Climatic Record of the Past 130,000 Years in North Atlantic Deep-Sea Core V23-82: Correlation with the Terrestrial Record

1973 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constance Sancetta ◽  
John Imbrie ◽  
N.G. Kipp

AbstractQuantitative paleo-environmental analyses of planktonic foraminifera in 182 samples covering the past 130,000 years in North Atlantic deep-sea core V23-82 yield time series interpreted in terms of changing surface-water conditions. An absolute chronology is estimated by linear interpolation between levels dated by 14C or by stratigraphic correlation with other radiometrically dated climatic records. Significant events include: (1) rapid warming at 127,000 YBP, marking the start of the penultimate North Atlantic and European interglacial; (2) 124,000 YBP temperature maximum (Eemian); (3) 109,000 YBP cooling, correlated with the beginning of the last European glaciation (Würm), and representing a temporary cooling of the North Atlantic; (4) severe cooling 73,000 YBP, marking the start of the last full glacial regime in the North Atlantic; (5) short warm intervals within the last glacial regime dated at 59,000 YBP, 48,000 YBP, and 31,000 YBP; (6) rapid termination of the last glacial interval at 11,000 YBP; (7) a 6000 YBP hypsi-saline, followed by lowering salinity values presumably associated with decreasing flux of Gulf Stream waters over the core site.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Daniel Wolf ◽  
Thomas Kolb ◽  
Karolin Ryborz ◽  
Susann Heinrich ◽  
Imke Schäfer ◽  
...  

Abstract During glacial times, the North Atlantic region was affected by serious climate changes corresponding to Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles that were linked to dramatic shifts in sea temperature and moisture transfer to the continents. However, considerable efforts are still needed to understand the effects of these shifts on terrestrial environments. In this context, the Iberian Peninsula is particularly interesting because of its close proximity to the North Atlantic, although the Iberian interior lacks paleoenvironmental information so far because suitable archives are rare. Here we provide an accurate impression of the last glacial environmental developments in central Iberia based on comprehensive investigations using the upper Tagus loess record. A multi-proxy approach revealed that phases of loess formation during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 (and upper MIS 3) were linked to utmost aridity, coldness, and highest wind strengths in line with the most intense Greenland stadials also including Heinrich Events 3–1. Lack of loess deposition during the global last glacial maximum (LGM) suggests milder conditions, which agrees with less-cold sea surface temperatures (SST) off the Iberian margin. Our results demonstrate that geomorphological system behavior in central Iberia is highly sensitive to North Atlantic SST fluctuations, thus enabling us to reconstruct a detailed hydrological model in relation to marine–atmospheric circulation patterns.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (38) ◽  
pp. 23408-23417
Author(s):  
Hai Cheng ◽  
Haiwei Zhang ◽  
Christoph Spötl ◽  
Jonathan Baker ◽  
Ashish Sinha ◽  
...  

The Younger Dryas (YD), arguably the most widely studied millennial-scale extreme climate event, was characterized by diverse hydroclimate shifts globally and severe cooling at high northern latitudes that abruptly punctuated the warming trend from the last glacial to the present interglacial. To date, a precise understanding of its trigger, propagation, and termination remains elusive. Here, we present speleothem oxygen-isotope data that, in concert with other proxy records, allow us to quantify the timing of the YD onset and termination at an unprecedented subcentennial temporal precision across the North Atlantic, Asian Monsoon-Westerlies, and South American Monsoon regions. Our analysis suggests that the onsets of YD in the North Atlantic (12,870 ± 30 B.P.) and the Asian Monsoon-Westerlies region are essentially synchronous within a few decades and lead the onset in Antarctica, implying a north-to-south climate signal propagation via both atmospheric (decadal-time scale) and oceanic (centennial-time scale) processes, similar to the Dansgaard–Oeschger events during the last glacial period. In contrast, the YD termination may have started first in Antarctica at ∼11,900 B.P., or perhaps even earlier in the western tropical Pacific, followed by the North Atlantic between ∼11,700 ± 40 and 11,610 ± 40 B.P. These observations suggest that the initial YD termination might have originated in the Southern Hemisphere and/or the tropical Pacific, indicating a Southern Hemisphere/tropics to North Atlantic–Asian Monsoon-Westerlies directionality of climatic recovery.


2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (17) ◽  
pp. 4436-4447 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. Hewitt ◽  
A. J. Broccoli ◽  
M. Crucifix ◽  
J. M. Gregory ◽  
J. F. B. Mitchell ◽  
...  

Abstract The commonly held view of the conditions in the North Atlantic at the last glacial maximum, based on the interpretation of proxy records, is of large-scale cooling compared to today, limited deep convection, and extensive sea ice, all associated with a southward displaced and weakened overturning thermohaline circulation (THC) in the North Atlantic. Not all studies support that view; in particular, the “strength of the overturning circulation” is contentious and is a quantity that is difficult to determine even for the present day. Quasi-equilibrium simulations with coupled climate models forced by glacial boundary conditions have produced differing results, as have inferences made from proxy records. Most studies suggest the weaker circulation, some suggest little or no change, and a few suggest a stronger circulation. Here results are presented from a three-dimensional climate model, the Hadley Centre Coupled Model version 3 (HadCM3), of the coupled atmosphere–ocean–sea ice system suggesting, in a qualitative sense, that these diverging views could all have occurred at different times during the last glacial period, with different modes existing at different times. One mode might have been characterized by an active THC associated with moderate temperatures in the North Atlantic and a modest expanse of sea ice. The other mode, perhaps forced by large inputs of meltwater from the continental ice sheets into the northern North Atlantic, might have been characterized by a sluggish THC associated with very cold conditions around the North Atlantic and a large areal cover of sea ice. The authors’ model simulation of such a mode, forced by a large input of freshwater, bears several of the characteristics of the Climate: Long-range Investigation, Mapping, and Prediction (CLIMAP) Project’s reconstruction of glacial sea surface temperature and sea ice extent.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 859-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Telford ◽  
C. Li ◽  
M. Kucera

Abstract. We demonstrate that the temperature signal in the planktonic foraminifera assemblage data from the North Atlantic typically does not originate from near-surface waters and argue that this has the potential to bias sea surface temperature reconstructions using transfer functions calibrated against near-surface temperatures if the thermal structure of the upper few hundred metres of ocean changes over time. CMIP5 climate models indicate that ocean thermal structure in the North Atlantic changed between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the pre-industrial (PI), with some regions, mainly in the tropics, of the LGM ocean lacking good thermal analogues in the PI. Transfer functions calibrated against different depths reconstruct a marked subsurface cooling in parts of the tropical North Atlantic during the last glacial, in contrast to previous studies that reconstruct only a modest cooling. These possible biases in temperature reconstructions may affect estimates of climate sensitivity based on the difference between LGM and pre-industrial climate. Quantifying these biases has the potential to alter our understanding of LGM climate and improve estimates of climate sensitivity.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Constantin ◽  
Stefana-Madalina Sacaciu ◽  
Viorica Tecsa ◽  
Anca Avram ◽  
Robert Begy ◽  
...  

<p>Here we investigate the timing of the last glacial loess - Holocene soil transition recorded in loess-paleosol sequences across the Chinese Loess Plateau, the SE European loess belt and the Central Great Plains, Nebraska, USA by applying comparative luminescence dating techniques on quartz and feldspars. Equivalent dose measurements were carried out using the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol on silt (4–11 μm) and sand-sized (63–90 μm and coarser fraction when available) quartz. Feldspar infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) emitted by 4–11 μm polymineral grains was measured using the post IR-IRSL<sub>290</sub> technique.</p><p>The paleoenvironmental transition from the last glacial loess to the current interglacial soil was characterized using magnetic susceptibility and its frequency dependence. Based on the OSL ages and the threshold of the magnetic signal enhancement the onset of soil formation started around Termination 1 (~17 ka in the North Atlantic) as observed in radiocarbon-dated regional benthic δ<sup>18</sup>O stacks (Stern and Lisiecki, 2014) but before the stratigraphic Pleistocene/Holocene transition dated at 11.7 ka in ice core records (Svensson et al., 2008).</p><p>No major hiatuses in ages are identified in the investigated sites. A change in the sedimentation rate is generally observed at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and no significant sedimentation change during the Holocene. Sedimentation rates of around 6 cm/ka are determined for the Holocene soil in most of the sites investigated.</p><p>The magnetic susceptibility indicates a gradual increase in pedogenesis after Termination 1 (∼17 ka in the North Atlantic). Based on this, we infer that the upbuilding soil formation prevailed over topdown soil formation during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the investigated sites (Roberts, 2008).</p><p> </p><p>References</p><p>Roberts, H.M., 2008. The development and application of luminescence dating to loess deposits: a perspective on the past, present and future. Boreas 37, 483-507.</p><p>Svensson, A., Andersen, K.K., Bigler, M., Clausen, H.B., Dahl-Jensen, D., Davies, S.M., Johnsen, S.J., Muscheler, R., Parrenin, F., Rasmussen, S.O., Röthlisberger, R., Seierstad, I., Steffensen, J.P., Vinther, B.M., 2008.A 60 000 year Greenland stratigraphic ice core chronology. Climate of the Past 4, 47-57.</p><p>Stern, J.V., Lisiecki, L.E., 2014. Termination 1 timing in radiocarbon-dated regional benthic δ18O stacks. Paleoceanography 29, 1127-1142.</p><p> </p><p>This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme ERC-2015-STG (grant agreement No [678106]).</p>


Boreas ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
SVANTE BJÖRCK ◽  
ÓLAFUR INGÓLFSSON ◽  
HAFLIDI HAFLIDASON ◽  
MARGRÉT HALLSDÖTTIR ◽  
N. JOHN ANDERSON

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