Abstract
The interocean transfer of thermocline water between the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans known as ‘Agulhas leakage’ is of global significance as it influences the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) on different time scales. Variability in the Agulhas Current regime is key in shaping hydroclimate on the adjacent coastal areas of the African continent today as well as during past climates. However, the lack of long, continuous records from the proximal Agulhas Current region dating beyond the last glacial cycle prevents elucidation of its role in regional and wider global climate changes. This is the first continuous record of hydrographic variability (SST; δ18Osw) from the Agulhas Current core region spanning the past 270,000 years. The data set is analytical sound and provides a solid age model. As such, it can be used by paleoclimate scientists, archaeologists, and climate modelers to evaluate, for example, linkages between the Agulhas Current system and AMOC dynamics, as well as connections between ocean heat transport and Southern African climate change in the past and its impact on human evolution.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 385 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Scientific data |
| Volume | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 11 Nov 2020 |
Funding
We acknowledge funding from the European Commission 7th Framework Marie Curie People programme FP7/2007–2013 through funding of the Initial Training Network “GATEWAYS” (www.gateways itn.eu) under grant 238512 which funded the initial establishment of this data set. This work was partly supported by the Research Council of Norway, through its Centres of Excellence funding scheme, SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), project number 262618. We thank Rainer Zahn, the captain, officers, and crew of RRS Charles Darwin cruise number 154, for which I.H. also gratefully acknowledges funding support from the Natural Environment Research Council. Furthermore, we acknowledge funding from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) which supported the RISE (Research Internships in Science and Engineering) internship placement of Elisa Spreitzer who assisted together with Sebastian Steinig in carrying out laboratory and analytical work on core material CD154 10-06 P. Alexandra Nederbragt, Lindsey Owen, and Anabel Morte-Ródenas provided technical support with the isotope and trace element analysis at Cardiff University.
