Accumulation of remineralised carbon and nutrients in the mid-depth Atlantic during Heinrich Stadial 1 and the Younger Dryas

Atmospheric CO₂ and the temperature of the interior Atlantic Ocean both increased in 2-steps during the last deglaciation, particularly during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1; ∼16 ka) and the Younger Dryas (YD; ∼12 ka). However, what drove these punctuated rises remains a long-standing question. The role of deep-ocean carbon storage, release, and redistribution continues to be debated. To establish the role of ocean circulation in deglacial carbon and nutrient cycling, we present new multi-proxy data in sub-fossil corals from mid-depths in the Equatorial Atlantic, including boron isotopes (δ¹¹B; seawater pH), Ba/Ca (seawater [Ba] and refractory nutrients), and neodymium isotopes (ε_Nd; provenance of seawater signal). Corals are dated to a precise radiometric age scale and combined with previously published radiocarbon and temperature proxy measurements on the same samples. Our data reveal abrupt intervals (∼500 years) of notably low pH, Ba-rich, and radiocarbon-depleted (old) waters at 15.4 and 12.0 ka during HS1 and the YD at depths of ∼1700 m. However, very low ε_Nd (unradiogenic) values suggest that these corals were bathed in northern-sourced Atlantic waters throughout the deglaciation. These results imply that these (old) carbon- and nutrient-rich intermediate waters were not sourced from the carbon- and nutrient-rich Southern Ocean via Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW). Instead, carbon and nutrient accumulation at mid-depths in the tropical Atlantic was likely the result of remineralisation of organic matter at times of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) slowdown. The Atlantic Ocean interior was therefore accumulating heat and carbon during these times when deepwater flushing was minimal, thus acting to partially dampen atmospheric CO₂ rise and warming caused by ventilation of the Southern and Pacific Oceans.