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Paleomagnetic, rock magnetic, or geomagnetic data found in the MagIC data repository from a paper titled: A Geochemical Mechanism for >10 m Apparent Downward Offsets of Magnetic Reversals Inferred From Comparison of Two Scotia Sea Drill Sites 

Abstract Geochemical records generated from the calcite tests of benthic foraminifera, especially those of the generaCibicidoidesandUvigerina, provide the basis for proxy reconstructions of past climate. However, the extent to which benthic foraminifera are affected by postdepositional alteration is poorly constrained. Furthermore, how diagenesis may alter the geochemical composition of benthic foraminiferal tests, and thereby biasing a variety of proxy‐based climate records, is also poorly constrained. We present the Foraminiferal Preservation Index (FPI) as a new metric to quantify preservation quality based on objective, well‐defined criteria. The FPI is used to identify and quantify trends in diagenesis temporally, from late Pliocene to modern coretop samples (3.3–0 Ma), as well as spatially in the deep ocean. The FPI identifies the chemical composition of deep‐ocean water masses to be the primary driver of diagenesis through time, while also serving as a supplementary method of identifying periods of changing water mass influence at a given site. Additionally, we present stable isotope data (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C) generated from individualCibicidoidesspecimens of various preservation quality that demonstrate the likelihood of significant biasing in a variety of geochemical proxy records, especially those used to reconstruct past changes in ice volume and sea level. These single‐test data further demonstrate that when incorporating carefully selected tests of only the highest preservation quality, robust paleorecords can be generated. 

During the last interglacial (LIG) period, global mean sea level (GMSL) was higher than at present, likely driven by greater high-latitude insolation. Past sea-level estimates require elevation measurements and age determination of marine sediments that formed at or near sea level, and those elevations must be corrected for glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). However, this GIA correction is subject to uncertainties in the GIA model inputs, namely, Earth’s rheology and past ice history, which reduces precision and accuracy in estimates of past GMSL. To better constrain the GIA process, we compare our data and existing LIG sea-level data across the Bahamian archipelago with a suite of 576 GIA model predictions. We calculated weights for each GIA model based on how well the model fits spatial trends in the regional sea-level data and then used the weighted GIA corrections to revise estimates of GMSL during the LIG. During the LIG, we find a 95% probability that global sea level peaked at least 1.2 m higher than today, and it is very unlikely (5% probability) to have exceeded 5.3 m. Estimates increase by up to 30% (decrease by up to 20%) for portions of melt that originate from the Greenland ice sheet (West Antarctic ice sheet). Altogether, this work suggests that LIG GMSL may be lower than previously assumed. 

Abstract Antarctica is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change on Earth and studying the past and present responses of this polar marine ecosystem to environmental change is a matter of urgency. Sedimentary ancient DNA ( sed aDNA) analysis can provide such insights into past ecosystem-wide changes. Here we present authenticated (through extensive contamination control and sed aDNA damage analysis) metagenomic marine eukaryote sed aDNA from the Scotia Sea region acquired during IODP Expedition 382. We also provide a marine eukaryote sed aDNA record of ~1 Mio. years and diatom and chlorophyte sed aDNA dating back to ~540 ka (using taxonomic marker genes SSU, LSU, psbO ). We find evidence of warm phases being associated with high relative diatom abundance, and a marked transition from diatoms comprising <10% of all eukaryotes prior to ~14.5 ka, to ~50% after this time, i.e., following Meltwater Pulse 1A, alongside a composition change from sea-ice to open-ocean species. Our study demonstrates that sed aDNA tools can be expanded to hundreds of thousands of years, opening the pathway to the study of ecosystem-wide marine shifts and paleo-productivity phases throughout multiple glacial-interglacial cycles. 

The causal effects among uplift, climate, and continental weathering cannot be fully addressed using presently available geochemical proxies. However, stable potassium (K) isotopes can potentially overcome the limitations of existing isotopic proxies. Here we report on a systematic investigation of K isotopes in dissolved load and sediments from major rivers and their tributaries in China, which have drainage basins with varied climate, lithology, and topography. Our results show that during silicate weathering, heavy K isotopes are preferentially partitioned into aqueous solutions. Moreover, δ⁴¹K values of riverine dissolved load vary remarkably and correlate negatively with the chemical weathering intensity of the drainage basin. This correlation allows an estimate of the average K isotope composition of global riverine runoff (δ⁴¹K = −0.22‰), as well as modeling of the global K cycle based on mass balance calculations. Modeling incorporating K isotope mass balance better constrains estimated K fluxes for modern global K cycling, and the results show that the δ⁴¹K value of seawater is sensitive to continental weathering intensity changes. Thus, it is possible to use the δ⁴¹K record of paleo-seawater to infer continental weathering intensity through Earth’s history. 

Abstract Quantifying variability in, and identifying the mechanisms behind, East Asian dust production and transport across the last several million years is essential for constraining future dust emissions and deposition. Our current understanding of East Asian dust dynamics through the Quaternary is primarily limited to low‐resolution records from the North Pacific Ocean, those from the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), and paleoenvironmental reconstructions from arid basins. All are susceptible to sediment winnowing and focusing as well as input of poorly constrained or unidentified non‐dust detrital material. To avoid these limitations, we examine high‐resolution, constant flux proxy‐derived dust fluxes from the North Pacific and find evidence for higher glacial dust fluxes in the late Pliocene‐early Pleistocene compared to the late Pleistocene‐Holocene. Our results suggest decreasing dust transported to the mid‐latitude North Pacific Ocean from eastern Asia across the Quaternary. This observation is ostensibly at odds with previous dust records from marine sediments and the CLP, and with the perception of higher East Asian dust production and transport during the late Pleistocene associated with the amplification of glaciations. We provide three possible scenarios to describe the ∼2,700‐ky evolution of eastern Asia glacial dust dynamics, and discuss them in the context of sediment production, availability, and atmospheric circulation. Our data and proposed driving mechanisms not only raise questions about the framework typically used to interpret dust archives from East Asia and the North Pacific Ocean, but also provide a roadmap for hypothesis testing and future work necessary to produce better‐constrained records of paleo‐dust fluxes. 

Abstract Ice loss in the Southern Hemisphere has been greatest over the past 30 years in West Antarctica. The high sensitivity of this region to climate change has motivated geologists to examine marine sedimentary records for evidence of past episodes of West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) instability. Sediments accumulating in the Scotia Sea are useful to examine for this purpose because they receive iceberg‐rafted debris (IBRD) sourced from the Pacific‐ and Atlantic‐facing sectors of West Antarctica. Here we report on the sedimentology and provenance of the oldest of three cm‐scale coarse‐grained layers recovered from this sea at International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1538. These layers are preserved in opal‐rich sediments deposited ∼1.2 Ma during a relatively warm regional climate. Our microCT‐based analysis of the layer's in‐situ fabric confirms its ice‐rafted origin. We further infer that it is the product of an intense but short‐lived episode of IBRD deposition. Based on the petrography of its sand fraction and the Phanerozoic⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of hornblende and mica it contains, we conclude that the IBRD it contains was likely sourced from the Weddell Sea and/or Amundsen Sea embayment(s) of West Antarctica. We attribute the high concentrations of IBRD in these layers to “dirty” icebergs calved from the WAIS following its retreat inland from its modern grounding line. These layers also sit at the top of a ∼366‐m thick Pliocene and early Pleistocene sequence that is much more dropstone‐rich than its overlying sediments. We speculate this fact may reflect that WAIS mass‐balance was highly dynamic during the ∼41‐kyr (inter)glacial world. 

Abstract Early Pleistocene Marine Isotope Stage (MIS)‐31 (1.081–1.062 Ma) is a unique interval of extreme global warming, including evidence of a West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) collapse. Here we present a new 1,000‐year resolution, spanning 1.110–1.030 Ma, diatom‐based reconstruction of primary productivity, relative sea surface temperature changes, sea‐ice proximity/open ocean conditions and diatom species absolute abundances during MIS‐31, from the Scotia Sea (59°S) using deep‐sea sediments collected during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 382. The lower Jaramillo magnetic reversal (base of C1r.1n, 1.071 Ma) provides a robust and independent time‐stratigraphic marker to correlate records from other drill cores in the Antarctic Zone of the Southern Ocean (AZSO). An increase in open ocean speciesFragilariopsis kerguelensisin early MIS‐31 at 53°S (Ocean Drilling Program Site 1,094) correlates with increased obliquity forcing, whereas at 59°S (IODP Site U1537; this study) three progressively increasing, successive peaks in the relative abundance ofF. kerguelensiscorrelate with Southern Hemisphere‐phased precession pacing. These observations reveal a complex pattern of ocean temperature change and sustained sea surface temperature increase lasting longer than a precession cycle within the Atlantic sector of the AZSO. Timing of an inferred WAIS collapse is consistent with delayed warmth (possibly driven by sea‐ice dynamics) in the southern AZSO, supporting models that indicate WAIS sensitivity to local sub‐ice shelf melting. Anthropogenically enhanced impingement of relatively warm water beneath the ice shelves today highlights the importance of understanding dynamic responses of the WAIS during MIS‐31, a warmer than Holocene interglacial.