Deep-water circulation changes lead North Atlantic climate during deglaciation. ...

• Main Authors: Muschitiello, Francesco, D'Andrea, William J, Schmittner, Andreas, Heaton, Timothy J, Balascio, Nicholas L, DeRoberts, Nicole, Caffee, Marc W, Woodruff, Thomas E, Welten, Kees C, Skinner, Luke C, Simon, Margit H, Dokken, Trond M
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2019
• Subjects: 0403 Geology; 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience; 0405 Oceanography; Greenland; Greenland ice cores; ice core; NADW; Nordic Seas; North Atlantic Deep Water; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.40301; https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/293151

Constraining the response time of the climate system to changes in North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) formation is fundamental to improving climate and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation predictability. Here we report a new synchronization of terrestrial, marine, and ice-core records, which allows the first quantitative determination of the response time of North Atlantic climate to changes in high-latitude NADW formation rate during the last deglaciation. Using a continuous record of deep water ventilation from the Nordic Seas, we identify a ∼400-year lead of changes in high-latitude NADW formation ahead of abrupt climate changes recorded in Greenland ice cores at the onset and end of the Younger Dryas stadial, which likely occurred in response to gradual changes in temperature- and wind-driven freshwater transport. We suggest that variations in Nordic Seas deep-water circulation are precursors to abrupt climate changes and that future model studies should address this phasing. ...