Climatic Record in North Atlantic Deep-Sea Core V23-82: Comparison of the Last and Present Interglacials Based on Quantitative Time Series

• Published in: Quaternary Research
• Main Authors: Sancetta, Constance, Imbrie, John, Kipp, N.G., McIntyre, Andrew, Ruddiman, W.F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1972
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(72)90059-2; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:0033589472900592?httpAccept=text/xml; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:0033589472900592?httpAccept=text/plain; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400037881

In North Atlantic deep-sea core V23-82, changing surface water conditions are revealed by changing composition of fauna and flora. Sedimentation rate seems to vary little so that approximate dating of climatic events within the X zone of Ericson is possible. These include an interglacial temperature maximum at 124,000 YBP; start of the post-Eemian cooling at about 116,000 YBP; and peak cool conditions at about 110,000 YBP, followed by warming. Drop in summer and winter temperatures about two-thirds of the way towards full glacial values and a significant drop of salinity is suggested by quantitative paleoenvironmental analysis of the 110,000 YBP cold episode. If the Eemian is taken as the analog of the present interglacial, a point in time 116,000 YBP becomes the historical model for today's ocean, and the North Atlantic is now approaching a time of severe cooling.