Mahyar Mohtadi

North Atlantic forcing of tropical Indian Ocean climate

The response of the tropical climate in the Indian Ocean realm to abrupt climate change events in the North Atlantic Ocean is contentious. Repositioning of the intertropical convergence zone is thought to have been responsible for changes in tropical hydroclimate during North Atlantic cold spells, but the dearth of high-resolution records outside the monsoon realm in the Indian Ocean precludes a full understanding of this remote relationship and its underlying mechanisms. Here we show that slowdowns of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during Heinrich stadials and the Younger Dryas stadial affected the tropical Indian Ocean hydroclimate through changes to the Hadley circulation including a southward shift in the rising branch (the intertropical convergence zone) and an overall weakening over the southern Indian Ocean. Our results are based on new, high-resolution sea surface temperature and seawater oxygen isotope records of well-dated sedimentary archives from the tropical eastern Indian Ocean for the past 45,000 years, combined with climate model simulations of Atlantic circulation slowdown under Marine Isotope Stages 2 and 3 boundary conditions. Similar conditions in the east and west of the basin rule out a zonal dipole structure as the dominant forcing of the tropical Indian Ocean hydroclimate of millennial-scale events. Results from our simulations and proxy data suggest dry conditions in the northern Indian Ocean realm and wet and warm conditions in the southern realm during North Atlantic cold spells.

Reconstructing the southern South China Sea upper water column structure since the Last Glacial Maximum: Implications for the East Asian winter monsoon development

difference in the stable oxygen isotopes (Dd 18 O) and Mg/Ca‐based temperatures (DT) of surface‐dwelling (G. ruber) and thermocline‐dwelling (P. obliquiloculata) planktonic foraminifera and the temperature difference between alkenone‐ and P. obliquiloculata Mg/Ca‐based temperatures to estimate the upper ocean thermal gradient at International Marine Past Global Change Study (IMAGES) core MD01‐2390. Estimates of the upper ocean thermal gradient were used to reconstruct mixed layer dynamics. We find that our Dd 18 O estimates are biased by changes in salinity and, thus, do not display a true upper ocean thermal gradient. The D To fG. ruber and P. obliquiloculata as well as the alkenone and P. obliquiloculata suggest increased surface water mixing during the late glacial, likely due to enhanced EAWM winds. Surface water mixing was weaker during the late Holocene, indicating a weaker influence of winter monsoon winds. The weakest winter monsoon activity occurred between 6.5 ka and 2.5 ka. Inferred EAWM changes since the Last Glacial Maximum coincide with EAWM changes as recorded in Chinese loess sediments. We find that the intensity of the EAWM and the East Asian summer monsoon show an inverse behavior during the last glacial and deglaciation but covaried during the middle to late Holocene.

Monsoon versus ocean circulation controls on paleoenvironmental conditions off southern Sumatra during the past 300,000 years

A multiproxy record has been acquired from a piston core (SO139-74KL) taken offshore southern Sumatra, an area which is situated in the southwestern sector of the tropical Indo-Pacific Warm Pool. The high-resolution data sets (X-ray fluorescence, total organic carbon, and C-37 alkenones) were used to track changes in paleoproductivity, freshwater budget, and sea surface temperature (SST) of the tropical climate system at orbital time scales over the past 300 ka. Our paleoclimatic data show that enhanced marine paleoproductivity was directly related to strengthening of coastal upwelling during periods of increased boreal summer insolation and associated SE monsoon strength with a precessional cyclicity. Changes in freshwater supply were primarily forced by precession-controlled changes in boreal NW winter monsoon rainfall enclosing an additional sea level component. SST variations of 2 degrees-5 degrees C occurred at eccentricity and precessional cyclicity. We suggest that the sea surface temperature variability off southern Sumatra is predominantly related to three major causes: (1) variations in upwelling intensity; (2) an elevated freshwater input into the southern Makassar Strait leading to reduced supply of warmer surface waters from the western Pacific and increased subsurface water transport via the Indonesian Throughflow into the Indian Ocean; and (3) long-term changes in the intensity or frequency of low-latitude climate phenomena, such as El Nino-Southern Oscillation.

Palaeoclimatic insights into forcing and response of monsoon rainfall

Monsoons are the dominant seasonal mode of climate variability in the tropics and are critically important conveyors of atmospheric moisture and energy at a global scale. Predicting monsoons, which have profound impacts on regions that are collectively home to more than 70 per cent of Earth’s population, is a challenge that is difficult to overcome by relying on instrumental data from only the past few decades. Palaeoclimatic evidence of monsoon rainfall dynamics across different regions and timescales could help us to understand and predict the sensitivity and response of monsoons to various forcing mechanisms. This evidence suggests that monsoon systems exhibit substantial regional character.

Tracing the impact of glacial/interglacial climate variability on erosion of the Southern Andes

Sediment accumulation rates of well-dated, primarily terrigenous marine sediments collected along the Chilean continental margin were used to infer erosion rates of the southern Andes and the adjacent Coastal Cordillera. Compared to the Holocene, sediment supply to the margin and thus erosion were substantially enhanced during the last glacial, when continental rainfall in the region was higher. Major changes in precipitation forcing to the southern Andes on such glacial-interglacial time scales appear to be transferred to offshore sedimentation rates by a fixed relation. These data show that marine archives can make it possible to trace variability in erosion at adjacent continents on time scales to 10 3 yr, a much better resolution than provided by commonly used methods such as thermochronometry or seismic studies.

Hydroclimate of the western Indo-Pacific Warm Pool during the past 24,000 years

Significance The Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) is the largest source of atmospheric water vapor, and region of highest rainfall, on Earth. At irregular intervals, this high-rainfall regime weakens, causing severe droughts with massive consequences for the local population. Research into the underlying mechanisms is limited by the temporal coverage of climate data. We produced a record of rainfall over the western IPWP covering the past 24,000 years. Our data indicate that topography and coastline position govern regional IPWP hydrology on glacial−interglacial timescales. During the Holocene, western IPWP rainfall is linked to that of East Africa through a precipitation dipole. Fluctuations of this dipole identified in our study serve as an impetus for future studies to advance our understanding of IPWP dynamics. The Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) is a key site for the global hydrologic cycle, and modern observations indicate that both the Indian Ocean Zonal Mode (IOZM) and the El Niño Southern Oscillation exert strong influence on its regional hydrologic characteristics. Detailed insight into the natural range of IPWP dynamics and underlying climate mechanisms is, however, limited by the spatial and temporal coverage of climate data. In particular, long-term (multimillennial) precipitation patterns of the western IPWP, a key location for IOZM dynamics, are poorly understood. To help rectify this, we have reconstructed rainfall changes over Northwest Sumatra (western IPWP, Indian Ocean) throughout the past 24,000 y based on the stable hydrogen and carbon isotopic compositions (δD and δ13C, respectively) of terrestrial plant waxes. As a general feature of western IPWP hydrology, our data suggest similar rainfall amounts during the Last Glacial Maximum and the Holocene, contradicting previous claims that precipitation increased across the IPWP in response to deglacial changes in sea level and/or the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. We attribute this discrepancy to regional differences in topography and different responses to glacioeustatically forced changes in coastline position within the continental IPWP. During the Holocene, our data indicate considerable variations in rainfall amount. Comparison of our isotope time series to paleoclimate records from the Indian Ocean realm reveals previously unrecognized fluctuations of the Indian Ocean precipitation dipole during the Holocene, indicating that oscillations of the IOZM mean state have been a constituent of western IPWP rainfall over the past ten thousand years.

Mg/Ca ratios of single planktonic foraminifer shells and the potential to reconstruct the thermal seasonality of the water column

Mg/Ca ratios of surface and subsurface dwelling foraminifera provide valuable information about the past temperature of the water column. Planktonic foraminifera calcify over a period of weeks to months. Therefore, the range of Mg/Ca temperatures obtained from single specimens potentially records seasonal temperature changes. We present solution-derived Mg/Ca ratios for single specimens of the planktonic foraminifera species Globigerinoides ruber (pink), Globigerinoides ruber (white), and Globorotalia inflata from a sediment trap off northwest Africa (20°45.6′N, 18°41.9′W). Cleaning of single specimens was achieved using a flow-through system in order to prevent sample loss. Mg/Ca ratios of surface dwelling G. ruber (pink) show strong seasonality linked to sea surface temperature. Mg/Ca ratios of G. ruber (white) do not show such seasonality. Subsurface dwelling G. inflata flux is largest during the main upwelling season, but Mg/Ca ratios reflect annual temperatures at intermediate water depths. The sediment trap time series suggests that changes in the range of Mg/Ca ratios exhibited by single specimens of G. ruber (pink) and G. inflata from the sedimentary record should provide information on the past temperature range under which these species calcified. Statistical analysis suggests detectable changes in the Mg/Ca range are ≥0.80 mmol/mol (G. ruber (pink)) and ≥0.34 mmol/mol (G. inflata). For G. ruber (pink), such changes would indicate changes in the seasonal sea surface temperature range >4°C or a shift in the main calcification and reproductive period. For G. inflata, such changes would indicate >1.7°C changes in the thermocline temperature or a change in the depth habitat.

Holocene tropical western Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures in covariation with climatic changes in the Indonesian region

The sea surface temperature (SST) of the tropical Indian Ocean is a major component of global climate teleconnections. While the Holocene SST history is documented for regions affected by the Indian and Arabian monsoons, data from the near-equatorial western Indian Ocean are sparse. Reconstructing past zonal and meridional SST gradients requires additional information on past temperatures from the western boundary current region. We present a unique record of Holocene SST and thermocline depth variations in the tropical western Indian Ocean as documented in foraminiferal Mg/Ca ratios and δ18O from a sediment core off northern Tanzania. For Mg/Ca and thermocline δ18O, most variance is concentrated in the centennial to bicentennial periodicity band. On the millennial time scale, an early to mid-Holocene (~7.8–5.6 ka) warm phase is followed by a temperature drop by up to 2°C, leading to a mid-Holocene cool interval (5.6–4.2 ka). The shift is accompanied by an initial reduction in the difference between surface and thermocline foraminiferal δ18O, consistent with the thickening of the mixed layer and suggestions of a strengthened Walker circulation. However, we cannot confirm the expected enhanced zonal SST gradient, as the cooling of similar magnitude had previously been found in SSTs from the upwelling region off Sumatra and in Flores air temperatures. The SST pattern probably reflects the tropical Indian Ocean expression of a large-scale climate anomaly rather than a positive Indian Ocean Dipole-like mean state.

Upwelling variability off southern Indonesia over the past two millennia

Modern variability in upwelling off southern Indonesia is strongly controlled by the Australian-Indonesian monsoon and the El Nino–Southern Oscillation, but multidecadal to centennial-scale variations are less clear. We present high-resolution records of upper water column temperature, thermal gradient, and relative abundances of mixed layer- and thermocline-dwelling planktonic foraminiferal species off southern Indonesia for the past two millennia that we use as proxies for upwelling variability. We find that upwelling was generally strong during the Little Ice Age (LIA) and weak during the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and the Roman Warm Period (RWP). Upwelling is significantly anticorrelated to East Asian summer monsoonal rainfall and the zonal equatorial Pacific temperature gradient. We suggest that changes in the background state of the tropical Pacific may have substantially contributed to the centennial-scale upwelling trends observed in our records. Our results implicate the prevalence of an El Nino-like mean state during the LIA and a La Nina-like mean state during the MWP and the RWP.

The consequences of opening the Sunda Strait on the hydrography of the eastern tropical Indian Ocean

The advection of relatively fresh Java Sea water through the Sunda Strait is presently responsible for the low-salinity “tongue” in the eastern tropical Indian Ocean with salinities as low as 32‰. The evolution of the hydrologic conditions in the eastern tropical Indian Ocean since the last glacial period, when the Sunda shelf was exposed and any advection via the Sunda Strait was cutoff, and the degree to which these conditions were affected by the Sunda Strait opening are not known. Here we have analyzed two sediment cores (GeoB 10042–1 and GeoB 10043–3) collected from the eastern tropical Indian Ocean off the Sunda Strait that cover the past ~40,000 years. We investigate the magnitude of terrigenous supply, sea surface temperature (SST), and seawater δ18O (δ18Osw) changes related to the sea level-driven opening of the Sunda Strait. Our new spliced records off the Sunda Strait show that during the last glacial, average SST was cooler and δ18Osw was higher than elsewhere in the eastern tropical Indian Ocean. Seawater δ18O decreased ~0.5‰ after the opening of the Sunda Strait at ~10 kyr B.P. accompanied by an SST increase of 1.7°C. We suggest that fresher sea surface conditions have persisted ever since due to a continuous transport of low-salinity Java Sea water into the eastern tropical Indian Ocean via the Sunda Strait that additionally increased marine productivity through the concomitant increase in terrigenous supply.