Active Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC) during the warm Pliocene ...

• Main Authors: Burls, Natalie J., Fedorov, Alexey V., Sigman, Daniel M., Jaccard, Samuel L., Tiedemann, Ralf, Haug, Gerald H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2017
• Subjects: NORTHERN-HEMISPHERE GLACIATION; ATMOSPHERIC CO2 CONCENTRATION; SUB-ARCTIC PACIFIC; CLIMATE TRANSITIONS; EQUATORIAL PACIFIC; LAST DEGLACIATION; OCEAN CIRCULATION; GLOBAL CLIMATE; WATER FLUXES; CLOUD ALBEDO; albedo; Arctic; North Atlantic; Subarctic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000220109; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/235046

An essential element of modern ocean circulation and climate is the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), which includes deep-water formation in the subarctic North Atlantic. However, a comparable overturning circulation is absent in the Pacific, theworld's largest ocean, where relatively fresh surface waters inhibitNorth Pacific deep convection. We present complementary measurement and modeling evidence that the warm, similar to 400-ppmv (parts per million by volume) CO2 world of the Pliocene supported subarctic North Pacific deep-water formation and a Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC) cell. In Pliocene subarctic North Pacific sediments, we report orbitally paced maxima in calcium carbonate accumulation rate, with accompanying pigment and total organic carbon measurements supporting deep-ocean ventilation-driven preservation as their cause. Together with high accumulation rates of biogenic opal, these findings require vigorous bidirectional communication between surface waters ... : Science Advances, 3 (9) ...