Charles
Christopher D.
Charles
Christopher D.
No Thumbnail Available
Search Results
Now showing
1 - 2 of 2
-
ArticleMeridional overturning circulation in the South Atlantic at the last glacial maximum(American Geophysical Union, 2006-10-03) Lynch-Stieglitz, Jean ; Curry, William B. ; Oppo, Delia W. ; Ninnemann, Ulysses S. ; Charles, Christopher D. ; Munson, JennaThe geostrophic shear associated with the meridional overturning circulation is reflected in the difference in density between the eastern and western margins of the ocean basin. Here we examine how the density difference across 30°S in the upper 2 km of the Atlantic Ocean (and thus the magnitude of the shear associated with the overturning circulation) has changed between the last glacial maximum and the present. We use oxygen isotope measurements on benthic foraminifera to reconstruct density. Today, the density in upper and intermediate waters along the eastern margin in the South Atlantic is greater than along the western margin, reflecting the vertical shear associated with the northward flow of surface and intermediate waters and the southward flowing North Atlantic Deep Waters below. The greater density along the eastern margin is reflected in the higher δ 18O values for surface sediment benthic foraminifera than those found on the western margin for the upper 2 km. For the last glacial maximum the available data indicate that the eastern margin foraminifera had similar δ 18O to those on the western margin between 1 and 2 km and that the gradient was reversed relative to today with the higher δ 18O values in the western margin benthic foraminifera above 1 km. If this reversal in benthic foraminifera δ 18O gradient reflects a reversal in seawater density gradient, these data are not consistent with a vigorous but shallower overturning cell in which surface waters entering the Atlantic basin are balanced by the southward export of Glacial North Atlantic Intermediate Water.
-
ArticleLittle change in ice age water mass structure from Cape Basin benthic neodymium and carbon isotopes(American Geophysical Union, 2021-10-25) Hines, Sophia K. ; Bolge, Louise ; Goldstein, Steven L. ; Charles, Christopher D. ; Hall, Ian R. ; Hemming, Sidney R.A common conception of the deep ocean during ice age episodes is that the upper circulation cell in the Atlantic was shoaled at the Last Glacial Maximum compared to today, and that this configuration facilitated enhanced carbon storage in the deep ocean, contributing to glacial CO2 draw-down. Here, we test this notion in the far South Atlantic, investigating changes in glacial circulation structure using paired neodymium and benthic carbon isotope measurements from International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1479, at 2,615 m water depth in the Cape Basin. We infer changes in circulation structure across the last glacial cycle by aligning our site with other existing carbon and neodymium isotope records from the Cape Basin, examining vertical isotope gradients, while determining the relative timing of inferred circulation changes at different depths. We find that Site U1479 had the most negative neodymium isotopic composition across the last glacial cycle among the analyzed sites, indicating that this depth was most strongly influenced by North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) in both interglacial and glacial intervals. This observation precludes a hypothesized dramatic shoaling of NADW above ∼2,000 m. Our evidence, however, indicates greater stratification between mid-depth and abyssal sites throughout the last glacial cycle, conditions that developed in Marine Isotope Stage 5. These conditions still may have contributed to glacial carbon storage in the deep ocean, despite little change in the mid-depth ocean structure.