Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Crowley, T. J. Articles by Matthews, R. K. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Isotope-plankton comparisons in a late Quaternary core with a stable temperature history

¹ Department of Physics, University of Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri 63121
² Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912

We have analyzed variations of foraminifera and planktonic ¹⁸O in a core from the stable central waters of the North Atlantic gyre. The record of low sedimentation rate (1.2 cm/10³ yr) covers ¹⁸O stages 2 through 6. Results indicate a 1.75 variation of ¹⁸O over the glacial cycle. This value is comparable to previous estimates from benthonic records of high sedimentation rate. The general shape of the ¹⁸O record also agrees well with patterns derived from cores showing higher sedimentation rates. The low degree of record modification by bioturbation may reflect the core location within the low-productivity region of the subtropical gyre; low delivery rates of organic matter to the seafloor should support smaller populations of burrowing organisms. Documentation of the standard ¹⁸O record in a low-sedimentation-rate province indicates that geographic regions where the planktonic ¹⁸O record is dominated by the ice volume effect can be extended from the equatorial to the subtropical oceans. Although both regions are characterized by temperature stability, there is a greater annual range of temperatures in the subtropics. These results therefore suggest that covarying benthonic-planktonic ¹⁸O changes in Tertiary records can be interpreted primarily in terms of ice volume changes over a broader range of conditions than has been previously proposed.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. J. Shackleton The 100,000-Year Ice-Age Cycle Identified and Found to Lag Temperature, Carbon Dioxide, and Orbital Eccentricity Science, September 15, 2000; 289(5486): 1897 - 1902. [Abstract] [Full Text]