During the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT; 1,200–800 kya), Earth’s orbitally paced ice age cycles intensified, lengthened from ~40,000 (~40 ky) to ~100 ky, and became distinctly asymmetrical. Testing hypotheses that implicate changing atmospheric CO2 levels as a driver of the MPT has proven difficult with available observations. Here, we use orbitally resolved, boron isotope CO2 data to show that the glacial to interglacial CO2 difference increased from ~43 to ~75 μatm across the MPT, mainly because of lower glacial CO2 levels. Through carbon cycle modeling, we attribute this decline primarily to the initiation of substantive dust-borne iron fertilization of the Southern Ocean during peak glacial stages. We also observe a twofold steepening of the relationship between sea level and CO2-related climate forcing that is suggestive of a change in the dynamics that govern ice sheet stability, such as that expected from the removal of subglacial regolith or interhemispheric ice sheet phase-locking. We argue that neither ice sheet dynamics nor CO2 change in isolation can explain the MPT. Instead, we infer that the MPT was initiated by a change in ice sheet dynamics and that longer and deeper post-MPT ice ages were sustained by carbon cycle feedbacks related to dust fertilization of the Southern Ocean as a consequence of larger ice sheets.
Chalk, T.B., Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom, Department of Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods HoleMA 02543, United States; Hain, M.P., Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom; Foster, G.L., Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom; Rohling, E.J., Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom, Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, Australia; Sexton, P.F., School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom; Badger, M.P.S., School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom, Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Chemistry, Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TS, United Kingdom; Cherry, S.G., Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom; Hasenfratz, A.P., Geologisches, Institut, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland; Haug, G.H., Max Planck Institut für Chemie, Mainz, 55128, Germany; Jaccard, S.L., Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, 3012, Switzerland, Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, 3012, Switzerland; Martínez-García, A., Max Planck Institut für Chemie, Mainz, 55128, Germany; Pälike, H., Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom, Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM), University of Bremen, Bremen, 28359, Germany; Pancost, R.D., Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Chemistry, Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TS, United Kingdom; Wilson, P.A., Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom
Recommended Citation:
Chalk T.B.,Hain M.P.,Foster G.L.,et al. Causes of ice age intensification across the mid-pleistocene transition[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,2017-01-01,114(50)