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Atlantic Radiocarbon Calibration using framework forming cold water corals

Subject Area Palaeontology
Term from 2017 to 2021
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 325099762
 
Final Report Year 2022

Final Report Abstract

Radiocarbon calibration based on uranium-thorium dated cold-water corals provides an excellent opportunity to develop a marine radiocarbon calibration and simultaneously study ocean circulation, and water mass movement. A high-resolution data set of combined 14C and U/Th data was derived for South Atlantic water masses for the past 32000 years in direct comparison with a radiocarbon prediction using a general ocean circulation model. Cold-water corals off Angola match previously published records from the equatorial Atlantic and near Tasmania, thus yielding the possibility of a 14C calibration for the South Atlantic. This record confirmed a systematic aging of water masses up to the Glacial Maximum and a renewal of water masses during the Bølling/Allerød climate warming 13600 years ago. In contrast to the South Atlantic and modeling results, the results for thermocline waters north of the Azores Front show strong fluctuations and mostly well-ventilated water masses. During the Bølling- Allerød (B/A) stadial, renewal of water masses also occurs at greater depths and throughout the entire Atlantic. Our results suggest that the North and South Atlantic must be considered as acting separately during the Maximum Glaciation and subsequent climate warming and B/A. Initial studies of the temperature history of the intermediate waters indicate a much stronger influence of polar waters and further narrow the range of well-ventilated water masses, presumably confined to the boundary between the subtropical and subpolar waters of the North Atlantic. Finally, a parallel study of present-day radiocarbon patterns in the Atlantic indicates similar processes. The Azores Front still represents the boundary for water exporting carbon and heat from south to north almost unaffected by anthropogenic changes, while deep water formation leads to southward export in the western Atlantic.

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