Palaeoproductivity in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, during the last 15 kyr BP and its link with ice-core temperature proxies

ABSTRACT. A detailed study of organic carbon content obtained from two sediment cores collected in the Joides basin, western Ross Sea, Antarctica, was carried out. The variations observed during the last deglaciation and the Holocene were compared to the high-resolution climatic records (EPICA DC and Taylor Dome) preserved in the ice. The importance of the carbon content as a proxy for palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental changes was investigated. A dramatic decrease in the Ross Sea palaeoproductivity was observed during the Antarctic Cold Reversal (12.5–14 kyr BP). In the second half of the Holocene (after 5–6 kyr BP) another decrease in total organic carbon confirms the climate worsening observed in previous studies.