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Cooling and freshening at 8.2 ka on the NW Iceland Shelf recorded in paired δ18O and Mg/Ca measurements of the benthic foraminifer Cibicides lobatulus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2012

Ursula Quillmann ,
Thomas M. Marchitto ,
Anne E. Jennings ,
John T. Andrews  and
Birgitte F. Friestad
Ursula Quillmann*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder Colorado, USA
Thomas M. Marchitto
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder Colorado, USA
Anne E. Jennings
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder Colorado, USA
John T. Andrews
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder Colorado, USA
Birgitte F. Friestad
Affiliation:
Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Norway
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: + 1 303 492 6388. Email Address:Ursula.Quillmann@Colorado.EDU
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Abstract

A shallow marine sediment core from NW Iceland provides evidence for a brief cooling and freshening at ~ 8200 cal yr BP, consistent with the hypothesis that the catastrophic outburst flood of the proglacial lakes Oijbway and Agassiz caused the 8.2 ka event. This is the first high-resolution record reconstructing near-surface temperatures and δ18Osw by paired measurements of Mg/Ca and δ18Ocalcite of a benthic foraminifer. We developed a new Mg/Ca temperature calibration for Cibicides lobatulus. Our down-core Mg/Ca derived temperature reconstruction dates the 8.2 ka cooling event between ~ 8300 cal yr BP and ~ 8100 cal yr BP, which is similar to the timing and 160-yr duration recorded in the Greenland ice cores. The near-surface temperature drop of ~ 3 to 5°C during the 8.2 ka event was accompanied by lighter δ18Osw values. Synchronously to the changes in the geochemical proxies, the percentages of two Arctic benthic foraminifers increased and the percent calcium carbonate decreased. Our record, combined with several others from the region, suggests that the freshwater outburst spread far from the source into the high-latitude North Atlantic. This freshwater input could have directly caused substantial high-latitude cooling, with reduced North Atlantic Deep Water formation amplifying the climatic impact.

Keywords

Mg/Ca temperature calibrationCibicides lobatulus8.2 eventIcelandic shelfNorth AtlanticIrminger Current
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , November 2012 , pp. 528 - 539
Copyright
University of Washington

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