Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Originally published in Science Express on 3 November 2005
Science 2 December 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5753, pp. 1469 - 1473
DOI: 10.1126/science.1114832
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Research Articles

Radiocarbon Variability in the Western North Atlantic During the Last Deglaciation

Laura F. Robinson,1* Jess F. Adkins,1 Lloyd D. Keigwin,2 John Southon,3 Diego P. Fernandez,1 S-L Wang,1 Daniel S. Scheirer4

We present a detailed history of glacial to Holocene radiocarbon in the deep western North Atlantic from deep-sea corals and paired benthic-planktonic foraminifera. The deglaciation is marked by switches between radiocarbon-enriched and -depleted waters, leading to large radiocarbon gradients in the water column. These changes played an important role in modulating atmospheric radiocarbon. The deep-ocean record supports the notion of a bipolar seesaw with increased Northern-source deep-water formation linked to Northern Hemisphere warming and the reverse. In contrast, the more frequent radiocarbon variations in the intermediate/deep ocean are associated with roughly synchronous changes at the poles.

1 California Institute of Technology, MS 100-23, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
2 McLean Lab, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
3 Earth System Science Department, 3200 Croul Hall, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697–3100, USA.
4 U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS989, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: laurar{at}gps.caltech.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
From the Cover: Abrupt climate change and collapse of deep-sea ecosystems.
M. Yasuhara, T. M. Cronin, P. B. deMenocal, H. Okahashi, and B. K. Linsley (2008)
PNAS 105, 1556-1560
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Marine Radiocarbon Evidence for the Mechanism of Deglacial Atmospheric CO2 Rise.
T. M. Marchitto, S. J. Lehman, J. D. Ortiz, J. Fluckiger, and A. van Geen (2007)
Science 316, 1456-1459
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation During the Last Glacial Maximum.
J. Lynch-Stieglitz, J. F. Adkins, W. B. Curry, T. Dokken, I. R. Hall, J. C. Herguera, J. J.-M. Hirschi, E. V. Ivanova, C. Kissel, O. Marchal, et al. (2007)
Science 316, 66-69
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)