• DOI:10.5194/BG-6-835-2009
• Corpus ID: 55232203

Rapid reorganization in ocean biogeochemistry off Peru towards the end of the Little Ice Age

@article{Age2008RapidRI,
  title={Rapid reorganization in ocean biogeochemistry off Peru towards the end of the Little Ice Age},
  author={Age. and Dimitri Guti{\'e}rrez and Abdelfettah Sifeddine and David Field and Luc Ortlieb and Gabriel Vargas and Francisco P. Chavez and Federico Velazco and Vicente Ferreira and Pedro M. Tapia and Renato Salvatteci and Hugues Boucher and Mar{\'i}a C Morales and Jorge Vald{\'e}s and J-L. Reyss and A. Campusano and Mohammed Boussafir and Magloire Mandeng-Yogo and Marcelo Garc{\'i}a and Timothy Robert. Baumgartner},
  journal={Biogeosciences},
  year={2008},
  volume={6},
  pages={835-848},
  url={https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:55232203}
}

• Age., D. Gutiérrez, +17 authors T. Baumgartner
• Published 29 September 2008
• Environmental Science, Geology
• Biogeosciences

Abstract. Climate and ocean ecosystem variability has been well recognized during the twentieth century but it is unclear if modern ocean biogeochemistry is susceptible to the large, abrupt shifts that characterized the Late Quaternary. Time series from marine sediments off Peru show an abrupt centennial-scale biogeochemical regime shift in the early nineteenth century, of much greater magnitude and duration than present day multi-decadal variability. A rapid expansion of the subsurface… 

Abstract. Climate and ocean ecosystem variability has been well recognized during the twentieth century but it is unclear if modern ocean biogeochemistry is susceptible to the large, abrupt shifts that characterized the Late Quaternary. Time series from marine sediments off Peru show an abrupt centennial-scale biogeochemical regime shift in the early nineteenth century, of much greater magnitude and duration than present day multi-decadal variability. A rapid expansion of the subsurface nutrient-rich, oxygen-depleted waters resulted in the present-day higher biological productivity, including pelagic fish. The shift was likely driven by a northward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and the South Pacific Subtropical High to their present day locations, coupled with a strengthening of Walker circulation, towards the end of the Little Ice Age. These findings reveal the potential for large reorganizations in tropical Pacific climate with immediate effects on ocean biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem structure.