Ice sheets as a missing component of the global silicon cycle

Silicon (Si) plays an important role in global biogeochemical cycles. It is required for the growth of diatoms, silicoflagellates, radiolarians and some sponges. Diatoms build their frustules out of silica and account for approximately half of oceanic primary production. Therefore determining the sensitivity of the Si cycle in the past, and its likely response to future climate warming, is important for our understanding of marine ecosystem change, biogeochemical cycling and, by association, the efficiency of the ocean's biological carbon pump. The δ30Si of biogenic silica in marine sediments is increasingly being used as a palaeoceanographic tool. In particular, there has been a focus on the δ30Si change from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 21-25 ka) to present, with opal records showing an increase in δ30Si of 0.2-1.0 ‰ from LGM to present day. This has previously been explained by lower biological utilisation of Si and by swings in intermediate and deep-water dissolved silica due to changes in oceanic circulation. Here we challenge the paradigm that the ocean Si input flux and δ30Si composition was uniform over glacial-interglacial timescales. During the LGM glaciers and ice sheets covered nearly 30% of land surface, including much of North America and northern Eurasia. These palaeo ice sheets exported large quantities of eroded sediment into the oceans, and their wastage raised global sea level by 130 m. Research indicates glaciers may export significant quantities of nutrients to downstream ecosystems, including large amounts of reactive silica. Si fluxes and their associated δ30Si signature from the palaeo ice sheets have not been considered in previous interpretations of the marine Si inventory and δ30Si record. Here, we demonstrate the importance of huge ice sheet meltwater fluxes to the marine Si inventory and oceanic δ30Si composition during the last deglaciation. We present the first dissolved and amorphous particulate silica time series with associated δ30Si composition from subglacial meltwaters exiting a large catchment of the Greenland Ice Sheet, a modern day analogue for palaeo ice sheet runoff. These data are used to constrain a 2-box model, with palaeo ice sheet freshwater fluxes to the oceans, to establish the glacial influence on the δ30Si composition of past ocean waters.