Late Cenozoic intensification of deoxygenation in the Pacific Ocean

Abstract

The Pacific Ocean hosts the largest expanse of oxygen depleted waters owing to a combination of factors influencing oxygen supply and consumption, with consequences for biogeochemical cycling. However, understanding of the long-term evolution of the Pacific Oxygen Deficient Zone remains poorly constrained. Here we apply the Iodine to Calcium (I/Ca) ratio in planktic foraminifera, in combination with the absence/presence of Globorotaloides hexagonus, from four tropical Pacific Ocean sites to reconstruct oceanic oxygen across the late Cenozoic. To validate the application of I/Ca, we supplement existing I/Ca calibration datasets by expanding their spatial coverage with additional core-top measurements. Our downcore results, combined with other lines of evidence, indicate the emergence and establishment of low oxygen waters from the late Miocene-Pliocene. The decline in Pacific Ocean oxygen accompanies large-scale climate and tectonic changes and likely impacted marine carbon cycling.