Sascha Serno

Comparing dust flux records from the Subarctic North Pacific and Greenland: Implications for atmospheric transport to Greenland and for the application of dust as a chronostratigraphic tool

We present a new record of eolian dust flux to the western Subarctic North Pacific (SNP) covering the past 27,000u2009years based on a core from the Detroit Seamount. Comparing the SNP dust record to the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) ice core record shows significant differences in the amplitude of dust changes to the two regions during the last deglaciation, while the timing of abrupt changes is synchronous. If dust deposition in the SNP faithfully records its mobilization in East Asian source regions, then the difference in the relative amplitude must reflect climate-related changes in atmospheric dust transport to Greenland. Based on the synchronicity in the timing of dust changes in the SNP and Greenland, we tie abrupt deglacial transitions in the 230Th-normalized 4He flux record to corresponding transitions in the well-dated NGRIP dust flux record to provide a new chronostratigraphic technique for marine sediments from the SNP. Results from this technique are complemented by radiocarbon dating, which allows us to independently constrain radiocarbon paleoreservoir ages. We find paleoreservoir ages of 745u2009±u2009140u2009years at 11,653u2009year B.P., 680u2009±u2009228u2009years at 14,630u2009year B.P., and 790u2009±u2009498u2009years at 23,290u2009year B.P. Our reconstructed paleoreservoir ages are consistent with modern surface water reservoir ages in the western SNP. Good temporal synchronicity between eolian dust records from the Subantarctic Atlantic and equatorial Pacific and the ice core record from Antarctica supports the reliability of the proposed dust tuning method to be used more widely in other global ocean regions.

Using the natural spatial pattern of marine productivity in the Subarctic North Pacific to evaluate paleoproductivity proxies

Sedimentary proxies used to reconstruct marine productivity suffer from variable preservation and are sensitive to factors other than productivity. Therefore, proxy calibration is warranted. Here we map the spatial patterns of two paleoproductivity proxies, biogenic opal and barium fluxes, from a set of core-top sediments recovered in the Subarctic North Pacific. Comparisons of the proxy data with independent estimates of primary and export production, surface water macronutrient concentrations, and biological pCO2 drawdown indicate that neither proxy shows a significant correlation with primary or export productivity for the entire region. Biogenic opal fluxes, when corrected for preservation using 230Th-normalized accumulation rates, show a good correlation with primary productivity along the volcanic arcs (τu2009=u20090.71, pu2009=u20090.0024) and with export productivity throughout the western Subarctic North Pacific (τu2009=u20090.71, pu2009=u20090.0107). Moderate and good correlations of biogenic barium flux with export production (τu2009=u20090.57, pu2009=u20090.0022) and with surface water silicate concentrations (τu2009=u20090.70, pu2009=u20090.0002) are observed for the central and eastern Subarctic North Pacific. For reasons unknown, however, no correlation is found in the western Subarctic North Pacific between biogenic barium flux and the reference data. Nonetheless, we show that barite saturation, uncertainty in the lithogenic barium corrections, and problems with the reference data sets are not responsible for the lack of a significant correlation between biogenic barium flux and the reference data. Further studies evaluating the factors controlling the variability of the biogenic constituents in the sediments are desirable in this region.

Glacial‐to‐interglacial changes in nitrate supply and consumption in the subarctic North Pacific from microfossil‐bound N isotopes at two trophic levels

Reduced nitrate supply to the subarctic North Pacific (SNP) surface during the last ice age has been inferred from coupled changes in diatom-bound δ15N (DB-δ15N), bulk sedimentary δ15N, and biogenic fluxes. However, the reliability of bulk sedimentary and DB-δ15N has been questioned, and a previously reported δ15N minimum during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1) has proven difficult to explain. In a core from the western SNP, we report the foraminifera-bound δ15N (FB-δ15N) in Neogloboquadrina pachyderma and Globigerina bulloides, comparing them with DB-δ15N in the same core over the past 25u2009kyr. The δ15N of all recorders is higher during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) than in the Holocene, indicating more complete nitrate consumption. N.u2009pachyderma FB-δ15N is similar to DB-δ15N in the Holocene but 2.2‰ higher during the LGM. This difference suggests a greater sensitivity of FB-δ15N to changes in summertime nitrate drawdown and δ15N rise, consistent with a lag of the foraminifera relative to diatoms in reaching their summertime production peak in this highly seasonal environment. Unlike DB-δ15N, FB-δ15N does not decrease from the LGM into HS1, which supports a previous suggestion that the HS1 DB-δ15N minimum is due to contamination by sponge spicules. FB-δ15N drops in the latter half of the Bolling/Allerod warm period and rises briefly in the Younger Dryas cold period, followed by a decline into the mid-Holocene. The FB-δ15N records suggest that the coupling among cold climate, reduced nitrate supply, and more complete nitrate consumption that characterized the LGM also applied to the deglacial cold events.

Change in dust seasonality as the primary driver for orbital scale dust storm variability in East Asia

Glacial periods are recognized to be dustier than interglacials, but the conditions leading to greater dust mobilization are poorly defined. Here we present a new high-resolution dust record based on 230Th-normalized 4He flux from Ocean Drilling Program site 882 in the Subarctic North Pacific covering the last 170,000 years. By analogy with modern relationships, we infer the mechanisms controlling orbital-scale dust storm variability in East Asia. We propose that orbital-scale dust flux variability is the result of an expansion of the dust season into summer, in addition to more intense dust storms during spring and fall. The primary drivers influencing dust flux include summer insolation at subarctic latitudes and variable Siberian alpine glaciation, which together control the cold air reservoir in Siberia. Changes in the extent of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets may be a secondary control.