The Benthic B/Ca Record at Site 806: New Constraints on the Temperature of the West Pacific Warm Pool and the “El Padre” State in the Pliocene

Abstract

Abstract The West Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP)'s response to increased p CO 2 during the Pliocene is a key model validation target. Different temperature proxies show different trends: The foraminiferal Mg/Ca sea surface temperature (SST) record shows Pliocene WPWP temperatures ~1.2°C cooler than today (Wara et al., 2005, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1112596 ), whereas a TEX 86 study finds a cooling trend and claims the Pliocene WPWP was warmer than today (Zhang et al., 2014, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1246172 ). We focus on understanding biases in Mg/Ca data as the best way to constrain the temperature of the Pliocene WPWP. The strongest nonthermal controls on foraminiferal Mg/Ca are Mg/Ca of seawater and dissolution. Dissolution, which imparts a cool bias to Mg/Ca temperatures, depends on Δ[CO 3 2− ], the difference from the carbonate ion concentration needed for calcite saturation. Thus, Pliocene proxy discrepancies might stem from varying Δ[CO 3 2− ] over time. To constrain the effect of changing dissolution on the Mg/Ca data, we collected benthic foraminiferal B/Ca data (a proxy for Δ[CO 3 2− ]) from the WPWP spanning 0–5.5 Ma. We find no long‐term trend in Δ[CO 3 2− ], but variations above and below the threshold of foraminiferal dissolution yield an ~0.4°C cold bias when averaged over the middle to early Pliocene. Changes in seawater Mg/Ca create an ~0.6°C cold bias in the Pliocene Mg/Ca data. After accounting for these biases, we find that the Pliocene WPWP was ~0.1°C cooler than the late Holocene, ranging from −0.5°C to +0.5°C including all uncertainties. Our reconstruction shows a much lower east‐west temperature gradient in the Pliocene tropical Pacific than today, supporting a permanent El Niño‐like “El Padre” state.