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Ocean
Circulation, Oxygen
and Nutrient Cycles During the Last Glacial |
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Overview The correlation between glacial Indian
and Pacific Ocean sediments that document oxygen minimum zones and abrupt
changes in the glacial North Atlantic climate on millennial time scales is
among the most spectacular manifestations of global climate teleconnections. Nitrogen
isotope ratios in organic matter provide a window into changes in the ocean's
oxygen minimum zones, because they respond to denitrification. We will
address the dynamics of oxygen minimum zones in global climate change by
embedding a model of nitrogen isotope δ15N cycling in an existing coupled
ocean-atmosphere-sea ice model of intermediate complexity that includes
biogeochemistry, and is capable of multi-millennial runs. Simulations with
this model and comparison with the marine geological record will provide new
and important insights on mechanisms controlling past changes in ocean
circulation, productivity, oxygen and nutrient cycling. Funded by the Marine Geology and Geophysics Program of the
National Science Foundation |
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