North Atlantic Versus Global Control on Dansgaard-Oeschger Events

The classic scenario for the generation of Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events assumes a link to changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) induced by North Atlantic freshwater perturbations. Recent proxy data emphasize the existence of leads and lags between DO fingerprints in Gre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Dima, Mihai, Lohmann, Gerrit, Knorr, Gregor
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Wiley 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/49330/
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/49330/1/dima_lohmann_knorr_do_hyteresis_grl_2018.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.f621f51b-867d-4476-ac45-14a3d2895e98
https://hdl.handle.net/
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Summary:The classic scenario for the generation of Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events assumes a link to changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) induced by North Atlantic freshwater perturbations. Recent proxy data emphasize the existence of leads and lags between DO fingerprints in Greenland and Antarctic records, highlighting the potential of a Southern Hemisphere control on these events. Investigating this possibility, we provide a conceptual model resulting from phase space reconstructions based on the northern and southern ice core records. The resulting patterns closely resemble AMOC hysteresis, consistent with a northern abrupt warming linked to gradual global temperature changes. This suggests that rapid DO warmings associated with abrupt AMOC transitions from a relatively weak (cold stadial) state to a stronger (warm inter-stadial) state can be controlled by global forcing that can be linked to the Southern Hemisphere, rather than by the end of a local temporary forcing in the North Atlantic.