La dynamique de la thermocline Equatoriale Pacifique est en grande partie modulée par des phénomènes climatiques majeurs tels que l'ENSO ou la mousson indo asiatique. Nous utilisons des fossiles de deux morphotypes de l'espèce de foraminifères planctoniques Globigerinoides ruber comme traceurs de la stratification à la bordure Sud du Pacifique Ouest Equatorial, afin de retracer la dynamique climatique de cette région durant les derniers 800 000 ans. Nos résultats mettent en évidence un battement de la thermocline Pacifique en réponse aux variations Glaciaire /Interglaciaire, en relation avec les hautes latitudes. Lors des périodes glaciaires, la gyre subtropicale Sud renforcée permet le transport d'eaux froides venues de l'Antarctique vers le Pacifique Ouest. Ce mécanisme s'est progressivement intensifié depuis 800 000 ans en réponse à l'augmentation de l'amplitude de l'obliquité de l'orbite terrestre. L'étude morphologique des deux morphotypes de Globigerinoides ruber en réponse aux changements climatiques des derniers 800 000 ans, montre que la forme des tests est influencée par les changements environnementaux à l'échelle Glaciaire/Interglaciaire. Ces résultats suggèrent également que ces deux populations ont des exigences écologiques distinctes, permettant de les utiliser comme proxy de la stratification. La calibration mono-morphotypique pour les paléotempératures issues du Mg/Ca a également montré qu'il ne semble pas y avoir de différence de thermodépendance du Magnésium entre ces deux populations. / The Equatorial West Pacific thermocline dynamic is strongly modulated by climatic phenomenon as the ENSO and the Indo Asiatic monsoon. Here we use fossils of two morphotypes of the same planktonic foraminifera species, Globigerinoides ruber, from the Southern edge of the Western Equatorial Pacific as proxy of paleostratification, in order to track climate changes since the last 800 000 years. Our results show a regular beating of the Equatorial Pacific thermocline in response to Glacial/ Interglacial changes connected to the high latitudes. During glacials, the reinforced South subtropical gyre increases the advection of cold waters from the Antarctic to the West Pacific. This mechanism was progressively intensified by the increasing obliquity amplitude since 800 000 years. The morphometric study of the two morphotypes of Globigerinoides ruber indicates that the test shape responses to environmental changes at Glacial/Interglacial time scale. Furthermore these results suggest that those two populations have distinct environmental requirements, allowing to uses them as proxy of stratification. The mono-morphotypic calibration for Mg/Ca derived-paleotemperatures indicates that there is no specific thermodependance of magnesium between the two morphotypes.

The objective of this project is to reconstruct a picture of initial Laurentide Ice Sheet retreat at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) using geochemical proxies in Gulf of Mexico sediments, and place the reconstruction into global perspective. The project asks two questions. (1) Can a time frame be established for initial retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet? (2) If so, how does the timing compare to that of other large ice sheets and mountain glaciers in both hemispheres? Sediment core MD02-2550 from the anoxic Orca Basin offers excellent preservation and a high sediment accumulation rate. Twelve accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dates provide very good age control from 18.36 - 23.88 ka, the transitional period from glacial to deglacial conditions. Paired Mg/Ca and d18O from the planktonic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber (pink variety) were combined with a matching record from the upper half of the same core from a previous study (Williams et al., 2010), expanding the record to 10.73 - 23.86 ka. Sea surface temperature (SST) derived from Mg/Ca exhibits a mean value of 23.0 ± 0.8°C through the LGM (18.4-23.9 ka), ~3.9°C below the modern summer mean. At 18.4 ka, mean values drop in an anomalous cold snap, exhibiting a mean of 21.7°C that lasted until 17.8 ka. At 17.8 ka, SST begins a recovery warming toward present day conditions. This warming occurs markedly early relative to the onset of the Bølling-Allerød warm period, known best from Greenland ice core records. The d18O of seawater exhibits no sustained shift toward more depleted values that would be consistent with a single major surge of initial meltwater. Instead, d18Osw appears to have been over 1.5 per mil below the modern mean throughout the LGM, persisting through the early deglacial period, and not shifting toward more positive values until well into the Younger Dryas. The corresponding salinity estimates were likewise ~2 psu lower than modern surface waters. Several negative excursions (~1 per mil) during the LGM and deglaciation coincide with millennial-scale retreats of individual lobes along the southern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. These retreats and re-advances have previously been suggested to mirror small short-term excursions in Greenland ice core d18O, that reflects air temperature changes. The consistently depleted d18Osw-ivc values and corresponding salinity estimates through the LGM require a mechanism to create a steady-state lower salinity environment in the northern Gulf of Mexico during the LGM, which would persist as SST changed.

Studies of planktic foraminifers have been, and continue to be, very important to paleoceanographic reconstructions and are dependent on the integrity of the carbonate tests. This study investigates the methods and procedures that can be used to obtain an accurate planktic foraminifer assemblage. Samples from Orca Basin boxcore OB-BC4D were processed and examined to obtain census data on planktic foraminifers. Experimentation of the splitting technique demonstrates the method is acceptable for estimating a planktic foraminifer assemblage. The effects of a sonication step in the processing of the faunal assemblage were also examined and revealed that sonication is not recommended for processing planktic foraminifers for faunal-assemblage analyses. Census data revealed downcore variation in the foraminifer species and intervals of increased dissolution over the last 1000 years.