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Rapid bottom-water circulation changes during the last glacial cycle in the coastal low-latitude NE Atlantic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

David Gallego-Torres ,
Oscar E. Romero ,
Francisca Martínez-Ruiz ,
Jung-Hyun Kim ,
Barbara Donner  and
Miguel Ortega-Huertas
David Gallego-Torres*
Affiliation:
Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (CSIC-UGR), Avenida de las Palmeras 4, 18100 Armilla, Granada, Spain Departamento de Mineralogia y Petrologia (UGR), Facultad de Ciencias, Campus Fuentenueva, 18002 Granada, Spain
Oscar E. Romero
Affiliation:
Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (CSIC-UGR), Avenida de las Palmeras 4, 18100 Armilla, Granada, Spain
Francisca Martínez-Ruiz
Affiliation:
Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (CSIC-UGR), Avenida de las Palmeras 4, 18100 Armilla, Granada, Spain
Jung-Hyun Kim
Affiliation:
NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, PO Box 59, AB Den Burg, 1790 Texel, The Netherlands
Barbara Donner
Affiliation:
MARUM—Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330440, 28334 Bremen, Germany
Miguel Ortega-Huertas
Affiliation:
Departamento de Mineralogia y Petrologia (UGR), Facultad de Ciencias, Campus Fuentenueva, 18002 Granada, Spain
*
*Corrresponding author: Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (CSIC-UGR). Avenida de las Palmeras, 4. 18100 Armilla, Granada, Spain. E-mail address:davidgt@ugr.es (D. Gallego-Torres).
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Abstract

Previous paleoceanographic studies along the NW African margin focused on the dynamics of surface and intermediate waters, whereas little attention has been devoted to deep-water masses. Currently, these deep waters consist mainly of North Atlantic Deep Waters as part of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). However, this configuration was altered during periods of AMOC collapse. We present a high-resolution reconstruction of bottom-water ventilation and current evolution off Mauritania from the last glacial maximum into the early Holocene. Applying redox proxies (Mo, U and Mn) measured on sediments from off Mauritania, we describe changes in deep-water oxygenation and we infer the evolution of deep-water conditions during millennial-scale climate/oceanographic events in the area. The second half of Heinrich Event 1 and the Younger Dryas were recognized as periods of reduced ventilation, coinciding with events of AMOC reduction. We propose that these weakening circulation events induced deficient deep-water oxygenation in the Mauritanian upwelling region, which together with increased productivity promoted reducing conditions and enhanced organic-matter preservation. This is the first time the effect of AMOC collapse in the area is described at high resolution, broadening the knowledge on basin-wide oceanographic changes associated with rapid climate variability during the last deglaciation.

Keywords

Redox proxiesNE AtlanticPaleoceanographyAMOC collapse
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 81 , Issue 2 , March 2014 , pp. 330 - 338
Copyright
University of Washington

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