Coherent Deglacial Changes in Western Atlantic Ocean Circulation

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2018 Jul 29

PMID 30054472

Citations 10

Authors

Hong Chin Ng

Laura F Robinson

Jerry F McManus

Kais J Mohamed

Allison W Jacobel

Ruza F Ivanovic

Lauren J Gregoire

Tianyu Chen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Abrupt climate changes in the past have been attributed to variations in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) strength. However, the exact timing and magnitude of past AMOC shifts remain elusive, which continues to limit our understanding of the driving mechanisms of such climate variability. Here we show a consistent signal of the Pa/Th proxy that reveals a spatially coherent picture of western Atlantic circulation changes over the last deglaciation, during abrupt millennial-scale climate transitions. At the onset of deglaciation, we observe an early slowdown of circulation in the western Atlantic from around 19 to 16.5 thousand years ago (ka), consistent with the timing of accelerated Eurasian ice melting. The subsequent weakened AMOC state persists for over a millennium (~16.5-15 ka), during which time there is substantial ice rafting from the Laurentide ice sheet. This timing indicates a role for melting ice in driving a two-step AMOC slowdown, with a positive feedback sustaining continued iceberg calving and climate change during Heinrich Stadial 1.

Citing Articles

Open ocean convection drives enhanced eastern pathway of the Glacial Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.

Gu S, Liu Z, Ng H, Lynch-Stieglitz J, McManus J, Spall M Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024; 121(45):e2405051121.

PMID: 39471224 PMC: 11551322. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2405051121.

Global oceanic oxygenation controlled by the Southern Ocean through the last deglaciation.

Wang Y, Costa K, Lu W, Hines S, Nielsen S Sci Adv. 2024; 10(3):eadk2506.

PMID: 38241365 PMC: 10798564. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adk2506.

Arctic and Antarctic forcing of ocean interior warming during the last deglaciation.

Stewart J, Robinson L, Rae J, Burke A, Chen T, Li T Sci Rep. 2023; 13(1):22410.

PMID: 38104174 PMC: 10725493. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49435-0.

A contracting Intertropical Convergence Zone during the Early Heinrich Stadial 1.

Yang Y, Zhang L, Yi L, Zhong F, Lu Z, Wan S Nat Commun. 2023; 14(1):4695.

PMID: 37542043 PMC: 10403598. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40377-9.

Multi-proxy constraints on Atlantic circulation dynamics since the last ice age.

Poppelmeier F, Jeltsch-Thommes A, Lippold J, Joos F, Stocker T Nat Geosci. 2023; 16(4):349-356.

PMID: 37064010 PMC: 10089918. DOI: 10.1038/s41561-023-01140-3.

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