The Continental Record of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3; ~60–25 ka) in Central Argentina: Evidence from Fluvial and Aeolian Sequences

Glaciogenic dust has a strong relationship with global climate and ocean biogeochemical processes especially during glacial periods, being a major source of nutrients, mainly iron, that increase marine productivity. Different studies have attributed higher marine paleoproductivity along the southwestern Atlantic during the last glacial period to fluvial inputs and upwelling, but the possible influence of continental dust on that process is still unknown. This paper presents evidence suggesting that eolian-sourced glaciogenic dust favored higher ocean productivity during the last glacial, recorded in three sediment cores obtained on the lower continental slope off southern Brazil (~29°-30°S, ~47°W) at water depths between 1,514 and 2,091 m. The sampled sediments are silt-dominated terrigenous siliciclastics, but higher proportions of sand-sized biogenic carbonate (mostly foraminifer tests) at intervals corresponding to the stadials MIS 4 and 2 and parts of the interstadial MIS 3 point to intervals of increased productivity, correlated with pulses of higher deflation of dust from southern South America as recorded in the EPICA Dome C ice core in Antarctica. It is proposed that glacial climate-driven increased eolian processes transported iron-bearing dust produced by the expanded Patagonian ice sheet up to the southwestern Atlantic, fueling higher phytoplankton productivity and thus favoring the proliferation of planktonic and benthic foraminifera recorded in the cores. Eventual anthropogenically-driven reduction of tropical-sourced summer rainfall reaching southern South America, driven by equatorial ocean warming and deforestation in the Amazon region, may increase dust deflation and thus affect ocean productivity along the southwestern Atlantic in the future.

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The Continental Record of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3; ~60–25 ka) in Central Argentina: Evidence from Fluvial and Aeolian Sequences

Cited by 2 publications

References 24 publications

A Last Glacial anuran assemblage from the inland Pampas of South America provides insights into climate and environments during marine isotope stage 3

A Last Glacial anuran assemblage from the inland Pampas of South America provides insights into climate and environments during marine isotope stage 3

Wind-blown continental dust as a fuel for paleoproductivity along the southwestern Atlantic Ocean during the last glacial period

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