Abstract
For at least 20 years palaeoceanographers have speculated about the existence of a source of young (nutrient-depleted) deep water in the North Pacific (NPDW) during glaciations. Proof of its existence has eluded researchers because the present deep North Pacific is very corrosive to calcium carbonate. Thus, it has been difficult to obtain a long time series of oxygen isotope data on benthic foraminifera for dating the sediment, and carbon isotope data for use as a proxy for deep water nutrient content. I report here on a stable isotope record from a western subarctic Pacific core taken at 3 km water depth. The carbon isotope ratios in the benthic foraminifera Cibicidoides show no evidence of nutrient-depleted NPDW from glacial to Holocene time.
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Keigwin, L. North Pacific deep water formation during the latest glaciation. Nature 330, 362–364 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/330362a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/330362a0
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