Boundary scavenging at the East Atlantic margin does not negate use of 231Pa/230Th to trace Atlantic overturning

hdl:10013/epic.40978

publisher:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.04.005

Boundary scavenging at the East Atlantic margin does not negate use of 231Pa/230Th to trace Atlantic overturning

Lippold, Jörg, Mulitza, Stefan, Mollenhauer, Gesine

, Weyer, Stefan, Heslop, David and Christl, Marcus ;

Contact

Gesine.Mollenhauer [ at ] awi.de

Abstract

The 231Pa/230Th methodisapromisingtooltoreconstructOceancirculationoverthepastGlacial– Interglacialcycle.However,marineparticlefluxmayconstraintheapplicabilityofthisratioasadirect quantitativeproxyforthestrengthofAtlanticMeridionalOverturningCirculation(AMOC)by influencingthefractionationbetweentheinsituproduced 231Pa and 230Th inoceanwater.Herewe present 231Pa/230Th down-coreprofilesfromhighparticlefluxareasoffNamibiaandSenegalcovering the past �35 ka.The 231Pa/230Th profilesatthesesitesshowverydifferentresponsestotemporal variationsofparticlefluxesandtochangesinwatermasses.Ourresultsshowthatsedimentary 231Pa/230Th intheEasternAtlanticmarginislinkedtoparticleflux,butcontrolledprimarilybythe mode oftheAMOC.Ourdatasuggestthatduringthepast �30 kathehighproductivityEasternmargin was notcapableofimportingandstoringsignificantamountsof 231Pa fromtheopenOcean. Consequently,theapplicabilityofthe 231Pa/230Th proxytoreconstructpastoceancirculationisnot hamperedbythispotentiallyadditional 231Pa sink.

Item Type

Article

Authors

Lippold, Jörg, Mulitza, Stefan, Mollenhauer, Gesine

, Weyer, Stefan, Heslop, David and Christl, Marcus ;

Divisions

AWI Organizations > Geosciences > Junior Research Group: Compound-specific 14C
AWI Organizations > Geosciences > Marine Geochemistry

Programs

Helmholtz Research Programs > PACES I (2009-2013) > TOPIC 3: Lessons from the Past > WP 3.1: Past Polar Climate and inter-hemispheric Coupling
Helmholtz Research Programs > PACES I (2009-2013) > TOPIC 3: Lessons from the Past > WP 3.3: Proxy Development and Innovation: the Baseline for Progress in Paleoclimate Research

Publication Status

Published

Eprint ID

32410

DOI 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.04.005

Cite as

Lippold, J. , Mulitza, S. , Mollenhauer, G. , Weyer, S. , Heslop, D. and Christl, M. (2012): Boundary scavenging at the East Atlantic margin does not negate use of 231Pa/230Th to trace Atlantic overturning , Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 333-33 , pp. 317-331 . doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.04.005

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