NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Arctic Ocean Benthic Boron Isotopes for the last 45 kiloyears and Global Coretop Boron Isotope Compilation
Year: 2026
Type: dataset
Abstract: Understanding the ventilation of the deep ocean, where most ocean carbon is stored, is essential to understanding how changes to ocean carbon budgets contribute to climate change. In the Arctic Ocean, changes to ice cover, stratification and temperature are likely to impact carbon sequestration in the ocean interior. However, the processes by which deep Arctic waters are ventilated are uncertain both today and over the late Quaternary, lending uncertainty regarding future Arctic ventilation change. Here we present paleo-pH reconstructions of the deep Arctic Ocean covering the last 45,000 years and compare these to a paleo-pH record from the surface Nordic Seas. Results show that the pH difference between the surface Nordic Seas and deep Arctic Ocean was larger during the Last Glacial Period (LGP, 45,000 to 11,000 years ago, 45 to 11 ka) compared to the early and middle Holocene (11 to 5 ka). This may be explained by reduced LGP ventilation of the deep Arctic via the surface Nordic Seas, with sluggish renewal of deep Arctic waters leading to lower pH from the accumulation of respired carbon. In addition, our results reveal that a pH gradient in the deep Arctic between the western (Amerasian) and eastern (Eurasian) basins existed for much of the Holocene, but was absent during much of the LGP. These results suggest that ventilation within and beyond the Arctic Ocean varied dynamically across the late Quaternary, possibly in response to changes in dense water formation in the high latitude North Atlantic Ocean and Nordic Seas.
DOI: 10.25921/hjxx-9z55
Authors: Farmer, J.R., Hönisch, B., Martens, J., O'Regan, M.
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7203773397