The recent completion of drilling at Vostok station in East Antarctica has allowed the extension of the ice record of atmospheric composition and climate to the past four glacial–interglacial cycles. The succession of changes through each climate cycle and termination was similar, and atmospheric and climate properties oscillated between stable bounds. Interglacial periods differed in temporal evolution and duration. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane correlate well with Antarctic air-temperature throughout the record. Present-day atmospheric burdens of these two important greenhouse gases seem to have been unprecedented during the past 420,000 years.

/pdf/climate-and-atmospheric-history-of-the-past-420-000-years-2jdtde1xna.pdf

Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica

Changes in oceanic primary production, linked to changes in the network of global biogeochemical cycles, have profoundly influenced the geochemistry of Earth for over 3 billion years. In the contemporary ocean, photosynthetic carbon fixation by marine phytoplankton leads to formation of approximately 45 gigatons of organic carbon per annum, of which 16 gigatons are exported to the ocean interior. Changes in the magnitude of total and export production can strongly influence atmospheric CO2 levels (and hence climate) on geological time scales, as well as set upper bounds for sustainable fisheries harvest. The two fluxes are critically dependent on geophysical processes that determine mixed-layer depth, nutrient fluxes to and within the ocean, and food-web structure. Because the average turnover time of phytoplankton carbon in the ocean is on the order of a week or less, total and export production are extremely sensitive to external forcing and consequently are seldom in steady state. Elucidating the biogeochemical controls and feedbacks on primary production is essential to understanding how oceanic biota responded to and affected natural climatic variability in the geological past, and will respond to anthropogenically influenced changes in coming decades. One of the most crucial feedbacks results from changes in radiative forcing on the hydrological cycle, which influences the aeolian iron flux and, in turn, affects nitrogen fixation and primary production in the oceans.

/pdf/biogeochemical-controls-and-feedbacks-on-ocean-primary-4zutq6flns.pdf

Biogeochemical controls and feedbacks on ocean primary production

Since the mid-1980s, our understanding of nutrient limitation of oceanic primary production has radically changed. Mesoscale iron addition experiments (FeAXs) have unequivocally shown that iron supply limits production in one-third of the world ocean, where surface macronutrient concentrations are perennially high. The findings of these 12 FeAXs also reveal that iron supply exerts controls on the dynamics of plankton blooms, which in turn affect the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, silicon, and sulfur and ultimately influence the Earth climate system. However, extrapolation of the key results of FeAXs to regional and seasonal scales in some cases is limited because of differing modes of iron supply in FeAXs and in the modern and paleo-oceans. New research directions include quantification of the coupling of oceanic iron and carbon biogeochemistry.

/pdf/mesoscale-iron-enrichment-experiments-1993-2005-synthesis-561ffqej8u.pdf

Mesoscale iron enrichment experiments 1993-2005 : Synthesis and future directions

Precise knowledge of the phase relationship between climate changes in the two hemispheres is a key for understanding the Earth's climate dynamics. For the last glacial period, ice core studies1, 2 have revealed strong coupling of the largest millennial-scale warm events in Antarctica with the longest Dansgaard–Oeschger events in Greenland3, 4, 5 through the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation6, 7, 8. It has been unclear, however, whether the shorter Dansgaard–Oeschger events have counterparts in the shorter and less prominent Antarctic temperature variations, and whether these events are linked by the same mechanism. Here we present a glacial climate record derived from an ice core from Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, which represents South Atlantic climate at a resolution comparable with the Greenland ice core records. After methane synchronization with an ice core from North Greenland9, the oxygen isotope record from the Dronning Maud Land ice core shows a one-to-one coupling between all Antarctic warm events and Greenland Dansgaard–Oeschger events by the bipolar seesaw6. The amplitude of the Antarctic warm events is found to be linearly dependent on the duration of the concurrent stadial in the North, suggesting that they all result from a similar reduction in the meridional overturning circulation.

/pdf/one-to-one-coupling-of-glacial-climate-variability-in-1z6xw3at0w.pdf

One-to-one coupling of glacial climate variability in Greenland and Antarctica.

Reactions on mineral dust.

Patagonian origin of glacial dust deposited in East Antarctica (Vostok and Dome C) during glacial stages 2, 4 and 6

He, Ar, O, Sr and Nd isotope constraints on the origin and evolution of Mount Etna magmatism

Fifteen visible volcanic ash layers (tephra) from Vostok ice cores have been analyzed for major elements, trace elements, and Sr and Nd isotope composition. Comparison of their geochemical signatures to lava composition from the inventory of Antarctic and subantarctic volcanoes, which have been active over the last 0.5 million years, indicates that nine layers originate from activity of the South Sandwich volcanic arc, three from southern South America, one from the Antarctic Peninsula (Bransfield Strait), and one from West Antarctica (Marie Byrd Land province). The large size of the tephra (up to 50 μm) requires rapid atmospheric transfer from the volcanic centers to East Antarctica. Rapid tropospheric transport from the southwestern Atlantic, penetrating East Antarctica, therefore predominates during the period studied, whether in glacial or interglacial climatic mode. In spite of the low frequency of occurrence of visible tephra layers in Vostok core (one event every 20 kyr), the overall atmospheric pathway of these ash events appears consistent with the almost continuous advection of continental dust from South America.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2000JD000102

Volcanic layers in Antarctic (Vostok) ice cores: Source identification and atmospheric implications

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Patagonian origin of glacial dust deposited in East Antarctica (Vostok and Dome C) during glacial stages 2, 4 and 6

He, Ar, O, Sr and Nd isotope constraints on the origin and evolution of Mount Etna magmatism

Volcanic layers in Antarctic (Vostok) ice cores: Source identification and atmospheric implications