Stable isotope record of benthic foraminifera from DSDP Site 68-502

Benthic foraminiferal delta13C data from site 502 in the Caribbean Sea (sill depth ?1800 m) indicate that throughout the past 2.6 m.y., glacial delta13C values in the middepth Atlantic were higher during glaciations than interglaciations. This is interpreted as indicating a greater proportion of Upper North Atlantic Deep Water (UNADW) relative to southern source waters during glaciations. The contribution of UNADW during interglaciations to the middepth Atlantic remained approximately constant, and the contribution during glaciations may have been as much as 10 % higher in the late Pleistocene than in the late Pliocene. This small increase is in striking contrast to the much larger decrease in glacial Lower North Atlantic Deep Water (LNADW) contribution relative to southern sources, from about 80% to about 20%, that occurred over the past 2.6 m.y. Glacial intensification over the past 2.6 m.y. was probably coupled with a decrease in northward heat transport by the upper limb of the North Atlantic circulation cell, as was previously suggested on the basis of a LNADW record alone. Late Pleistocene (1 Ma-present) delta13C values in the Caribbean Sea were approximately 0.2 per mil higher than they were from 2.6 to 2.0 Ma. The delta13C rise is not due to an increase in the mean ocean delta13C value, nor can it be entirely attributed to an increase in the proportion of high-delta13C source waters. An increase in the delta13C value of the surface source waters must have contributed to the delta13C rise.

Data and Resources

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Cite this as

Oppo, Delia W, Raymo, Maureen E, Lohmann, Gerrit, Mix, Alan C, Wright, James D, Prell, Warren L (1995). Dataset: Stable isotope record of benthic foraminifera from DSDP Site 68-502. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.729936

DOI retrieved: 1995

Additional Info

Field Value
Imported on November 30, 2024
Last update November 30, 2024
License CC-BY-3.0
Source https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.729936
Author Oppo, Delia W
Given Name Delia W
Family Name Oppo
More Authors
Raymo, Maureen E
Lohmann, Gerrit
Mix, Alan C
Wright, James D
Prell, Warren L
Source Creation 1995
Publication Year 1995
Resource Type application/zip - filename: Oppo_1995
Subject Areas
Name: Lithosphere

Name: Oceans

Name: Paleontology

Related Identifiers
Title: A d13C record of Upper North Atlantic Deep Water during the past 2.6 million years
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.1029/95PA00332
Type: DOI
Relation: IsSupplementTo
Year: 1995
Source: Paleoceanography
Authors: Oppo Delia W , Raymo Maureen E , Lohmann Gerrit , Mix Alan C , Wright James D , Prell Warren L .