Southern Ocean evidence for recurring West Antarctic Ice Sheet destabilization during Marine Isotope Stage 11.

ABSTRACT: Millennial-scale deoxygenation of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) in the Atlantic Southern Ocean during past interglacials was linked to West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) melt-driven suppression of dense water formation along the Antarctic margin. However, the circum-Antarctic extent of these 'AABW stagnation events' and drivers of WAIS retreat remain unclear. Here, we identify recurring bottom water O₂ minima in the central Pacific Southern Ocean during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 (424-374 ka ago) that are synchronous with their Atlantic Southern Ocean counterparts. As they (partially) align with Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) warming above present-day levels and/or a reorganization of deep-ocean circulation, we postulate recurring and synchronized Pacific-Atlantic AABW perturbatio

SUBMITTER: Jebasinski L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12528459 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature