Oxygen Isotope Records and Salinity Changes in the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean during the Last 18,000 Years

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Abstract
A comparison of the deglaciation δ18O record of northeastern Atlantic core SU 81‐18 with that calculated by adding the δ18O changes due to sea surface temperature and ice volume variations shows that planktonic foraminifera have also recorded seawater δ18O changes due to salinity (local advection and evaporation‐precipitation (E‐P)) changes. Using a simple ocean box model of meltwater dilution during the deglaciation, we show that sea surface salinity covaried with temperature. Despite the injection of meltwater associated with the climate warming, sea surface salinity was high when sea surface water was warm and low during cold events. This implies that the combined effect of local E‐P changes and northward advection of saline subtropical water were the main factor responsible for the surface water salinity variations in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean during the last 18,000 years.