Little Ice Age abruptly triggered by intrusion of Atlantic waters into the Nordic Seas
The Little Ice Age (LIA) was one of the coldest periods of the postglacial period in the Northern Hemisphere. Although there is increasing evidence that this time interval was associated with weakening of the subpolar gyre (SPG), the sequence of events that led to its weakened state has yet to be ex...
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abi8230 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.abi8230 |
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craaas:10.1126/sciadv.abi8230 2024-06-09T07:47:54+00:00 Little Ice Age abruptly triggered by intrusion of Atlantic waters into the Nordic Seas Lapointe, Francois Bradley, Raymond S. 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abi8230 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.abi8230 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science Advances volume 7, issue 51 ISSN 2375-2548 journal-article 2021 craaas https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abi8230 2024-05-16T12:55:52Z The Little Ice Age (LIA) was one of the coldest periods of the postglacial period in the Northern Hemisphere. Although there is increasing evidence that this time interval was associated with weakening of the subpolar gyre (SPG), the sequence of events that led to its weakened state has yet to be explained. Here, we show that the LIA was preceded by an exceptional intrusion of warm Atlantic water into the Nordic Seas in the late 1300s. The intrusion was a consequence of persistent atmospheric blocking over the North Atlantic, linked to unusually high solar activity. The warmer water led to the breakup of sea ice and calving of tidewater glaciers; weakening of the blocking anomaly in the late 1300s allowed the large volume of ice that had accumulated to be exported into the North Atlantic. This led to a weakening of the SPG, setting the stage for the subsequent LIA. Article in Journal/Newspaper Nordic Seas North Atlantic Sea ice AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Science Advances 7 51 |
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AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
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English |
description |
The Little Ice Age (LIA) was one of the coldest periods of the postglacial period in the Northern Hemisphere. Although there is increasing evidence that this time interval was associated with weakening of the subpolar gyre (SPG), the sequence of events that led to its weakened state has yet to be explained. Here, we show that the LIA was preceded by an exceptional intrusion of warm Atlantic water into the Nordic Seas in the late 1300s. The intrusion was a consequence of persistent atmospheric blocking over the North Atlantic, linked to unusually high solar activity. The warmer water led to the breakup of sea ice and calving of tidewater glaciers; weakening of the blocking anomaly in the late 1300s allowed the large volume of ice that had accumulated to be exported into the North Atlantic. This led to a weakening of the SPG, setting the stage for the subsequent LIA. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lapointe, Francois Bradley, Raymond S. |
spellingShingle |
Lapointe, Francois Bradley, Raymond S. Little Ice Age abruptly triggered by intrusion of Atlantic waters into the Nordic Seas |
author_facet |
Lapointe, Francois Bradley, Raymond S. |
author_sort |
Lapointe, Francois |
title |
Little Ice Age abruptly triggered by intrusion of Atlantic waters into the Nordic Seas |
title_short |
Little Ice Age abruptly triggered by intrusion of Atlantic waters into the Nordic Seas |
title_full |
Little Ice Age abruptly triggered by intrusion of Atlantic waters into the Nordic Seas |
title_fullStr |
Little Ice Age abruptly triggered by intrusion of Atlantic waters into the Nordic Seas |
title_full_unstemmed |
Little Ice Age abruptly triggered by intrusion of Atlantic waters into the Nordic Seas |
title_sort |
little ice age abruptly triggered by intrusion of atlantic waters into the nordic seas |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abi8230 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.abi8230 |
genre |
Nordic Seas North Atlantic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Nordic Seas North Atlantic Sea ice |
op_source |
Science Advances volume 7, issue 51 ISSN 2375-2548 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abi8230 |
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Science Advances |
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7 |
container_issue |
51 |
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1801379377792942080 |