Reconstructing last glacial changes in Atlantic meridional overturning rate using marine sediment (231Pa/230Th)

• Main Author: Burckel, Pierre
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Université de Versailles-Saint Quentin en Yvelines, Claire Waelbroeck, Jeanne-Marie Gherardi, Sylvain Pichat
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: Tropical rain belt; Last glacial period; Sedimentary Pa/Th; Atlantic circulation; Circulation Atlantique; Sédiment Pa/Th; Dernière période glaciaire; [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography; Greenland; North Atlantic Deep Water; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01235193; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01235193/document; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01235193/file/2014VERS0051.pdf

In this thesis, I reconstruct the dynamic of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) during fast climate changes of the last glacial period. I find that the AMOC upper circulation cell started to slowdown 1420 ± 250 (1σ) and 690 ± 180 (1σ) years before the southward shifts of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone associated with Heinrich Stadial 2 and Heinrich Stadial 4, respectively. I therefore confirm that an AMOC slowdown could be at the origin of the ITCZ shifts that occured during Heinrich Stadials and provide the first precise estimate of the phasing between these two climate variables. Based on these results I propose a mechanism explaining the difference between Heinrich and Dansgaard-Oeschger stadials.Using modeling results, I show that the Atlantic Ocean circulation during periods of higher Greenland temperatures (interstadials) was markedly different from that of the Holocene. Two overturning cells were likely active in the Atlantic Ocean: an upper overturning circulation cell initiated by northern-sourced deep water flowing southward above ~2500 m depth at the equator, and a lower overturning circulation cell initiated by southern sourced deep water flowing northward below ~4000 m depth at the equator. The overturning rate of the upper overturning cell was likely lower than that of present-day North Atlantic Deep Water. At the onset of Heinrich Stadials, the structure of the AMOC significantly changed, and southern-sourced deep-waters likely dominated the equatorial Atlantic Ocean below 1300 m depth. Dans cette thèse, je reconstitue la dynamique de la circulation méridienne de retournement de l’Atlantique (AMOC) au cours des changements climatiques rapides de la dernière période glaciaire. Je trouve ainsi que le ralentissement de la cellule supérieure de l’AMOC commence 1420 ± 250 (1σ) années avant le déplacement vers le sud de l’ITCZ associé au « Heinrich Stadial » 2 et 690 ± 180 (1σ) années avant celui associé au « Heinrich Stadial » 4. Mes résultats confirment donc qu’un ...