LATE PLEISTOCENE PALEOCEANOGRAPHY OF THE SOUTH-ATLANTIC SECTOR OF THE SOUTHERN-OCEAN - OCEAN DRILLING PROGRAM HOLE-704A

Isotopic and sedimentologic data from Ocean Drilling Program hole 704A suggest that isotopic stages 7, 9, and 11 were marked by unusually strong interglacial conditions in surface waters of the southern ocean. During interglacial stages 9 and 11, warm surface waters penetrated far poleward and may have led to destabilization of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. In contrast, the strongest glacial conditions in surface waters of the subantarctic South Atlantic occurred during oxygen isotopic stage 12. Comparisons of benthic carbon isotopic gradients between sites located in the North Atlantic, southern ocean, and Pacific indicate that the production of upper North Atlantic Deep Water (uNADW) was strongest during stages 7, 9, and 11 and weakest during stage 12. These results suggest a possible link between the flux of uNADW and paleoceanographic change in the southern ocean and support the traditional NADW-Antarctic connection whereby increased NADW leads to warming of the southern ocean.