Introduction to

Paleoceanography

Isabel Cacho
GRC Geociències Marines
Dept. Estratigrafia, Paleontologia i Geociències Marines
Facultat de Geologia
Universitat de Barcelona
 Outline
1. Introduction

2. The marine record of Quaternary

glacial-interglacial cycles

3. The role of the ocean in rapid climate

variability

4. Ocean carbon cycle as a climate

change feedback

5. Summary
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External forcings
Fast

orbital
Atmosphere

Solar
Land Surface

Ocean Surface

Vegetation
Response Time

See Ice

Mountain Glaciers

Deep Ocean

Ice Sheets

Slow
Milions 104-5 102-3 years weeks Hours
years years years decades months days
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... Covers the 71 % (362,000,000 km2) of

the Earth’s surface

... Contains the 97 % of the Earth’s water

... The first 30 cm stores more energy than

the entire atmosphere

... Contains up to 60 times more carbon

than the atmosphere
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• Proxy is a measured variable used to infer the value of a

variable of interest such as water temperature
• The carriers of the proxies or tracers are usually
sediments or fossils
• Proxy need to be calibrated and its quality depends on
confidence limits of calibration
 Outline
1. Introduction

2. The marine record of the Quaternary

glacial-interglacial cycles

3. The role of the ocean in rapid climate

variability

4. Ocean carbon cycle as a climate

change feed back

5. Summary
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When foraminifera
calcifies many
environmental
information is stored in
the chemistry of its
shell
Oxygen isotope fractionation
Warm Cold
Low elevation High elevation
Low latitude High latitude

-34‰
-26‰
! O -10‰
-16‰
-20‰
-12‰
-10‰
-4‰

0‰

0‰
 Ice Age
Cool Cold
Low elevation High elevation
Low latitude High latitude
-50‰

-30‰
-36‰
! O -18‰ -20‰ -35‰
-12‰ -18‰
-10‰ -6‰
0‰

2‰
 Marine !18O as climate record

Nummbers of the Marine Isotopic Stages (MIS), only interglacials

!18O (‰) bentónicos)

3 1 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23

3.5
Interglacial
-
‰ !18O (foraminíferos

Ice volume
4.5

5.5
+ Glacial
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Edad(yearsx
Age (años B.P. x 1.000)
1000)

ODP Site 677 Pacífic Equatorial (Shackleton et al., 1990)

Sea level change since the
last glacial maximum
 Outline
1. Introduction

2. The marine record of the Quaternary

glacial-interglacial cycles

3. The role of the ocean in rapid climate

variability

4. Ocean carbon cycle as a climate

change feed back

5. Summary
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OnsetTLof( the TK(

agriculture ODP 977 (Alboran Sea) TLV(
NGRIP record (Greenland)
TV( M( Africa-Eurasia
migration First evidences of
Asia-Europe migration
Homo sapiens
TLQ(
TK( K(
!18O (‰)

!18O (‰)
M( V(
TOM(

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M( OM( ZM( KVM(

Age (Ky BP)

Imbrie et al., 1984 (In: Milankovitch and Climate, Ed. Berger)

NGRIP Project Members (Nature, 2004); GIC05 timescale (Svensson et al., 2006)
Martrat et al. (Science, 2004)
Plotted using independent age models
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Holocene Last Glacial
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(‰ PDB)
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ice -36

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!18O (‰ PDB)

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G. bulloides

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1
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conditions
2

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The global Thermohaile Circulation

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 Outline
1. Introduction

2. The marine record of the Quaternary

glacial-interglacial cycles

3. The role of the ocean in rapid climate

variability

4. Ocean carbon cycle as a climate

change feed back

5. Summary
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July 2011 = 392
ppmv

1.4
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Interglacial +9'(=*/(+[?(
concentrations = 280
ppmv

0.01
Ppm/yr

Glacial El hombre ha sido capaz de subir el CO2 atmosferico 140 veces

concentrations = más rápidamente
190 ppmv que la naturaleza durante una desglaciación!!!!!

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VOSTOK ice core: Barnola et al. 1987 (Nature)
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Thanks!!!!