A study of neodymium isotopes in coral skeletons from the Drake Passage finds that around 6,000-7,000 years ago, water masses from the Pacific Ocean infiltrated the Southern Ocean, likely due to a weakening of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds; the sensitive response of ocean circulation to atmospheric circulation in the past may foretell the effects of future climate change on the Southern Ocean, according to the authors.
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Article #19-08138: "Middle Holocene expansion of Pacific Deep Water into the Southern Ocean," by Torben Struve, David J. Wilson, Tina van de Flierdt, Naomi Pratt, and Kirsty C. Crocket.
MEDIA CONTACT: Torben Struve, University of Oldenburg, GERMANY; e-mail: t.struve@icbm.de
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences