Glacial/interglacial changes in nutrient supply and stratification in the western subarctic North Pacific since the penultimate glacial maximum

• Published in: Quaternary science reviews Vol. 29; no. 19; pp. 2579 - 2590
• Main Authors: Brunelle, Brigitte G., Sigman, Daniel M., Jaccard, Samuel L., Keigwin, Lloyd D., Plessen, Birgit, Schettler, Georg, Cook, Mea S., Haug, Gerald H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2010
• Subjects: AN, North Atlantic; PS, Antarctic Ocean; INE, Subarctic Pacific; INW, Okhotsk Sea; IN, Bering Sea; IN, North Pacific
• ISSN: 0277-3791; 1873-457X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.03.010

In piston cores from the open subarctic Pacific and the Okhotsk Sea, diatom-bound δ 15N (δ 15N db), biogenic opal, calcium carbonate, and barium were measured from coretop to the previous glacial maximum (MIS 6). Glacial intervals are generally characterized by high δ 15N db (∼8‰) and low productivity, whereas interglacial intervals have a lower δ 15N db (5.7–6.3‰) and indicate high biogenic productivity. These data extend the regional swath of evidence for nearly complete surface nutrient utilization during glacial maxima, consistent with stronger upper water column stratification throughout the subarctic region during colder intervals. An early deglacial decline in δ 15N db of 2‰ at ∼17.5 ka, previously observed in the Bering Sea, is found here in the open subarctic Pacific record and arguably also in the Okhotsk, and a case can be made that a similar decrease in δ 15N db occurred in both regions at the previous deglaciation as well. The early deglacial δ 15N db decrease, best explained by a decrease in surface nutrient utilization, appears synchronous with southern hemisphere-associated deglacial changes and with the Heinrich 1 event in the North Atlantic. This δ 15N db decrease may signal the initial deglacial weakening in subarctic North Pacific stratification and/or a deglacial increase in shallow subsurface nitrate concentration. If the former, it would be the North Pacific analogue to the increase in vertical exchange inferred for the Southern Ocean at the time of Heinrich Event 1. In either case, the lack of any clear change in paleoproductivity proxies during this interval would seem to require an early deglacial decrease in the iron-to-nitrate ratio of subsurface nutrient supply or the predominance of light limitation of phytoplankton growth during the deglaciation prior to Bølling-Allerød warming.