Paleoceanographic reconstructions from planktonic foraminifera off the Iberian Margin: Temperature, salinity, and Heinrich events

A quantitative analysis of planktonic foraminifera in a core from the Iberi an Margin allows a reconstruction of the evolution of oceanographic paramet ers during the last glacial cycle with a resolution of similar to 1000 year s. A principal component analysis performed on 19 species allows the identi fication of 11 intervals characterized by increased abundances of the subpo lar species. The youngest six of these intervals are correlated with the la st 6 Heinrich events (HEs). The five cold events older than stage 4 are dat ed at 81, 90, 110, 129, and 140 ka, respectively. Paleotemperatures reconst ructed using the modern analog technique indicate 4 degrees C decreases dur ing all even-numbered isotopic stages and stage 3. During the HEs, temperat ure decreases reach similar to 10 degrees C and seawater delta(18)O anomali es reach similar to 1 parts per thousand. Temperature and salinity reconstr uctions indicate that the environment of the Iberian Margin has been under the combined influence of global factors such as the migration of the polar front and iceberg discharge and of regional factors such as the precipitat ion/evaporation regime on both oceanic and continental area.