Closer to the present, large changes in marine productivity have been inferred from the Neogene to Pleistocene
glacial-interglacial cycles (e.g., Schmiedl and Mackensen,
1997; Diester-Haass et al., 2005; Loubere et al., 2011;
Murray et al., 2012). These have been ascribed to changes
in exchange between the deep and upper ocean (primarily
in the Southern Ocean), change in strength of winds that
induce upwelling in tropical regions, or fluctuating supply
of micronutrients like iron. There is currently disagreement on the relative importance of the local, wind-related,
and more distant, ocean circulation-related factors in productivity change.
Variation in exchange between the deep and surface
ocean on the glacial-interglacial timescale provides a
mechanism for explaining why atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have changed in step with climate
change (and, indeed, helped cause it; Toggweiler, 1999).
Another possible explanation is change in the relative
fluxes of carbonate and non-carbonate biological material
produced in the upper ocean and delivered to the deep sea
(Matsumoto et al., 2002). A shift toward a higher ratio of
organic carbon to carbonate in the sinking biogenic matter
of the oceans could provide lower atmospheric carbon
dioxide concentrations during glacial intervals. This
requires a change in the relative production of different
materials by the ocean’s planktonic organisms. There is
some evidence that this happened (Richaud et al., 2007).
Summary
Biological production in the oceans generates a complex
mix of materials, much of which is recycled near the
ocean’s surface, but some of which sinks into the deep
sea and influences global climate, as well as generates a
record of past production. Tracking the history of the
major components of production has only been partly
accomplished due to complications with interpretation of
that record. Nevertheless, the evidence, at least qualitatively, shows clearly that oceanic biological production
has been variable in the past in ways linked to global climate and oceanographic conditions.
Bibliography
Anderson, R., and Winckler, G., 2005. Problems with paleoproductivity proxies. Paleoceanography, 20(3), PA 3012,
doi:10.1029/2004PA001107.
Antia, A., Koeve, W., Fischer, G., Blanz, T., Schulz-Bull, D., et al.,
2001. Basin-wide particulate carbon flux in the Atlantic Ocean:
regional export patterns and potential for atmospheric CO 2
sequestration. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 15(4), 845–862.
Berger, W., 1992. Pacific carbonate cycles revisited: arguments for
and against productivity control. In Ishizaki, K., and Saito,
T. (eds.), Centenary of Japanese Micropaleontology. Tokyo:
Terra Science, pp. 15–25.
Berger, W. H., and Wefer, G., 2008. Marine biogenic sediments. In
Gornitz, V. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient
Environments. Amsterdam: Springer, pp. 525–533.
Boyd, P. W., et al., 2007. Mesoscale iron enrichment experiments
1993–2005: synthesis and future directions. Science, 315,
612–617, doi:10.1126/science.1131669.
Coxall, H., D’Hondt, S., and Zachos, J., 2006. Pelagic evolution and
environmental recovery after the cretaceous-paleogene mass
extinction. Geology, 34, 297–300.
Diester-Haass, L., Billups, K., and Emeis, K., 2005. In search of the
late miocene early-pliocene “biogenic bloom” in the Atlantic
Ocean (Ocean Drilling Program Sites 982, 925 and 1088).
Paleoceanography, 20, PA4001.
Dittert, N., Baumann, K., Bickert, T., Henrich, R., Huber, R.,
Kinkel, H., and Meggers, H., 1999. Carbonate dissolution in
the deep-sea: methods, quantification and paleoceanographic
application. In Fischer, G., and Wefer, G. (eds.), Use of Proxies
in Paleoceanography. Berlin: Springer, pp. 255–284.
Filippelli, G., 2002. The global phosphorus cycle. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 48, 391–425.
Fischer, G., and Wefer, G. (eds.), 1999. Paleoproductivity and
Nutrients, Use of Proxies in Paleoceanography. Berlin:
Springer, pp. 315–468.
Francois, R., Frank, M., Rutgers van der Loeff, M., and Bacon, M.,
2004. 230Th normalization: an essential tool for interpreting
sedimentary fluxes during the Late Quaternary. Paleoceanography, 19, PA1018, doi:10.1029/2003PA000939.
Honjo, S., Manganini, S., Krushfield, R., and Francois, R., 2008. Particulate organic carbon fluxes to the ocean interior and factors controlling the biological pump: a synthesis of global sediment trap
programs since 1983. Progress in Oceanography, 76, 217–285.
Loubere, P., 2012. The global climate system, nature education
knowledge. 3(5), 2. www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/
library/the-global-climate-system-74649049
Loubere, P., and Fariduddin, M., 1999a. Quantitative estimation of
global patterns of surface ocean biological productivity and its
seasonal variation on time scales from centuries to millennia.
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 13, 115–133.
Loubere, P., and Fariduddin, M., 1999b. Benthic foraminifera and
the flux of organic carbon to the seabed. In Sen Gupta,
B. (ed.), Modern Foraminifera. Amsterdam: Kluwer Press,
pp. 181–200.
Loubere, P., and Richaud, M., 2006. Some reconciliation of glacialinterglacial calcite flux reconstructions for the Eastern equatorial
Pacific. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 8, Q03008,
doi:10.1029/2006GC001367.
Loubere, P., Fariduddin, M., and Richaud, M., 2011. Glacial marine
nutrient and carbon redistribution: evidence from the tropical
ocean. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 12(8), Q08013,
doi:10.1029/2011GC003546.
Matsumoto, M., Sarmiento, J., and Brzezinski, M., 2002. Silica acid
leakage from the southern ocean: a possible explanation for glacial atmospheric CO 2 . Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 5, 1–23,
doi:10.1029/2001GB001442.
Mekik, F., Loubere, P., and Archer, D., 2002. Organic carbon flux
and organic carbon to calcite flux ratio recorded in deep sea carbonates: demonstration and a new proxy. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 16(3), 1052.
Murray, R., Leinen, M., and Knowlton, C., 2012. Links between
iron input and opal deposition in the Pleistocene equatorial
Pacific Ocean. Nature Geoscience, 5, 270–274, doi:10.1038/
NGEO1422.
Open University, 2001. Ocean Circulation, 2nd edn. Oxford:
Butterworth-Heinemann, p. 281.
Palter, J. B., et al., 1991. Fueling export production: nutrient return
pathways from the deep ocean and their dependence on the
meridional overturning circulation. Biogeosciences, 7,
3549–3568, doi:10.5194/bg-7-3549-2010.
Paytan, A., and Griffith, E., 2007. Marine barite: recorder of variations in ocean export productivity. Deep-Sea Research Part II,
54, 687–705.
Ragueneau, O., Treguer, P., Leynaert, A., Anderson, R., and
Brzezinski, M. A., 2000. A review of the Si cycle in the modern
652
PALEOPRODUCTIVITY
glacial-interglacial cycles (e.g., Schmiedl and Mackensen,
1997; Diester-Haass et al., 2005; Loubere et al., 2011;
Murray et al., 2012). These have been ascribed to changes
in exchange between the deep and upper ocean (primarily
in the Southern Ocean), change in strength of winds that
induce upwelling in tropical regions, or fluctuating supply
of micronutrients like iron. There is currently disagreement on the relative importance of the local, wind-related,
and more distant, ocean circulation-related factors in productivity change.
Variation in exchange between the deep and surface
ocean on the glacial-interglacial timescale provides a
mechanism for explaining why atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have changed in step with climate
change (and, indeed, helped cause it; Toggweiler, 1999).
Another possible explanation is change in the relative
fluxes of carbonate and non-carbonate biological material
produced in the upper ocean and delivered to the deep sea
(Matsumoto et al., 2002). A shift toward a higher ratio of
organic carbon to carbonate in the sinking biogenic matter
of the oceans could provide lower atmospheric carbon
dioxide concentrations during glacial intervals. This
requires a change in the relative production of different
materials by the ocean’s planktonic organisms. There is
some evidence that this happened (Richaud et al., 2007).
Summary
Biological production in the oceans generates a complex
mix of materials, much of which is recycled near the
ocean’s surface, but some of which sinks into the deep
sea and influences global climate, as well as generates a
record of past production. Tracking the history of the
major components of production has only been partly
accomplished due to complications with interpretation of
that record. Nevertheless, the evidence, at least qualitatively, shows clearly that oceanic biological production
has been variable in the past in ways linked to global climate and oceanographic conditions.
Bibliography
Anderson, R., and Winckler, G., 2005. Problems with paleoproductivity proxies. Paleoceanography, 20(3), PA 3012,
doi:10.1029/2004PA001107.
Antia, A., Koeve, W., Fischer, G., Blanz, T., Schulz-Bull, D., et al.,
2001. Basin-wide particulate carbon flux in the Atlantic Ocean:
regional export patterns and potential for atmospheric CO 2
sequestration. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 15(4), 845–862.
Berger, W., 1992. Pacific carbonate cycles revisited: arguments for
and against productivity control. In Ishizaki, K., and Saito,
T. (eds.), Centenary of Japanese Micropaleontology. Tokyo:
Terra Science, pp. 15–25.
Berger, W. H., and Wefer, G., 2008. Marine biogenic sediments. In
Gornitz, V. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient
Environments. Amsterdam: Springer, pp. 525–533.
Boyd, P. W., et al., 2007. Mesoscale iron enrichment experiments
1993–2005: synthesis and future directions. Science, 315,
612–617, doi:10.1126/science.1131669.
Coxall, H., D’Hondt, S., and Zachos, J., 2006. Pelagic evolution and
environmental recovery after the cretaceous-paleogene mass
extinction. Geology, 34, 297–300.
Diester-Haass, L., Billups, K., and Emeis, K., 2005. In search of the
late miocene early-pliocene “biogenic bloom” in the Atlantic
Ocean (Ocean Drilling Program Sites 982, 925 and 1088).
Paleoceanography, 20, PA4001.
Dittert, N., Baumann, K., Bickert, T., Henrich, R., Huber, R.,
Kinkel, H., and Meggers, H., 1999. Carbonate dissolution in
the deep-sea: methods, quantification and paleoceanographic
application. In Fischer, G., and Wefer, G. (eds.), Use of Proxies
in Paleoceanography. Berlin: Springer, pp. 255–284.
Filippelli, G., 2002. The global phosphorus cycle. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 48, 391–425.
Fischer, G., and Wefer, G. (eds.), 1999. Paleoproductivity and
Nutrients, Use of Proxies in Paleoceanography. Berlin:
Springer, pp. 315–468.
Francois, R., Frank, M., Rutgers van der Loeff, M., and Bacon, M.,
2004. 230Th normalization: an essential tool for interpreting
sedimentary fluxes during the Late Quaternary. Paleoceanography, 19, PA1018, doi:10.1029/2003PA000939.
Honjo, S., Manganini, S., Krushfield, R., and Francois, R., 2008. Particulate organic carbon fluxes to the ocean interior and factors controlling the biological pump: a synthesis of global sediment trap
programs since 1983. Progress in Oceanography, 76, 217–285.
Loubere, P., 2012. The global climate system, nature education
knowledge. 3(5), 2. www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/
library/the-global-climate-system-74649049
Loubere, P., and Fariduddin, M., 1999a. Quantitative estimation of
global patterns of surface ocean biological productivity and its
seasonal variation on time scales from centuries to millennia.
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 13, 115–133.
Loubere, P., and Fariduddin, M., 1999b. Benthic foraminifera and
the flux of organic carbon to the seabed. In Sen Gupta,
B. (ed.), Modern Foraminifera. Amsterdam: Kluwer Press,
pp. 181–200.
Loubere, P., and Richaud, M., 2006. Some reconciliation of glacialinterglacial calcite flux reconstructions for the Eastern equatorial
Pacific. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 8, Q03008,
doi:10.1029/2006GC001367.
Loubere, P., Fariduddin, M., and Richaud, M., 2011. Glacial marine
nutrient and carbon redistribution: evidence from the tropical
ocean. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 12(8), Q08013,
doi:10.1029/2011GC003546.
Matsumoto, M., Sarmiento, J., and Brzezinski, M., 2002. Silica acid
leakage from the southern ocean: a possible explanation for glacial atmospheric CO 2 . Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 5, 1–23,
doi:10.1029/2001GB001442.
Mekik, F., Loubere, P., and Archer, D., 2002. Organic carbon flux
and organic carbon to calcite flux ratio recorded in deep sea carbonates: demonstration and a new proxy. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 16(3), 1052.
Murray, R., Leinen, M., and Knowlton, C., 2012. Links between
iron input and opal deposition in the Pleistocene equatorial
Pacific Ocean. Nature Geoscience, 5, 270–274, doi:10.1038/
NGEO1422.
Open University, 2001. Ocean Circulation, 2nd edn. Oxford:
Butterworth-Heinemann, p. 281.
Palter, J. B., et al., 1991. Fueling export production: nutrient return
pathways from the deep ocean and their dependence on the
meridional overturning circulation. Biogeosciences, 7,
3549–3568, doi:10.5194/bg-7-3549-2010.
Paytan, A., and Griffith, E., 2007. Marine barite: recorder of variations in ocean export productivity. Deep-Sea Research Part II,
54, 687–705.
Ragueneau, O., Treguer, P., Leynaert, A., Anderson, R., and
Brzezinski, M. A., 2000. A review of the Si cycle in the modern
652
PALEOPRODUCTIVITY