Changes in sea surface and subsurface temperature in the southeastern South Atlantic during MIS 11 and Termination V: assessing seawater temperature through Mg/Ca analysis

• Grant number: 24/18812-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: January 12, 2025
• End date: June 26, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences
• Principal Investigator: Marília de Carvalho Campos Garcia
• Grantee: Breno de Souza Marques
• Supervisor: Andre Bahr
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IG). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Heidelberg University, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/00180-3 - Changes in sea surface salinity in the South Atlantic during MIS 11 and Termination V, BP.MS

Abstract

The glacial termination that occurred around 400 thousand years ago (i.e. Termination V) culminated in the interglacial know as Marine Isotope Stage 11 (MIS11), during which the Earth's mean temperature was 2°C warmer than the pre-industrial era. Considering the internationally recognized target to limit current global warming to 'well below 2°C', Termination V and MIS11 provide an excellent case study to offer insights into the behavior of key components of the climate system under conditions leading to a 2°C warmer planet. In this context, the upper South Atlantic plays a crucial role, acting as a vast heat and salt reservoir. Additionally, it is part of the upper branch of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), transferring warm, salty waters from the Indian and Pacific oceans to the North Atlantic. Indian Ocean waters enter the South Atlantic through its southeastern (SE) portion, carried by the Agulhas Leakage current. However, the scarcity of paleoceanographic records with sufficient temporal resolution hampers a detailed investigation of this inflow during Termination V and MIS 11. Here, we propose to reconstruct changes in Agulhas Leakage current across Termination V and MIS 11. To achieve this, sea surface and subsurface temperatures will be determined via Mg/Ca analysis performed on planktonic foraminiferal tests obtained from a SE South Atlantic marine sediment core.