Increased fluvial runoff terminated inorganic aragonite precipitation on the Northwest Shelf of Australia during the early Holocene.

Inorganic precipitation of aragonite is a common process within tropical carbonate environments. Across the Northwest Shelf of Australia (NWS) such precipitates were abundant in the late Pleistocene, whereas present-day sedimentation is dominated by calcitic bioclasts. This study presents sedimentological and geochemical analyses of core data retrieved from the upper 13 meters of IODP Site U1461 that provide a high-resolution sedimentary record of the last ~15 thousand years. Sediments that formed from 15 to 10.1 ka BP are aragonitic and characterised by small needles (<5 µm) and ooids. XRF elemental proxy data indicate that these sediments developed under arid conditions in which high marine alkalinity favoured carbonate precipitation. A pronounced change of XRF-proxy values around 10.1 ka BP indicates a transition to a more humid climate and elevated fluvial runoff. This climatic change coincides with a shelf-wide cessation of inorganic aragonite production and a switch to carbonate sedimentation dominated by skeletal calcite. High ocean water alkalinity due to an arid climate and low fluvial runoff therefore seems to be a prerequisite for the formation of shallow water aragonite-rich sediments on the NWS. These conditions are not necessarily synchronous to interglacial periods, but are linked to the regional hydrological cycle.

A sea-level plateau preceding the Marine Isotope Stage 2 minima revealed by Australian sediments.

Further understanding of past climate requires a robust estimate of global ice volume fluctuations that in turn rely on accurate global sea-level reconstructions. An advantage of Marine Isotope Stage 2 (MIS 2) is the availability of suitable material for radiocarbon dating to allow comparison of sea-level data with other paleoclimatic proxies. However, the number and accuracy of sea-level records during MIS 2 is currently lacking. Here we present the history of MIS 2 eustatic sea-level change as recorded in the Bonaparte Gulf, northwestern Australia by reconstructing relative sea level and then modeling glacial isostatic adjustment. The isostatically-corrected global sea-level history indicates that sea-level plateaued from 25.9 to 20.4 cal kyr BP (modeled median probability) prior reaching its minimum (19.7 to 19.1 cal kyr BP). Following the plateau, we detect a 10-m global sea-level fall over ~1,000 years and a short duration of the Last Glacial Maximum (global sea-level minimum; 19.7 to 19.1 cal kyr BP). These large changes in ice volume over such a short time indicates that the continental ice sheets never reached their isostatic equilibrium during the Last Glacial Maximum.

Australian shelf sediments reveal shifts in Miocene Southern Hemisphere westerlies.

Global climate underwent a major reorganization when the Antarctic ice sheet expanded ~14 million years ago (Ma) (1). This event affected global atmospheric circulation, including the strength and position of the westerlies and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), and, therefore, precipitation patterns (2-5). We present new shallow-marine sediment records from the continental shelf of Australia (International Ocean Discovery Program Sites U1459 and U1464) providing the first empirical evidence linking high-latitude cooling around Antarctica to climate change in the (sub)tropics during the Miocene. We show that Western Australia was arid during most of the Middle Miocene. Southwest Australia became wetter during the Late Miocene, creating a climate gradient with the arid interior, whereas northwest Australia remained arid throughout. Precipitation and river runoff in southwest Australia gradually increased from 12 to 8 Ma, which we relate to a northward migration or intensification of the westerlies possibly due to increased sea ice in the Southern Ocean (5). Abrupt aridification indicates that the westerlies shifted back to a position south of Australia after 8 Ma. Our midlatitude Southern Hemisphere data are consistent with the inference that expansion of sea ice around Antarctica resulted in a northward movement of the westerlies. In turn, this may have pushed tropical atmospheric circulation and the ITCZ northward, shifting the main precipitation belt over large parts of Southeast Asia (4).