Planktonic foraminifera abundance, stable isotope record and temperature reconstruction of sediment core MD95-2040

Large-scale cooling of the surface ocean is indicated by the presence of the polar planktonic foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral), and in some instances the occurrence of ice-rafted debris (IRD). Ice-rafting episodes were prevalent in both of the last two glacials with greater intensity in Stages 2 through 4, than in Stage 6.

The six youngest Heinrich events are well defined during the last glacial but detrital carbonate is absent from Heinrich layers HL6, HL5 and HL3. Dansgaard-Oeschger stadial-equivalent sub-millennial IRD deposition events have been detected, in particular during Stage 3, allowing a good match with the cooling displayed in the Greenland ice core (GISP2). Sea-surface temperature off Portugal in Stage 6 was in general warmer than during the last glacial, pointing towards a weaker southward influence of polar water masses.