Reconstruction of Recent and Late Quaternary oceanographic conditions in the Eastern South Atlantic Ocean based on calcareous- and organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts.

Abstract

In the last decades it has become apparent that climatic change is greatly influenced by changes in the global ocean circulation. One of the most important current systems is the thermohalinc circulation of the Atlantic Ocean, responsible for the interhemispheric heat exchange. This current system transports cold, higher saline deep water from the northern Atlantic Ocean to the southern hemisphere and in return warmer waters of the South Atlantic Ocean to the north, positively influencing the northern continental climate. To understand the fluctuations in the heat transport thraugh glacial/interglacial cycles in the Late Quaternary, it is necessary to study several key areas. One of such areas is the south-eastern South Atlantic Ocean, where warmer Indian Ocean (sub)surface water is carried around the cape of South Africa via the Agulhas Current into the Atlantic Ocean.