Timothé Bolliet

A mid-Holocene transition in the nitrogen dynamics of the western equatorial Pacific: Evidence of a deepening thermocline?

Sedimentary delta(15)N records from the oligotrophic western equatorial Pacific (WEP) off Mindanao show that late Holocene sedimentary delta(15)N is substantially lower than that of the early Holocene, following a gradual >3 parts per thousand decrease that occurred between 7 and 3 kyrs ago. Analyses of modem day nitrate isotope profiles from the same region indicate the sensitivity of the WEP N pools towards (1) the advection of (15)N-enriched nitrate from the Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP) by the North Equatorial Current (NEC) and the Mindanao Current in subsurface waters and, (2) at shallow depths, the input of new and (15)N-depleted nitrate through N, fixation. We suggest that the Holocene decrease in sedimentary delta(15)N reflects a diminished relative input of (15)N-enriched nitrate to the surface biota, either through an increase of regional nitrogen fixation, a change in nitrate consumption along the advective path of nitrate supply, or a decrease in the vertical Supply Of (15)N-enriched nitrate from the NEC. The latter mechanism is consistent with a Holocene deepening of the WEP nitracline/thermocline. Citation: Kienast, M., M. F. Lehmann, A. Timmermann, E. Galbraith, T. Bolliet, A. Holboum, C. Normandeau, and C. Laj (2008), A mid-Holocene transition in the nitrogen dynamics of the western equatorial Pacific: Evidence of a deepening thermocline?, Geophys. Res. Lett,, 35, L23610, doi: 10.1029/2008GL035464.

Monsoon variability and deep oceanic circulation in the western equatorial Pacific over the last climatic cycle: Insights from sedimentary magnetic properties and sortable silt

Magnetic and grain size properties of a sediment core located in the western equatorial Pacific, off the southeastern tip of the Philippine island of Mindanao, are presented in an effort to reconstruct past changes in the East Asian Monsoon and deep ocean circulation during the last 160 kyrs. The sedimentary concentration of magnetic particles, interpreted to reflect past changes in runoff from Mindanao, varies almost in antiphase with Northern Hemisphere insolation. This suggests that precipitation was lower in the western equatorial Pacific region during boreal insolation maxima and thus corroborates model results showing opposing trends in precipitation between land and the marine realm there. Variations in the grain size distribution of the inorganic sediment fraction, as recorded by both the sortable silt mean size and the magnetic grain size, provide a monitor of changes in sediment reworking by bottom currents. The close correlation of this proxy of bottom current strength and the benthic delta(18)O record from the same site implies a tight coupling between deep water flow, most likely Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), and global climate.