Palaeoceanography articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The origin of large, long-term sea-level oscillations during non-glacial times remains uncertain. Here, the authors develop geological evidence that reveals astronomically forced land–ocean water exchange as a potential missing link for reconciling geological records and models of sea-level change.

    • Mingsong Li
    • , Linda A. Hinnov
    •  & James G. Ogg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Modelling studies propose sea ice to be one of the underlying mechanisms for the Mid-Pleistocene transition. Here, the authors show Mid-Pleistocene subarctic North Pacific sea ice dynamics based on biomarkers and biogenic opal accumulation rates, supporting the importance of sea ice for climate change.

    • H. Detlef
    • , S. T. Belt
    •  & S. Kender

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Knowledge of surface-ocean circulation in the Atlantic over the late Holocene is incomplete. Here, the authors show that Atlantic Ocean surface-circulation varied in concert with Western Hemisphere rainfall anomalies on centennial timescales and that this link played an essential role during the Little Ice Age.

    • Kaustubh Thirumalai
    • , Terrence M. Quinn
    •  & Eduardo Moreno-Chamarro

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ocean heat is important in forcing ice sheet retreat, yet past ocean temperature data from proximal ice sheet locations are sparse. Here, the authors present temperature reconstructions from the Wilkes Land subglacial basin during the mid-Miocene, and show that warm waters sustained ice sheet retreat 17–14.8 Ma.

    • Francesca Sangiorgi
    • , Peter K. Bijl
    •  & Henk Brinkhuis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Past sea-level records serve as an important baseline of natural variability in sea level and global ice volume prior to the Anthropocene. Here, the authors reconstruct relative sea-level changes over the last 6000 years based on coral microatolls, which are the most accurate low-tide recorders.

    • N. Hallmann
    • , G. Camoin
    •  & J. Fietzke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Labrador Sea drives the circulation of warm water around the North Atlantic’s subpolar gyre, yet the effect it has on European climate remains unclear. Here, the authors present a highly-resolved 3000 year-long reconstruction of gyre strength, and link gyre weakening to European cold periods.

    • Paola Moffa-Sánchez
    •  & Ian R. Hall

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The synchrony, spatial distribution and causes of the African Humid Period termination at 5.5 ka remain debated. Here, the authors show that rapid aridification in Cameroon and the central Sahel-Sahara took place between 5.8–4.8 ka and was likely triggered by high- and mid-latitude cooling.

    • James A. Collins
    • , Matthias Prange
    •  & Enno Schefuß

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The question of how significant barite deposits were able to form from early Earth’s low-sulfate seas remains controversial. Here, the authors show pelagic barite precipitation within a strongly barite-undersaturated ecosystem, highlighting the importance of particle-associated microenvironments.

    • Tristan J. Horner
    • , Helena V. Pryer
    •  & Richard D. Ricketts

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the eastern equatorial Pacific, upwelling supplies nitrate in excess of iron relative to phytoplankton requirements. Here, using nitrate isotopes, the authors show that iron recycling in surface waters supports nitrate consumption, lowering surface nitrate concentration and explaining its variation.

    • Patrick A. Rafter
    • , Daniel M. Sigman
    •  & Katherine R. M. Mackey

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The effects of biological similarity on geochemical signals recorded in planktonic foraminiferal tests used in paleo-reconstructions remains unclear. Here, the authors embed species-specific vital effect offsets in evolutionary models and show how shared evolutionary history shapes δ13C, but not δ18O values.

    • Kirsty M. Edgar
    • , Pincelli M. Hull
    •  & Thomas H. G. Ezard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-resolution proxy records are essential for understanding the interactions between ocean, ice sheet and atmosphere. Here the authors present a high-resolution record of Younger Dryas sea surface conditions in Baffin Bay and show that ocean surface warming triggered the retreat of Jakobshavn Isbræ ice stream.

    • Mimmi Oksman
    • , Kaarina Weckström
    •  & Michal Kucera

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Debate exists on the sign of change in tropical atmospheric circulation during global warming. Here the authors show a weaker Walker cell over the Indian Ocean during the warmer late Holocene compared to the globally colder Last Glacial Maximum, implying a further slowdown of the Walker cell in response to warming.

    • Mahyar Mohtadi
    • , Matthias Prange
    •  & Tim C. Jennerjahn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reverse weathering reactions on or in the seafloor are a major sink of many elements and alkalinity in seawater. Here, the authors show how reduced rates of reverse weathering may be responsible for global cooling and increased seawater Mg/Ca over the past 50 million years.

    • Ann G. Dunlea
    • , Richard W. Murray
    •  & John A. Higgins

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A challenge for testing mechanisms of past climate change is the precise correlation of palaeoclimate records. Here, through climate modelling and the alignment of terrestrial, ice and marine 14C and 10Be records, the authors show that Southern Ocean freshwater hosing can trigger global change.

    • Chris S. M. Turney
    • , Richard T. Jones
    •  & Alan Cooper

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The evolution of oceanic redox state in the past is poorly known. Here, the authors present a temporal record of banded iron formations and marine red beds, which indicate deep-ocean oxygenation occurred in the middle Ediacaran, coinciding with the onset of widespread marine red beds.

    • Haijun Song
    • , Ganqing Jiang
    •  & Chengshan Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Coinciding with global warming, Arctic sea ice has rapidly decreased during the last four decades. Here, using biomarker records, the authors show that permanent sea ice was still present in the central Arctic Ocean during the last interglacial, when high latitudes were warmer than present.

    • Ruediger Stein
    • , Kirsten Fahl
    •  & Gerrit Lohmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single-foraminifera measurements of the PETM carbon isotope excursion from Maud Rise have been interpreted as indicating geologically instantaneous carbon release. Here, the authors explain these records using an Earth system model and a sediment-mixing model and extract the likely PETM onset duration.

    • Sandra Kirtland Turner
    • , Pincelli M. Hull
    •  & Andy Ridgwell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Establishing the efficiency of the biological carbon pump is needed to constrain the impact of ocean circulation on the carbon cycle. Here, the authors compile a global array of ocean–atmosphere radiocarbon disequilibrium estimates and evaluate the strength of the carbon pump over the last glacial maximum.

    • L. C. Skinner
    • , F. Primeau
    •  & A. E. Scrivner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During the Cenozoic the Arctic Ocean change from a restricted freshwater regime towards more saline modern ocean conditions is supposedly driven by the subsidence of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. Here, the authors derive a threshold for this shift, constrained by the characteristic depth of wind mixing.

    • Michael Stärz
    • , Wilfried Jokat
    •  & Gerrit Lohmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The degree to which the diurnal light/dark cycle influences Mg-heterogeneity in foraminifera with complex shell morphologies remains unknown. Here, using highly spatially resolved analytical techniques, the authors investigate Mg-banding and calcification in isotope-labelledNeogloboquadrina dutertreispecimens.

    • Jennifer S. Fehrenbacher
    • , Ann D. Russell
    •  & Pamela Martin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sea-ice plays a key role in regulating nutrient dynamics and primary productivity along the Antarctica Peninsula margin. Here, the authors show that over the last 13 kyr nutrient dynamics have also been regulated by glacial discharge, highlighting the potential for future changes as glaciers continue to melt.

    • George E. A. Swann
    • , Jennifer Pike
    •  & Andrea M. Snelling

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Global deep water mass properties converged in the North Pacific and Atlantic oceans during the Pliocene-Pleistocene. Here, using a coupled ocean-atmosphere climate model, the authors show that a reduction in coastal ice in the Pacific sector of Antarctica was likely responsible for this change.

    • Daniel J. Hill
    • , Kevin P. Bolton
    •  & Alan M. Haywood

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Differences in the sequence and timing of ocean circulation changes across glacial terminations could affect the magnitude of deglacial atmospheric CO2 rise. Here, the authors argue that late ocean circulation recovery during the penultimate deglaciation (T2) led to a larger rise in CO2compared with T1.

    • Emily L. Deaney
    • , Stephen Barker
    •  & Tina van de Flierdt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite concern over anticipated eustatic sea-level rise, our understanding of past relative sea level, including regional deviations from the global average, is limited. Here, the authors show evidence for synchronous 0.6-m sea-level fluctuations between 6850 and 6500 yr BP at three sites across Southeast Asia.

    • Aron J. Meltzner
    • , Adam D. Switzer
    •  & Bambang W. Suwargadi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Potential age model problems with marine Δ14C records have obscured our understanding of the role of the deep-ocean in deglacial atmospheric CO2rise. Here, the authors show that deglacial ventilation of EEP thermocline and deep waters occurred synchronously and was coeval with changes in Atlantic records.

    • Natalie E. Umling
    •  & Robert C. Thunell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A lack of annually resolved climate records from the marine archive limits our understanding of oceanic processes. Here, the authors present a millennial-length, annually-resolved and absolutely-dated marine δ18O record from the shells of marine bivalves and offer insight into North Atlantic climate dynamics.

    • D. J. Reynolds
    • , J. D. Scourse
    •  & I. R. Hall

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The importance of oxygen in supporting early animal ecosystems is unclear because most proxies are unable to distinguish well-oxygenated from intermediate waters. Here, the authors show that early skeletal animals were restricted to well-oxygenated habitats, suggesting they had a high metabolic oxygen demand.

    • R. Tostevin
    • , R. A. Wood
    •  & M. O. Clarkson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Indirect evidence indicates the surprising occurrence of glacial events during the peak warmth of the Cretaceous world. Here, based on coupled climate-ice sheet model simulations, the authors show that such events were likely thwarted by palaeogeographic reorganisations and complex ocean-atmosphere feedbacks.

    • Jean-Baptiste Ladant
    •  & Yannick Donnadieu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A long-standing debate regarding the Pliocene history of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet was spurred by the discovery of marine diatoms in the Transantarctic Mountains. Here the authors show that the diatoms were emplaced by wind following a retreat of the ice sheet into coastal basins and subsequent isostatic emergence.

    • Reed P. Scherer
    • , Robert M. DeConto
    •  & Richard B. Alley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Oceanic anoxia is invoked for driving the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction, but the timing, distribution and chemical state are poorly understood. Here, the authors show that fluctuations of anoxic, non-sulfidic (ferruginous) conditions were important for the delayed biotic recovery in the Neo-Tethys.

    • M. O. Clarkson
    • , R. A. Wood
    •  & L. Krystyn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The nature of the overturning circulation in the Atlantic Ocean during the Last Glacial Maximum remains a topic of contention. Here, using neodymium isotope measurements, the authors demonstrate that North Atlantic Deep Water was produced under glacial climate conditions.

    • Jacob N. W. Howe
    • , Alexander M. Piotrowski
    •  & Germain Bayon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite the importance of Arctic sea-ice in the global climate system, a paucity of pre-Quaternary sedimentary archives limits our understanding of its long-term history. Here, based on ancient sediments revealed by submarine landslides, the authors reconstruct Arctic sea-ice conditions during the Miocene.

    • Ruediger Stein
    • , Kirsten Fahl
    •  & Gerrit Lohmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While numerous studies have indicated that carbon export to the deep ocean was greater during glacial periods, quantification is lacking. Here, via analysis of hundreds of sediment cores, the authors show carbon accumulation rate was 50% higher during glacial maxima than during interglacials.

    • Olivier Cartapanis
    • , Daniele Bianchi
    •  & Eric D. Galbraith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the Earth's history, the timing of oceanic large-scale events of oxygen depletion remains poorly understood. Here, the authors show that palaeogeography was a major preconditioning factor during the Cretaceous, implying that thresholds to shift toward a global anoxia are likely to be much higher at present.

    • Yannick Donnadieu
    • , Emmanuelle Pucéat
    •  & Jean- François Deconinck

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Molar tooth structures are common in early- to mid-Proterozoic carbonates but extremely rare in rocks younger than 750 Ma. Here, the authors show molar tooth carbonate formation is related to benthic methane fluxes.

    • Bing Shen
    • , Lin Dong
    •  & Pengju Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dynamics of the Laurasian Seaway are thought to have had wide effects on oceanography and climate in the mid-Mesozoic. Here, the authors show evidence for seawater temperature change, ascribed to tectonic uplift that impeded poleward oceanic heat transport and triggered a cool climate mode in the earliest Middle Jurassic.

    • Christoph Korte
    • , Stephen P. Hesselbo
    •  & Nicolas Thibault

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Resolving the sources and timing of freshwater forcing during the Last Termination is key to evaluate the North Atlantic Ocean response to freshwater perturbations. Here, the authors that the North Atlantic climate system was highly sensitive to Scandinavian meltwater discharge shortly before the Younger Dryas.

    • Francesco Muschitiello
    • , Francesco S. R. Pausata
    •  & Barbara Wohlfarth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Given the absence of a major river system in the Western Sahara, the source of late Quaternary fluvial sediments along the West African margin remains unclear. Here, the authors present geomorphological data that reveal the existence of a large buried paleodrainage network on the Mauritanian coast.

    • C. Skonieczny
    • , P. Paillou
    •  & F. Grousset

  • Article
    | Open Access

    About 5.6 million years ago the Mediterranean Sea evaporated leaving a 1.5 km deep basin while at the same time Antarctica’s ice sheet grew. Here the authors show that growth of Antarctic ice lowered sea-level, which cut off the Atlantic Ocean from the Mediterranean Sea and allowed it to evaporate.

    • Christian Ohneiser
    • , Fabio Florindo
    •  & David Pollard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The cause and timing of early Pliocene cooling in the Nordic Seas remains uncertain. Here, the authors present palynological data from the Norwegian and Iceland Seas that demonstrate regional cooling and the development of modern surface circulation around 4.5 Ma, likely related to Bering Strait gateway changes.

    • Stijn De Schepper
    • , Michael Schreck
    •  & Gunn Mangerud

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