Glacial expansion of carbon-rich deep waters into the Southwestern Indian Ocean over the last 630 kyr

Abstract

Oceanic carbon storage is one of the main sinks for atmospheric CO2, and thought to be the major contributing factor for CO2 drawdown during past glacial periods. Both physical and biogeochemical processes control the capacity of carbon storage in the ocean. During glacial periods of the Pleistocene the larger volume of deep-water masses of Southern Hemisphere origin in the Atlantic has been shown to promote carbon storage in the Southern Ocean. However, the latitudinal extension of this water mass in the Indian Ocean has been scarcely studied. In this study, we combine foraminiferal epsilon Nd and benthic delta 13C of two sediment cores in the southwest Indian Ocean (MD96-2077, 33 degrees S, 3781 m water depth; MD96-2052, 19 degrees S, 2627 m water depth), to reconstruct the spatial and temporal evolution of glacial carbon-rich deep waters in the SW Indian over the last 630 kyr. The combined use of foraminiferal epsilon Nd and benthic delta 13C allows to distinguish delta 13C changes related to water mass mixing and from respired carbon accumulation within the water masses. Nutrient-rich deep waters, which cannot be explained by the enhanced proportion of southern-sourced waters, were present at core sites deeper than 2700 m during glacial periods and extended at least until 33 degrees S into the SW Indian Ocean. From Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 14 to MIS 10, glacial carbon storage increased gradually until reaching its highest capacity during the extreme glacial periods MIS 12 and 10. Orbital forcing (100-kyr eccentricity, 41-kyr obliquity), restricted air-sea exchange and enhanced ocean stratification, fostered higher carbon storage during periods of relatively lower eccentricity and obliquity. Furthermore, after MIS 10, a progressive transition was observed from 100-kyr eccentricity to 41-kyr obliquity cycles in benthic delta 13C and delta 18O records of core MD96-2077 and sea-ice cover changes derived from icerafted debris of the Agulhas Plateau composite core site.