Isotopic evidence for reduced productivity in the glacial Southern Ocean

Journal Article · Fri Oct 15 04:00:00 EDT 1993 · Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.262.5132.407· OSTI ID:5178990

Shemesh, A ^[1]; Macko, S A ^[2]; Charles, C D ^[3]; Rau, G H ^[4]

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1. Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot (Israel)
2. Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (United States)
3. Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)
4. Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)

Records of carbon and nitrogen isotopes in biogenic silica and carbon isotopes in planktonic foraminifera from deep-sea sediment cores from the Southern Ocean reveal that the primary production during the last glacial maximum was lower than Holocene productivity. These observations conflict with the hypothesis that the low atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were introduced by an increase in the efficiency of the high-latitude biological pump. Instead, different oceanic sectors may have had high glacial productivity, or alternative mechanisms that do not involve the biological pump must be considered as the primary cause of the low glacial atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

• OSTI ID: 5178990
• Journal Information: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Journal Name: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States) Vol. 262:5132; ISSN SCIEAS; ISSN 0036-8075
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540110*
ABUNDANCE
ANIMALS
CARBON ISOTOPES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH PLANET
FORAMINIFERA
INVERTEBRATES
ISOTOPES
MICROORGANISMS
MINERALS
NITROGEN ISOTOPES
OXIDE MINERALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
PALEONTOLOGY
PLANETS
PROTOZOA
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SARCODINA
SILICA
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON OXIDES
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE