North Atlantic ocean circulation and abrupt climate change during the last glaciation

An ocean of climate impacts Large decreases in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation accompanied every one of the cold Northern Hemispheric stadial events that occurred during the heart of the last glacial period. These events, lasting on average around 1000 years each, have long been thought...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Henry, L. G., McManus, J. F., Curry, W. B., Roberts, N. L., Piotrowski, A. M., Keigwin, L. D.
Other Authors: Comer Science and Education Foundation, NSF
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf5529
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.aaf5529
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Summary:An ocean of climate impacts Large decreases in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation accompanied every one of the cold Northern Hemispheric stadial events that occurred during the heart of the last glacial period. These events, lasting on average around 1000 years each, have long been thought to result from changes in deep ocean circulation. Henry et al. used a suite of geochemical proxies from marine sediments to show that reductions in the export of northern deep waters occurred before and during stadial periods (see the Perspective by Schmittner). This observation firmly establishes the role of ocean circulation as a cause of abrupt glacial climate change during that interval. Science , this issue p. 470 see also p. 445