Distal and proximal controls on the silicon stable isotope signature of North Atlantic Deep Water
Distal and proximal controls on the silicon stable isotope signature of North Atlantic Deep Water
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DOI:
10.1016/j.epsl.2015.10.025
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发表时间:
2015-12
影响因子:
5.3
通讯作者:
G. F. D. Souza;R. Slater;M. Hain;M. Brzezinski;J. Sarmiento
中科院分区:
文献类型:
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作者:
G. F. D. Souza;R. Slater;M. Hain;M. Brzezinski;J. Sarmiento
It has been suggested that the uniquely highδ30Si signature of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) results from the contribution of isotopically fractionated silicic acid by mode and intermediate waters that are formed in the Southern Ocean and transported to the North Atlantic within the upper limb of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). Here, we test this hypothesis in a suite of ocean general circulation models (OGCMs) with widely varying MOCs and related pathways of nutrient supply to the upper ocean. Despite their differing MOC pathways, all models reproduce the observation of a highδ30Si signature in NADW, as well showing a major or dominant (46–62%) contribution from Southern Ocean mode/intermediate waters to its Si inventory. These models thus confirm that theδ30Si signature of NADW does indeed owe its existence primarily to the large-scale transport of a distal fractionation signal created in the surface Southern Ocean. However, we also find that more proximal fractionation of Si upwelled to the surface within the Atlantic Ocean must also play some role, contributing 20–46% of the deep Atlanticδ30Si gradient. Finally, the model suite reveals compensatory effects in the mechanisms contributing to the highδ30Si signature of NADW, whereby less export of high-δ30Si mode/intermediate waters to the North Atlantic is compensated by production of a high-δ30Si signal during transport to the NADW formation region. This trade-off decouples theδ30Si signature of NADW from the pathways of deep water upwelling associated with the MOC. Thus, whilst our study affirms the importance of cross-equatorial transport of Southern Ocean-sourced Si in producing the uniqueδ30Si signature of NADW, it also shows that the presence of a deep Atlanticδ30Si gradient does not uniquely constrain the pathways by which deep waters are returned to the upper ocean.