Benthic foraminifera stable isotope data from the South Pacific sediment cores PS75/059-2 and PS75/056-1

We use benthic foraminiferal d13C records from the southern East Pacific Rise to characterize the d13C composition of Circumpolar Deep Water in the South Pacific, prior to its transit through the Drake Passage into the South Atlantic.

A comparison with published South Atlantic deep water records from the northern Cape Basin suggests a continuous water mass exchange throughout the past 500 ka. Almost identical glacial-interglacial d13C variations imply a common deep water evolution in both basins suggesting persistent Circumpolar Deep Water exchange and homogenization. By contrast, deeper abyssal waters occupying the more southern Cape Basin and the southernmost South Atlantic have lower d13C values during most, but not all, stadial periods.