A re-examination of evidence for the North Atlantic “1500-year cycle” at Site 609

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.08.008

Quaternary Science Reviews

Volume 55, 8 November 2012, Pages 23-33

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.08.008 Get rights and content

Abstract

Ice-rafting evidence for a “1500-year cycle” sparked considerable debate on millennial-scale climate change and the role of solar variability. Here, we reinterpret the last 70,000 years of the subpolar North Atlantic record, focusing on classic DSDP Site 609, in the context of newly available raw data, the latest radiocarbon calibration (Marine09) and ice core chronology (GICC05), and a wider range of statistical methodologies. A ∼1500-year oscillation is primarily limited to the short glacial Stage 4, the age of which is derived solely from an ice flow model (ss09sea), subject to uncertainty, and offset most from the original chronology. Results from the most well-dated, younger interval suggest that the original 1500 ± 500 year cycle may actually be an admixture of the ∼1000 and ∼2000 cycles that are observed within the Holocene at multiple locations. In Holocene sections these variations are coherent with ¹⁴C and ¹⁰Be estimates of solar variability. Our new results suggest that the “1500-year cycle” may be a transient phenomenon whose origin could be due, for example, to ice sheet boundary conditions for the interval in which it is observed. We therefore question whether it is necessary to invoke such exotic explanations as heterodyne frequencies or combination tones to explain a phenomenon of such fleeting occurrence that is potentially an artifact of arithmetic averaging.

Highlights

► The last glacial chronology of DSDP Site 609 is updated to Marine09 and GICC05. ► Hematite stained grain cycles occur primarily at 1000- and 2000-year intervals. ► Variability is consistent with Holocene cosmogenic nuclide oscillations. ► 1500 is likely an artifact of arithmetic averaging with little statistical justification.

Introduction

The late Gerard Bond and colleagues reported from multiple locations across the North Atlantic a “1500-year cycle” in ice-rafted, hematite-stained grains (HSG) that appeared to pace the Dansgaard–Oeschger (D–O) Events prominent in the last-glacial interval of the GISP2 Greenland ice core (Bond and Lotti, 1995; Bond et al., 1997, 1999). The subsequent interpretation of solar forcing of HSG variability during the Holocene (Bond et al., 2001) stimulated substantial debate on the mechanisms of millennial variability, due in part to the lack of a corresponding 1500-year solar cycle. This body of work remains widely discussed, with the above-mentioned four manuscripts being cumulatively cited in excess of 3000 times.

Classic DSDP Site 609 (49° 52.7′ N, 24° 14.3′ W; 3884 mbsl), located on the upper–middle eastern flank of the Mid Atlantic Ridge within the “IRD Belt” of Ruddiman (1977), produced one of the more well-known HSG records (Fig. 1). In addition, this site was instrumental in linking Greenland air temperature with North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) fluctuations, as well as in demonstrating that D–O Events are bundled into progressively cooler interstadials that culminate in a large ice discharge (Heinrich Event) (Bond et al., 1992, 1993).

During IODP Exp. 303, Site 609 was reoccupied, and a continuous 355 m sequence was recovered from Site U1308 (Exp. 303 Scientists, 2006). Hodell et al. (2008) used grayscale variations to correlate the two sites, allowing for the transfer of the Site 609 age model to Site U1308. However, the utility of the Site 609 age model is currently limited due to its basis in older chronologies that have since undergone significant revision.

Therefore, in this manuscript we reinterpret the HSG record of DSDP Site 609 (Bond et al., 1999) in light of an improved chronology for the last glaciation, Marine Isotope Stages (MISs) 2–4. We 1) reassess the chronostratigraphic correlation between Site 609 and the Greenland ice core record, 2) improve the early-glacial chronology with the virtually complete North GRIP (NGRIP) ice core (NGRIP Project Members, 2004), and 3) temporally extend the late-glacial radiocarbon chronology with the most recent marine radiocarbon calibration curve (Reimer et al., 2009). We then 4) apply an age uncertainty model to this thoroughly updated chronology to evaluate the effects of age perturbations on cyclicity. Finally, we 5) make available the entire Site 609 dataset (see Supplemental Online Material) with the goal of enabling better global correlation to this important location.

Section snippets

Sources and significance of hematite stained grains

Over forty years ago, Paleozoic red beds in the area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which contain abundant hematite-cemented quartz sandstones (e.g., Belt, 1965), were proposed as a primary source for ferruginous sediments transported to the North Atlantic basin during Pleistocene glaciations (Heezen et al., 1966). Ericson et al. (1961) first described these sediments in western North Atlantic sediment cores during the early days of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory's “core a day” program.

Age model

We update the radiometrically-dated portion of the Site 609 age model to reflect recent improvements to the last glacial chronology provided by the Marine09 radiocarbon calibration (Reimer et al., 2009). Though the radiocarbon dating of Site 609 extends into MIS 3, the original chronology was based on only dates up to 19,340 ¹⁴C years that were converted to calendar ages using the calibration of Bard et al. (1993) and resulted in a maximum calendar age of 22,646 years BP (BP is relative to 1950

Site 609 updated chronology

Several errors in the original site 609 correlation to the Greenland ice record are corrected. The Bond et al. (1999) ties to GISP2 are not optimal and vary in relative phasing, resulting in individual lows in N. pachyderma (s) abundance (relatively warm SST) being inconsistently tied to Greenland stadials, interstadials, or transitions.

The age model presented here for Site 609 (Table 3) is adjusted slightly to optimize the fit between the radiocarbon and ice core derived ages. The youngest

Discussion

The absence of any identifiable external 1500-year forcing focused several efforts to explain such climate variability through ice-sheet modulation. Combination tones and heterodynes of centennial-scale cycles in inferred Holocene solar proxy records, such as directly observed sunspot cycles or atmospheric ¹⁴C production, could be combined to produce frequencies consistent with those observed in many glacial records, including 1/1470 years (e.g., Braun et al., 2005; Clemens, 2005). However, all

Conclusions

An updated chronology for classic DSDP Site 609 is based on the latest radiocarbon calibration (Marine09) and Greenland ice core chronology (GICC05). With this new age model, the hematite-stained grain (HSG) ice-rafting proxy, well known for displaying a “1500-year cycle,” exhibits primary variability at 1000- and 2000-year periods. Thus, the original 1476 ± 585 year result reported for Site 609 (Bond et al., 1999) is likely an admixture of one longer and one shorter cycle. Chronological

Acknowledgments

The scientific contributions of G.C. Bond sparked much fruitful debate on the nature of millennial climate. Rusty Lotti-Bond provided the full dataset for Site 609, without which this work would not have been possible. We are also indebted to P.A. Baker, B.J. Corliss, and G.S. Dwyer. The work contained in this manuscript was conducted at the University of Tokyo Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute (formerly the Ocean Research Institute) with funding from the JSPS (Kakenhi 23654080, 22101005,

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Citation Excerpt :
The ~1300-yr cycle could be related to the well-known quasi-period of 1500-yr. Though this cycle has not been detected as a solar cycle (Stuiver and Braziunas, 1993), it may derive from heterodynes of centennial-band solar cycles, which have been observed in the Holocene record of atmospheric 14C production (Clemens, 2005), and may be an admixture of the ~1000 and ~ 2000 solar cycles (Obrochta et al., 2012). Studies suggest these may be a result of the superposition of the ~87-yr and ~ 210-yr solar cycles (Braun et al., 2005).
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Invited paperA re-examination of evidence for the North Atlantic “1500-year cycle” at Site 609

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

Section snippets

Sources and significance of hematite stained grains

Age model

Site 609 updated chronology

Discussion

Conclusions

Acknowledgments

Quaternary Science Reviews

Marine Geology

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Quaternary Science Reviews

Quaternary Science Reviews

230Th–324U and 14C ages obtained by mass spectrometry on coral

Radiocarbon

Stratigraphy and paleogeography of Mabou Group and related Middle Carboniferous facies, Nova Scotia, Canada

Geological Society of America Bulletin

Climate correlations between Greenland and Antarctica during the past 100,000 years

Nature

Holocene periodicity in North Atlantic climate and deep-ocean flow south of Iceland

Nature

Iceberg discharges into the North-Atlantic on millennial time scales during the last glaciation

Science

A pervasive millennial-scale cycle in North Atlantic Holocene and glacial climates

Science

The North Atlantic's 1–2 kyr climate rhythm: relation to Heinrich events, Dansgaard/Oeschger cycles and the little ice age

Evidence for massive discharges of icebergs into the North-Atlantic ocean during the Last Glacial Period

Nature

Correlations between climate records from North-Atlantic sediments and Greenland Ice

Nature

Persistent solar influence on North Atlantic climate during the Holocene

Science

Possible solar origin of the 1470-year glacial climate cycle demonstrated in a coupled model

Nature

Late Holocene ∼1500 yr climatic periodicities and their implications

Geology

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The Journal of Geology

Assessing the sun–climate relationship in paleoclimate records

North Atlantic deep water cools the Southern Hemisphere

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Climates of the Past

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The DO-climate events are probably noise induced: statistical investigation of the claimed 1470 years cycle

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Invited paper
A re-examination of evidence for the North Atlantic “1500-year cycle” at Site 609

²³⁰Th–³²⁴U and ¹⁴C ages obtained by mass spectrometry on coral