Long term solar-terrestrial records from sediments: carbon isotopes in planktonic foraminifera during the last millennium

We show the δ 13C profile of Globigerinoides ruber measured in the GT90/3 shallow-water Ionian sea core. This core is dated with high accuracy (better than 1%) using radiometric and tephroanalysis methods, for the last 2000 years. The core, extracted from the Gallipoli platform, was sampled at contiguous steps of thickness 2.5 mm, corresponding to 3.87 years. The δ 13C profile covers the period 1147–1975 AD. During the first seven centuries it appears fairly flat, while it shows a steep increase between 1760 and 1950 of ∼0.3‰. The analysis of the time series performed using different methods shows a dominant decadal periodicity throughout the record. The 11-year component is identified at high significance level by Monte Carlo singular spectrum analysis (MC-SSA); the SSA-reconstructed-11-year component is in phase with the sunspot solar cycle. The average amplitude of this component is A 11y=0.04‰. It is commonly accepted that δ 13C variations in symbiontic foraminifera mainly record the effects of symbiont density and of photosynthetic activity, varying with ambient light level. The δ 13C peak-to-trough 11-year variation (0.08‰) can be related to solar irradiance variation of 0.1% on decadal time scale, like that measured in space in the last 20 years. By supposing that the observed δ 13C modern increase of ∼0.3‰ is also produced by a solar irradiance variability on a longer time scale, through the same mechanisms, we estimate a secular increase of the total solar irradiance between 1760 and 1950 of (0.3/0.08)∗0.1% ≅ 0.37%. This value is at the higher limit of the long term variability estimates (0.25%–0.35%) that are currently proposed. Finally, in the light of the available experimental evidences, we discuss possible ways in which direct solar forcing can be modified by atmospheric processes in order to give the observed δ 13C signal.