Glacial-age hydrography of the far northwest Pacific Ocean

Stable isotope data on benthic foraminifera from more than 30 cores on the northern Emperor Seamounts and in the Okhotsk Sea are synthesized in paleohydrographic profiles spanning the depth range 1000-4000 m. Holocene (core-top) benthic foraminiferal delta(18)O and delta(13)C data are calibrated to modern hydrographic properties through measurements of delta(13)C of Sigma CO2 and delta(18)O of seawater. Cibicidoides stable isotope ratios are close to the delta(13)C and equilibrium delta(18)O of seawater, whereas Uvigerina delta(18)O and delta(13)C are variably offset from Cibicidoides. Glacial maximum delta(13)C of Cibicidoides displays a different vertical profile than that of the Holocene. When results are adjusted by +0.32 parts per thousand to account for the secular change in delta(13)C during the last glacial maximum, the data coincide with the modern seawater and foraminiferal curves deeper than similar to 2 km. However, at shallower depths delta(13)C gradually increases by as much as 1 parts per thousand above the modern value. Furthermore, above 2 km the benthic delta(18)O decreases by similar to 0.5 parts per thousand. These results are consistent with a benthic front at similar to 2 km in the North Pacific [see Herguera et al., 1992], but they differ from interpretations based on trace metal data which indicate a source of nutrient-depleted deep water during glaciation. The isotopic data suggest that during glaciation there was a better ventilated watermass at intermediate depths in the far northwestern Pacific, it was relatively fresher than deep waters there, and deep waters were as nutrient-rich as today.