Holocene Sea Ice-Ocean-Climate Variability from Adélie Land, East Antarctica
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Holocene sea ice-ocean-climate variability from Adélie Land, East Antarctica Thomas R. Gregory 2012 Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy Declaration This work has not previously been accepted for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed………………………………………. Tom Gregory Date: 10/12/2012 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of PhD. Signed………………………………………. Tom Gregory Date: 10/12/2012 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed………………………………………. Tom Gregory Date: 10/12/2012 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed………………………………………. Tom Gregory Date: 10/12/2012 i Summary Marine sedimentation from the Adélie Land continental margin of East Antarctica provides unique high resolution records of Holocene environmental change. The sub- annually resolved sediment cores MD03-2601 (66°03.07’S, 138°33.43’E) and IODP- 318-U1357B (66°24.7990′S, 140°25.5705′E) from the Dumont d’Urville Trough, Adélie Land, document atmospheric and oceanic processes impacting on biogenic sedimentation on the Adélie Land continental shelf during the Holocene. Resin embedded, continuous polished thin sections from each core were analysed for diatom content and sediment microfabric using scanning electron microscope back- scattered electron imagery. The sediments contained repeating sequences of seasonal diatom-rich laminae which enabled multi-taper method time series analysis. Time series analysis shows that in the Hypsithermal there appears to have been an external (solar) control on interannual sedimentation as well as internal controls (e.g. the southern annular mode, SAM, and El Nino-southern Oscillation, ENSO); whilst in the Neoglacial internal climatic modes exerted a much stronger control. Quasi-biennial (2 – 3 year) peaks commonly occurred in analysis of both Hypsitherml and Neoglacial sequences. The distribution of resting spore-rich laminae in these sections suggests that a multidecadal (>50-years) variation between phasing of the SAM and ENSO systems may exert an important control on interannual environmental variability in the sections analysed. The distribution of diatom-derived biomarker proxies, namely C25 highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkenes, was compared to the diatom lamina-based record in core MD03-2601. At the Holocene scale, HBI diene and triene molecules have a positive association to sea ice associated diatom-rich laminae, with greater abundances of both HBI molecules and sea ice associated diatom laminae in the Neoglacial interval. However, at a sub-annual resolution there is no strong association between lamina type and HBI concentrations. This is attributed to a combination of: (i) the HBI alkenes recording a different signal to that of the diatom-rich laminae; (ii) interannual variation in HBI export that is greater than inter-seasonal variation, for which there is little modern data for comparison; (iii) possible diagenetic alteration of the HBI signal. ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I wish to thank my supervisor Jenny Pike. Jenny’s enthusiasm, knowledge and patience have collaborated to keep me inspired and motivated throughout the course of my PhD. I truly could not have had a better supervisor! I also wish to thank my co-supervisors Xavier Crosta, Guillaume Massé and Ian Hall. Xavier’s expertise and friendly, insightful discussion has greatly helped me during the course of my PhD and I would also like to thank him for accommodating me at his home when I was on a visit to Université Bordeaux. Guillaume encouraged me to do a PhD when I was a Masters student and subsequently has provided expertise on HBIs during my PhD, as well as allowing me to spend 3 months working at the LOCEAN laboratory in Paris which was a fantastic experience. Ian’s knowledge of climate and oceanography has been particularly helpful throughout my PhD and he has greatly aided my understanding of these systems. For technical support I wish to thank Ian Thomas who provided assistance with processing satellite-derived sea ice concentration data and who provided Python coding for reproducing wavelet analyses. I would also like to thank Pete Fisher of Cardiff University for SEM training and technical assistance, and Vincent Klein of Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, for training and assistance with HBI extraction and analysis. I would also like to thank Lewis Collins for frequently providing me with free accommodation and lots of discussion on HBIs, diatoms and football during my time in Paris and at many conferences. Further thanks to all of my friends in Cardiff for keeping me sane and entertained, particularly Pete, Griffiths, Paola and Laura. Thank you also Pauline for supporting me and putting up with my grumpiness/gallivanting off to the southern hemisphere. Finally, I wish to thank my family for moral and financial support over the entire 8-year duration of my academic career to date. Cheers! This work was funded by NERC small grant NE/I01537X/1. iii Table of contents Declaration.............................................................................................................................................. i Summary ................................................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. iii Contents ................................................................................................................................................ iv List of figures ...................................................................................................................................... viii List of tables......................................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1. Introduction. 1.1 Antarctic seasonally laminated sediments ........................................................................................ 1 1.2 Aims of the thesis .............................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Thesis structure ................................................................................................................................. 3 Chapter 2. The Southern Ocean, sea ice and teleconnections. 2.1 The geological history of Antarctica ................................................................................................. 4 2.2 The glacial history of the Antarctic ice sheets .................................................................................. 6 2.2.1 Cenozoic history of Antarctic glaciation.................................................................................... 6 2.2.2 Last Glacial Maximum to Holocene glacial history .................................................................. 8 2.2.3 The modern Antarctic ice sheet ................................................................................................. 9 2.3 The Southern Ocean ........................................................................................................................ 10 2.3.1 Broad features of the Southern Ocean ..................................................................................... 10 2.3.2 The Antarctic region and continental margin........................................................................... 10 2.3.3 The sub-Antarctic region ......................................................................................................... 13 2.4 Sea ice and the Southern Ocean ...................................................................................................... 13 2.4.1 The annual sea ice cycle........................................................................................................... 13 2.4.2 Sea ice and CO2........................................................................................................................ 15 2.5 Major modes of interannual climatic variability in the southern hemisphere ................................. 16 2.5.1 The Southern Annular Mode.................................................................................................... 16 2.5.2 The El Niño-Southern Oscillation ............................................................................................ 18 2.5.3 The quasi-biennial oscillation .................................................................................................. 21 2.6 Adélie Land environmental setting ................................................................................................. 23 2.6.1 Bathymetry ............................................................................................................................... 24 2.6.2 Adélie Land oceanography ...................................................................................................... 24 iv 2.6.3 Sea ice cover ............................................................................................................................ 25 2.6.3.1 Hypotheses for diatom lamina distribution ......................................................................