Export production and carbonate dissolution in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean over the past 1 Myr

Authors

R. W. Murray
Christopher W. Knowlton, University of Rhode IslandFollow
M. Leinen, University of Rhode Island
A. C. Mix
C. H. Polsky

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

2000

Department

Oceanography

Abstract

In order to quantify changes in export production and carbonate dissolution over the past 1 Myr in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean we analyzed Ba, P, Al Ti, and Ca in 1106 samples from five piston cores gathered from 5°S to 4°N at 140°W. We focused on Ba/Ti, Al/Ti, and P/Ti ratios as export proxies and employed areally integrated time slice as well as time series strategies. Carbonate maxima from 0–560 kyr are characterized by 15–30% greater export than carbonate minima. The increases in export fall on glacial δ¹⁸O transitions rather than glacial maxima. From 560–800 kyr, overlapping with the mid‐Pleistocene transition, there is a very large increase in total export yet no glacial‐interglacial variability. The highest latitudes (5°S and 4°N) record minimal absolute export change from glacials to interglacials and yet record the most extreme minima in percent CaCO₃, indicating that carbonate records there are dominated by dissolution, whereas near the equator they are more influenced by changes in export.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Murray, R. W., C. Knowlton, M. Leinen, A. C. Mix, and C. H. Polsky (2000), Export production and carbonate dissolution in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean over the past 1 Myr, Paleoceanography, 15(6), 570–592, doi: 10.1029/1999PA000457.

Available at: https://doi.org/10.1029/1999PA000457