Shallow ocean overturning and the heat and carbon content of the Glacial Tropical Ocean

Mechanisms affecting the heat and carbon content of the Glacial Tropical Ocean (21,000 years BP) remain controversial. Exchange with the deep ocean via vertical mixing and the overturning circulation is one aspect that is clearly relevant to greenhouse gas concentrations and future climate change. We examined evidence of the possible role of the shallow overturning contribution on the Glacial Tropical Ocean temperature and carbonate ion concentration. Compared to the present, we find that the Glacial tropical upper ocean (0–1000 m) had enhanced vertical gradients in temperature and carbonate ion concentration, reduced turbulent diffusivity (vertical mixing rate) (by 20% or more), and weakened Ekman pumping in middle-latitudes, all consistent with reduced shallow overturning. The weakened property exchanges between the tropical upper ocean and the ocean below (cold with high total dissolved carbon-dioxide concentration) provide a unified explanation for both the unexpectedly-small sea surface cooling and the lower carbon-dioxide content in the Glacial tropical upper ocean and the atmosphere.