Ice core evidence for major volcanic eruptions at the onset of Dansgaard–Oeschger warming events
While a significant influence of volcanic activity on Holocene climate is well-established, an equally prominent role of major eruptions in the climate variability and regime shifts during the Quaternary glacial cycles has been suggested. Previous statistical assessments of this were challenged by i...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:26ad59837ea64623a1b41b000448fa45 2023-05-15T13:57:56+02:00 Ice core evidence for major volcanic eruptions at the onset of Dansgaard–Oeschger warming events J. Lohmann A. Svensson 2022-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2021-2022 https://doaj.org/article/26ad59837ea64623a1b41b000448fa45 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/18/2021/2022/cp-18-2021-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-18-2021-2022 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/26ad59837ea64623a1b41b000448fa45 Climate of the Past, Vol 18, Pp 2021-2043 (2022) Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2021-2022 2022-12-30T23:36:12Z While a significant influence of volcanic activity on Holocene climate is well-established, an equally prominent role of major eruptions in the climate variability and regime shifts during the Quaternary glacial cycles has been suggested. Previous statistical assessments of this were challenged by inaccurate synchronization of large volcanic eruptions to changes in past climate. Here, this is alleviated by combining a new record of bipolar volcanism from Greenland and Antarctic ice cores with records of abrupt climate change derived from the same ice cores. We show that bipolar volcanic eruptions occurred significantly more frequently than expected by chance just before the onset of Dansgaard–Oeschger events, which are the most prominent large-scale abrupt climate changes in the last glacial period. Out of 20 abrupt warming events in the 12–60 ka period, 5 (7) occur within 20 (50) years after a bipolar eruption. We hypothesize that this may be a result of the direct influence of volcanic cooling on the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, which is widely regarded as the main climate subsystem involved in Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles. Transitions from a weak to a strong circulation mode may be triggered by cooling in the North Atlantic given that the circulation is close to a stability threshold. We illustrate this suggestion by simulations with an ocean-only general circulation model forced by short-term volcanic cooling. The analysis presented suggests that large eruptions may act as short-term triggers for large-scale abrupt climate change and may explain some of the variability of Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles. While we argue that the bipolar catalogue used here covers a sufficiently large portion of the eruptions with the strongest global climate impact, volcanic events restricted to either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere may likewise contribute to abrupt climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Dansgaard-Oeschger events Greenland ice core North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Greenland Climate of the Past 18 9 2021 2043 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 J. Lohmann A. Svensson Ice core evidence for major volcanic eruptions at the onset of Dansgaard–Oeschger warming events |
topic_facet |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
While a significant influence of volcanic activity on Holocene climate is well-established, an equally prominent role of major eruptions in the climate variability and regime shifts during the Quaternary glacial cycles has been suggested. Previous statistical assessments of this were challenged by inaccurate synchronization of large volcanic eruptions to changes in past climate. Here, this is alleviated by combining a new record of bipolar volcanism from Greenland and Antarctic ice cores with records of abrupt climate change derived from the same ice cores. We show that bipolar volcanic eruptions occurred significantly more frequently than expected by chance just before the onset of Dansgaard–Oeschger events, which are the most prominent large-scale abrupt climate changes in the last glacial period. Out of 20 abrupt warming events in the 12–60 ka period, 5 (7) occur within 20 (50) years after a bipolar eruption. We hypothesize that this may be a result of the direct influence of volcanic cooling on the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, which is widely regarded as the main climate subsystem involved in Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles. Transitions from a weak to a strong circulation mode may be triggered by cooling in the North Atlantic given that the circulation is close to a stability threshold. We illustrate this suggestion by simulations with an ocean-only general circulation model forced by short-term volcanic cooling. The analysis presented suggests that large eruptions may act as short-term triggers for large-scale abrupt climate change and may explain some of the variability of Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles. While we argue that the bipolar catalogue used here covers a sufficiently large portion of the eruptions with the strongest global climate impact, volcanic events restricted to either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere may likewise contribute to abrupt climate change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. Lohmann A. Svensson |
author_facet |
J. Lohmann A. Svensson |
author_sort |
J. Lohmann |
title |
Ice core evidence for major volcanic eruptions at the onset of Dansgaard–Oeschger warming events |
title_short |
Ice core evidence for major volcanic eruptions at the onset of Dansgaard–Oeschger warming events |
title_full |
Ice core evidence for major volcanic eruptions at the onset of Dansgaard–Oeschger warming events |
title_fullStr |
Ice core evidence for major volcanic eruptions at the onset of Dansgaard–Oeschger warming events |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ice core evidence for major volcanic eruptions at the onset of Dansgaard–Oeschger warming events |
title_sort |
ice core evidence for major volcanic eruptions at the onset of dansgaard–oeschger warming events |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2021-2022 https://doaj.org/article/26ad59837ea64623a1b41b000448fa45 |
geographic |
Antarctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Greenland |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Dansgaard-Oeschger events Greenland ice core North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Dansgaard-Oeschger events Greenland ice core North Atlantic |
op_source |
Climate of the Past, Vol 18, Pp 2021-2043 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/18/2021/2022/cp-18-2021-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-18-2021-2022 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/26ad59837ea64623a1b41b000448fa45 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2021-2022 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
9 |
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2021 |
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2043 |
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1766265870681636864 |