title: Agulhas leakage as a key process in the modes of Quaternary climate changes.
abstract: Heat and salt transfer from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean (Agulhas leakage) has an important effect on the global thermohaline circulation and climate. The lack of long transfer record prevents elucidation of its role on climate changes throughout the Quaternary. Here, we present a 1,350-ka accumulation rate record of the planktic foraminiferal species Globorotalia menardii. We demonstrate that, according to previous assumptions, the presence and reseeding of this fauna in the subtropical southeast Atlantic was driven by interocean exchange south of Africa. The Agulhas transfer strengthened at glacial ice-volume maxima for every glacial-interglacial transition, with maximum reinforcements organized according to a 400-ka periodicity. The long-term dynamics of Agulhas leakage may have played a crucial role in regulating meridional overturning circulation and global climate changes during the Mid-Brunhes event and the Mid-Pleistocene transition, and could also play an important role in the near future.
authors.affiliation: University of Bordeaux, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5805, F-33400 Talence, France. t.caley@vu.nl
authors.forename: Thibaut
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Caley
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Giraudeau
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Malaizé
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rossignol
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pierre
mesh_terms: D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D057231:Climate Change / Q000266:history*; D056908:Foraminifera / Q000302:isolation & purification; D049690:History, Ancient; D006358:Hot Temperature; D019156:Indian Ocean; D012965:Sodium Chloride
chemical_list: D012965:Sodium Chloride