Subtropical North Atlantic Temperatures 60,000 to 30,000 Years Ago
A reconstruction of sea surface temperature based on alkenone unsaturation ratios in sediments of the Bermuda Rise provides a detailed record of subtropical climate from 60,000 to 30,000 years ago. Northern Sargasso Sea temperatures changed repeatedly by 2° to 5°C, covarying with high-latitude tempe...
| Published in: | Science |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
1999
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1126/science.286.5440.756 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.286.5440.756 |
| Summary: | A reconstruction of sea surface temperature based on alkenone unsaturation ratios in sediments of the Bermuda Rise provides a detailed record of subtropical climate from 60,000 to 30,000 years ago. Northern Sargasso Sea temperatures changed repeatedly by 2° to 5°C, covarying with high-latitude temperatures that were previously inferred from Greenland ice cores. The largest temperature increases were comparable in magnitude to the full glacial-Holocene warming at the site. Abrupt cold reversals of 3° to 5°C, lasting less than 250 years, occurred during the onset of two such events (Greenland interstadials 8 and 12), suggesting that the largest, most rapid warmings were especially unstable. |
|---|