崂山实验室于际民团队的一项最新研究揭示末次冰期南极变暖导致南极底水扩张。相关论文于2025年12月1日发表于国际顶尖学术期刊《自然—地球科学》杂志上。
在这里，该研究组提供了来自威德尔-恩德比盆地的钕同位素数据，对过去32000年来南大洋大西洋和印度部分南极底水的时空分布进行了限制。他们的数据显示，冰川南极底水大幅收缩，大量南大洋深处被富含碳的环极深水占据，与太平洋隔绝，有利于降低大气中的二氧化碳。在最后一次消冰期间，南极底水分两步扩张，与南极变暖相一致。这种扩张推动了南大洋的去分层，这可能导致了同期大气中二氧化碳的上升。与北大西洋过程主导了南大西洋深层冰期水团变化的观点不同，他们的结果表明，来自北方的水的影响有限。相反，南极底水动力学在调节深海环流中发挥了关键作用，从而调节了南大洋深处与大气之间的碳交换。
据悉，过去大气中二氧化碳的波动被认为与涉及南大洋和北大西洋动力学的海洋环流变化有着复杂的联系。海洋储存碳的能力一直与南部水域的扩张和收缩有关，但它们的来源和结构在过去仍然没有明确的特征。
附：英文原文
Title: Expansion of Antarctic Bottom Water driven by Antarctic warming in the last deglaciation
Author: Huang, Huang, Gutjahr, Marcus, Hu, Yuanyang, Pppelmeier, Frerk, Kuhn, Gerhard, Lippold, Jrg, Ronge, Thomas A., Wu, Shuzhuang, Blaser, Patrick, Lembke-Jene, Lester, Jaccard, Samuel L., Luo, Yimin, Yu, Jimin
Issue&Volume: 2025-12-01
Abstract: Past atmospheric CO2 fluctuations are thought to be intricately tied to ocean circulation changes involving Southern Ocean and North Atlantic dynamics. The ocean’s capability to store carbon has been linked to the expansion and contraction of southern-sourced waters, but their provenance and structure remain poorly characterized in the past. Here we present neodymium isotope data from the Weddell–Enderby Basin, placing constraints on the spatiotemporal distribution of Antarctic Bottom Water in the Atlantic and Indian sectors of the Southern Ocean over the past 32,000 years. Our data reveal that glacial Antarctic Bottom Water was substantially contracted, with large volumes of the deep Southern Ocean occupied by carbon-rich Circumpolar Deep Waters sourced from the Pacific Ocean, conducive for lowering atmospheric CO2. During the last deglaciation, Antarctic Bottom Water expanded in two steps coinciding with Antarctic warming. This expansion drove Southern Ocean destratification, which possibly contributed to contemporaneous atmospheric CO2 rises. Different from the view that the North Atlantic processes dominated deglacial deep South Atlantic water-mass changes, our results indicate only limited influence from northern-sourced waters. Instead, Antarctic Bottom Water dynamics played a critical role in regulating deep ocean circulation and thereby carbon exchange between the deep Southern Ocean and the atmosphere.
DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01853-7
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01853-7