Benjamin P. Flower

The middle Miocene climatic transition: East Antarctic ice sheet development, deep ocean circulation and global carbon cycling

Abstract The middle Miocene represents a major change in state in Cenozoic climatic evolution, following the climax of Neogene warmth in the late early Miocene at ∼16 Ma. The early stage of this climatic transition from ∼16 to 14.8 Ma was marked by major short term variations in global climates, East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) volume, sea level, and deep ocean circulation. In the later stage from ∼14.8 to 12.9 Ma, climatic developments included major growth of the EAIS and associated Antarctic cooling, a distinct increase in the meridional temperature gradient, large fluctuations in sea level followed by a global sea level fall, and important changes in deep water circulation, including increased production of Southern Component Water. East Antarctic ice sheet growth and polar cooling also had large effects on global carbon cycling and on the terrestrial biosphere, including aridification of mid-latitude continental regions. Increased stability of the EAIS after 14.8 Ma represents a crucial step in the establishment of late Neogene global climate systems. What controlled these changes in polar climates and the East Antarctic ice sheet? Deep ocean circulation changes probably played a major role in the evolution and variation in polar climates, as they have throughout the Cenozoic. Oxygen and carbon isotopic evidence for warm, saline deep water production in the eastern Tethyan/northern Indian Ocean indicates that meridional heat transport to the Antarctic inhibited Cenozoic polar cooling and EAIS growth during the early middle Miocene from ∼16 to ∼14.8 Ma. Inferred competition between warm low-latitude sources (derived from the eastern Tethyan-northern Indian Ocean) and a cold high-latitude source (Southern Component Water) from ∼16 to 14.8 Ma may have been associated with instability in the Antarctic climate and cryosphere. Reduction of warm, saline deep water flow to the Southern Ocean at ∼14.8 Ma may have decreased meridional heat transport to the Antarctic, cooling the region and leading to increased production of Southern Component Water. These middle Miocene climatic and cryospheric changes in the Antarctic had profound effects on marine and terrestrial climates. As the meridional surface temperature gradient increased, boundaries between climatic zones strengthened, leading to increased aridification of mid-latitude continental regions in Australia, Africa and North and South America, enhancing the development of grasslands and stimulating the evolution of grazing mammals.

Middle Miocene ocean-climate transition: high-resolution oxygen and carbon isotopic records from Deep Sea Drilling Project site 588A, southwest Pacific

High-resolution stable isotopic records are presented for the epi-benthic foraminifer Cibicidoides, the inferred shallow-dwelling planktonic Globigerinoides quadrilobatus, and the inferred deep-dwelling planktonic Globoquadrina dehiscens from the middle Miocene (∼16–12 Ma) of Deep Sea Drilling Project site 588A, Lord Howe Rise, southwest Pacific. High-resolution, multiple species oxygen and carbon isotopic data define the timing and character of the well-known middle Miocene climatic-oceanographic transition with a resolution comparable to Quaternary records. The benthic foraminiferal δ18O record is marked by several large fluctuations from ∼16 to 14.8 Ma, followed by a series of rapid (<50 kyr) δ18O increases that suggest a new state of the ocean-climate system after 14.8 Ma. The total middle Miocene benthic oxygen isotopic increase of 1.2‰ is largely incorporated in two steps, an increase of 0.8‰ from 14.5 to 14.0 Ma and a second increase of 0.7‰ from 13.45 to 12.45 Ma. Each step is comprised of a series of marked δ18O increases, indicative of rapid East Antarctic ice sheet growth and contemporaneous deepwater cooling. A strong covariance of 0.7‰ between the benthic and deep-dwelling planktonic species from 14.5 to 14.0 Ma (including a rapid increase from 14.1 to 14.05 Ma) suggests a 0.7‰ increase in the δ18O composition of seawater (δ18Osw) because of East Antarctic ice sheet growth. Comparison of the δ18O record of Gs. quadrilobatus suggests that surface waters warmed at this site by ∼3°C from 14.1 to 13.6 Ma. Carbon isotopic time series for each species generally covary throughout the early to middle Miocene interval (∼16–12 Ma), confirming that δ13C variations in this interval largely represent reservoir changes. High-resolution δ13C data allow improved resolution of the latter five of six δ13C maxima within the well-known early to middle Miocene carbon isotopic excursion (the Monterey Carbon Isotopic Excursion from 17.0 to 13.5 Ma). This is useful for global correlation. The last of these maxima ends with a 1‰ decrease centered from 13.9 to 13.7 Ma, ∼300 kyr after the δ18O increase considered to reflect East Antarctic ice growth. Covariance between benthic δ18O and δ13C from ∼16 to 13.8 Ma suggests a sensitive relation between global carbon cycling and the ocean-climate system prior to 13.8 Ma. Episodic increases in organic carbon burial may have contributed to deep-sea benthic δ13C maxima and synchronous global cooling. The positive relationship ended at ∼13.8 Ma, indicative of changing relations between global carbon cycling and the ocean-climate system brought on by the increased stability of the East Antarctic ice sheet after a major growth phase from 14.5 to 14.0 Ma.

Orbitally paced climate oscillations across the Oligocene/Miocene boundary

The late Oligocene and early Miocene periods, some 21 to 27 million years ago, have generally been viewed as times of moderate global warmth and ice-free conditions. Yet several lines of evidence suggest that this interval was punctuated by at least one, and possibly several, episodes of high-latitude cooling and continental glaciation. Here, we present stable-isotope and per cent coarse-fraction data from an equatorial, western Atlantic deep-sea-sediment core that provide high-resolution records of the climate variability across the Oligocene/Miocene transition (22.5–25.7 million years ago). A strong 40-kyr periodicity in the oxygen isotope record is consistent with a high-latitude orbital (obliquity) control on ice-volume and temperature. Orbital influences are also apparent at precession and eccentricity frequencies, including a series of ∼400-kyr oscillations that culminate in distinct maxima at the Oligocene/Miocene boundary, about 23.7 million years ago. Covariance between the carbon and oxygen isotope records suggests that the oceanic carbon cycle may have contributed to global cooling during the ∼400-kyr cycles, particularly at the Oligocene/Miocene boundary.

Phasing of deglacial warming and Laurentide Ice Sheet meltwater in the Gulf of Mexico

Evidence is emerging that the tropical climate system played a major role in global climate change during the last deglaciation. However, existing studies show that deglacial warming was asyn- chronous across the tropical band, complicating the identification of causal mechanisms. The Orca Basin in the northern Gulf of Mexico is ideally located to record subtropical Atlantic sea-surface temperature (SST) warming in relation to meltwater input from the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Paired d 18 O and Mg/Ca data on the planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber from core EN32-PC6 are used to separate deglacial changes in SST and d 18 O of sea- water. SST as calculated from Mg/Ca data increased by .3 8C from ca. 17.2 to 15.5 ka in association with Heinrich event 1 and was not in phase with Greenland air temperature. Subtracting tem- perature effects from d 18 O values in G. ruber reveals two excur- sions representing Laurentide meltwater input to the Gulf of Mex- ico, one of .1.5‰ from ca. 16.1 to 15.6 ka and a second major spike of .2.5‰ from ca. 15.2 to 13.0 ka that encompassed melt- water pulse 1A and peaked ca. 13.8 ka during the Bolling-Allerod. Conversion to salinity through the use of a Laurentide meltwater end member of 225‰ indicates that near-surface salinity de- creased by 2‰-4‰ during these spikes. These results suggest that Gulf of Mexico SST warming preceded peak Laurentide Ice Sheet decay and the Bolling-Allerod interval by .2 k.y. and that heat was retained in the subtropical Atlantic during Heinrich event 1, consistent with modulation of deglacial climate by thermohaline circulation.

Middle Miocene deepwater paleoceanography in the southwest Pacific: Relations with East Antarctic Ice Sheet development

A suite of middle Miocene Deep Sea Drilling Project sites in the southwest Pacific reveals large-scale changes in deepwater circulation associated with East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) variations from ∼16.5 to 13.8 Ma. Oxygen and carbon isotopic records based on Cibicidoides benthic foraminifera from a depth transect (sites 590B, 588A, 591B, and 206 from 1200- to 3150-m paleodepth at ∼35°S paleolatitude) and from a meridional transect (sites 588A, 590B, 593, and 594 from 30° to 48°S paleolatitude at intermediate water depth) allow detailed examination of southwest Pacific deepwater circulation from ∼17.5 to 12 Ma. Significantly, intervals of low δ18O from 16.5 to 16.3 Ma and perhaps at 15.7 Ma were marked by similar δ18O values at upper bathyal (∼1200–1500 m; sites 588A and 590B) and midbathyal (∼2100 m; site 591B) water depths. Small vertical δ18O gradients during δ18O minima may indicate warm saline deep water (WSDW) at midbathyal depths in the southwest Pacific during intervals of inferred global warmth and low global ice volume. Increased vertical δ18O gradients after ∼15.6 Ma and especially after 13.8 Ma indicate increased production of Southern Component Water (SCW) in association with EAIS growth. These data are consistent with the hypothesis (Woodruff and Savin, 1989) that major EAIS growth was fostered by diminished meridional heat transport to the high southern latitudes related to the termination of Tethyan Indian Saline Water (TISW) and an increase in SCW production during the early middle Miocene after ∼15.6 Ma. Further, a maximum vertical carbon isotopic gradient of ∼0.8 ‰ at 13.6 Ma suggests that Southern Component Intermediate Water (SCIW) production and Pacific Deep Water (PDW) strength were each at a maximum at this time and were critical to major EAIS growth. The establishment of near-modern δ13C and δ18O gradients following major EAIS growth from ∼14.0 to 13.8 Ma marks a major step in the development of the Neogene ocean/cryosphere system.

Orbitally induced climate and geochemical variability across the Oligocene/Miocene boundary

To assess the influence of orbital-scale variations on late Oligocene to early Miocene climate and ocean chemistry, high-resolution (∼5 kyr) benthic foraminiferal carbon and oxygen isotope and percent coarse fraction time series were constructed for Ocean Drilling Program site 929 on Ceara Rise in the western equatorial Atlantic. These time series exhibit pervasive low- to high-frequency variability across a 5-Myr interval (20.5–25.4 Ma). The records also reveal several large-scale secular variations including two positive (∼1.6‰) oxygen isotope excursions at 22.95 and 21.1 Ma, suggestive of large but brief glacial maxima (Mi-1 and Mi-1a events of Miller et al. [1991]), and a long-term cyclical increase in the carbon isotopic composition of seawater (shift of ∼1.52‰) that reaches a maximum coincident with peak δ18O values at 22.95 Ma. Lower-resolution (∼25 kyr) records constructed from benthic and planktonic foraminifera as well as bulk carbonate at a shallower site on Ceara Rise (site 926) for the period 21.7–24.9 Ma covary with site 929 δ18O values reflecting changes in Antarctic ice-volume. Likewise, covariance among carbon isotopic records of bulk sediment, benthic, and planktonic foraminifera suggest that the low-frequency cycles (∼400 kyr) and long-term increase in δ13C values represent changes in the mean carbon composition of seawater ΣCO2. The time series presented here constitute the longest, most continuous, and highest-resolution records of pre-Pliocene climate and oceanography to date. The site 929 carbon and oxygen isotope power spectra show significant concentrations of variance at ∼400, 100, and 41 kyr, demonstrating that orbitally induced oscillations have been a normal characteristic of the global climate system since at least the Oligocene, including periods of equable climate and times with no apparent Northern Component Water production.

1400 yr multiproxy record of climate variability from the northern Gulf of Mexico

A continuous decadal-scale resolution record of climate variability over the past 1400 yr in the northern Gulf of Mexico was constructed from a box core recovered in the Pigmy Basin, northern Gulf of Mexico. Proxies include paired analyses of Mg/Ca and δ 18 O in the white variety of the planktic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber and relative abundance variations of G. sacculifer in the foraminifer assemblages. Two multi-decadal intervals of sustained high Mg/Ca indicate that Gulf of Mexico sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were as warm or warmer than near-modern conditions between 1000 and 1400 yr B.P. Foraminiferal Mg/Ca during the coolest interval of the Little Ice Age (ca. 250 yr B.P.) indicate that SST was 2–2.5 °C below modern SST. Four minima in the Mg/Ca record between 900 and 250 yr B.P. correspond with the Maunder, Sporer, Wolf, and Oort sunspot minima, suggesting a link between changes in solar insolation and SST variability in the Gulf of Mexico. An abrupt shift recorded in both δ 18 O calcite and relative abundance of G. sacculifer occurred ca. 600 yr B.P. The shift in the Pigmy Basin record corresponds with a shift in the sea-salt-sodium (ssNa) record from the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 ice core, linking changes in high-latitude atmospheric circulation with the subtropical Atlantic Ocean.

North Atlantic intermediate to deep water circulation and chemical stratification during the past 1 Myr

Benthic foraminiferal carbon isotope records from a suite of drill sites in the North Atlantic are used to trace variations in the relative strengths of Lower North Atlantic Deep Water (LNADW), Upper North Atlantic Deep Water (UNADW), and Southern Ocean Water (SOW) over the past 1 Myr. During glacial intervals, significant increases in intermediate-to-deep δ13C gradients (commonly reaching >1.2‰) are consistent with changes in deep water circulation and associated chemical stratification. Bathymetric δ13C gradients covary with benthic foraminiferal δ18O and covary inversely with Vostok CO2, in agreement with chemical stratification as a driver of atmospheric CO2 changes. Three deep circulation indices based on δ13C show a phasing similar to North Atlantic sea surface temperatures, consistent with a Northern Hemisphere control of NADW/SOW variations. However, lags in the precession band indicate that factors other than deep water circulation control ice volume variations at least in this band.

Relations between Monterey Formation deposition and middle Miocene global cooling: Naples Beach section, California

An oxygen and carbon isotopic stratigraphy has been established for the Miocene Monterey Formation (∼18 to 8 Ma) at Naples Beach, Santa Barbara County, California. Correlation to the deep-sea climatic record provides a test of the Monterey hypothesis, which suggests that organic-carbon-rich deposition in the Monterey Formation fostered middle Miocene global cooling through drawdown of atmospheric partial CO 2 . Oxygen isotopic correlation of the Naples Beach section to the deep-sea record suggests that increased organic-carbon-rich deposition coincided closely with deep-water cooling and major East Antarctic ice-sheet growth from 14.5 to 14.1 Ma and with a δ 13 C maximum in deep-sea records. These results support a corollary of the Monterey hypothesis, that episodic organic-carbon-rich deposition within the Monterey Formation contributed to deep-sea δ 13 C maxima and to synchronous global cooling.

Subcentennial‐scale climatic and hydrologic variability in the Gulf of Mexico during the early Holocene

the interval from 10.5 to 7 thousand calendar years before present from paired analyses of Mg/Ca and d 18 Oo n foraminiferal calcite. The sea surface temperature record based on foraminiferal Mg/Ca contains six oscillations and an overall � 1.5� C warming that appears to be similar to the September–March insolation difference. The d 18 O of seawater in the GOM (d 18 OGOM) record contains six oscillations, including a � 0.8% excursion that may be associated with the ‘‘8.2 ka climate event’’ or a broader climate anomaly. Faunal census records from three GOM cores exhibit similar changes, suggesting subcentennial-scale variability in the incursions of Caribbean waters into the GOM. Overall, our results provide evidence that the subtropics were characterized by decadal- to centennial-scale climatic and hydrologic variability during the early Holocene.