past 20 million years.This geologic information is critical for testing and improving computer model simulations used to predict future environmental change in the polar regions.Identifying the mechanistic links between past Antarctic ice-volume fluctuations and oceanographic change is necessary for understanding Earth's long-term climate evolution.While recent successes highlight the value of ice-proximal records, additional scientific drilling and climate proxy development are required to improve current knowledge of Antarctica's complex paleoenvironmental history.
Relative contributions of ice volume and temperature change to the global ∼1‰ δ 18 O increase at ∼14 Ma are required for understanding feedbacks involved in this major Cenozoic climate transition. A 3‐ma benthic foraminifer Mg/Ca record of Southern Ocean temperatures across the middle Miocene climate transition reveals ∼2 ± 2°C cooling (14.2–13.8 Ma), indicating that ∼70% of the increase relates to ice growth. Seawater δ 18 O, calculated from Mg/Ca and δ 18 O, suggests that at ∼15 Ma Antarctica's cryosphere entered an interval of apparent eccentricity‐paced expansion. Glaciations increased in intensity, revealing a central role for internal climate feedbacks. Comparison of ice volume and ocean temperature records with inferred p CO 2 levels indicates that middle Miocene cryosphere expansion commenced during an interval of Southern Ocean warmth and low atmospheric p CO 2 . The Antarctic system appears sensitive to changes in heat/moisture supply when atmospheric p CO 2 was low, suggesting the importance of internal feedbacks in this climate transition.
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