The key role of topography in altering North Atlantic atmospheric circulation during the last glacial period
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 21 000 yr before present) was a period of low atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, when vast ice sheets covered large parts of North America and Europe. Paleoclimate reconstructions and modeling studies suggest that the atmospheric circulation was substantially a...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:331e9f8120334289ae4700b0e629dc9b 2023-05-15T16:40:06+02:00 The key role of topography in altering North Atlantic atmospheric circulation during the last glacial period F. S. R. Pausata C. Li J. J. Wettstein M. Kageyama K. H. Nisancioglu 2011-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-1089-2011 https://doaj.org/article/331e9f8120334289ae4700b0e629dc9b EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.clim-past.net/7/1089/2011/cp-7-1089-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-7-1089-2011 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/331e9f8120334289ae4700b0e629dc9b Climate of the Past, Vol 7, Iss 4, Pp 1089-1101 (2011) Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-1089-2011 2022-12-31T03:27:14Z The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 21 000 yr before present) was a period of low atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, when vast ice sheets covered large parts of North America and Europe. Paleoclimate reconstructions and modeling studies suggest that the atmospheric circulation was substantially altered compared to today, both in terms of its mean state and its variability. Here we present a suite of coupled model simulations designed to investigate both the separate and combined influences of the main LGM boundary condition changes (greenhouse gases, ice sheet topography and ice sheet albedo) on the mean state and variability of the atmospheric circulation as represented by sea level pressure (SLP) and 200-hPa zonal wind in the North Atlantic sector. We find that ice sheet topography accounts for most of the simulated changes during the LGM. Greenhouse gases and ice sheet albedo affect the SLP gradient in the North Atlantic, but the overall placement of high and low pressure centers is controlled by topography. Additional analysis shows that North Atlantic sea surface temperatures and sea ice edge position do not substantially influence the pattern of the climatological-mean SLP field, SLP variability or the position of the North Atlantic jet in the LGM. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Sheet North Atlantic Sea ice Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Climate of the Past 7 4 1089 1101 |
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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 F. S. R. Pausata C. Li J. J. Wettstein M. Kageyama K. H. Nisancioglu The key role of topography in altering North Atlantic atmospheric circulation during the last glacial period |
topic_facet |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 21 000 yr before present) was a period of low atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, when vast ice sheets covered large parts of North America and Europe. Paleoclimate reconstructions and modeling studies suggest that the atmospheric circulation was substantially altered compared to today, both in terms of its mean state and its variability. Here we present a suite of coupled model simulations designed to investigate both the separate and combined influences of the main LGM boundary condition changes (greenhouse gases, ice sheet topography and ice sheet albedo) on the mean state and variability of the atmospheric circulation as represented by sea level pressure (SLP) and 200-hPa zonal wind in the North Atlantic sector. We find that ice sheet topography accounts for most of the simulated changes during the LGM. Greenhouse gases and ice sheet albedo affect the SLP gradient in the North Atlantic, but the overall placement of high and low pressure centers is controlled by topography. Additional analysis shows that North Atlantic sea surface temperatures and sea ice edge position do not substantially influence the pattern of the climatological-mean SLP field, SLP variability or the position of the North Atlantic jet in the LGM. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
F. S. R. Pausata C. Li J. J. Wettstein M. Kageyama K. H. Nisancioglu |
author_facet |
F. S. R. Pausata C. Li J. J. Wettstein M. Kageyama K. H. Nisancioglu |
author_sort |
F. S. R. Pausata |
title |
The key role of topography in altering North Atlantic atmospheric circulation during the last glacial period |
title_short |
The key role of topography in altering North Atlantic atmospheric circulation during the last glacial period |
title_full |
The key role of topography in altering North Atlantic atmospheric circulation during the last glacial period |
title_fullStr |
The key role of topography in altering North Atlantic atmospheric circulation during the last glacial period |
title_full_unstemmed |
The key role of topography in altering North Atlantic atmospheric circulation during the last glacial period |
title_sort |
key role of topography in altering north atlantic atmospheric circulation during the last glacial period |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-1089-2011 https://doaj.org/article/331e9f8120334289ae4700b0e629dc9b |
genre |
Ice Sheet North Atlantic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Ice Sheet North Atlantic Sea ice |
op_source |
Climate of the Past, Vol 7, Iss 4, Pp 1089-1101 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://www.clim-past.net/7/1089/2011/cp-7-1089-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-7-1089-2011 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/331e9f8120334289ae4700b0e629dc9b |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-1089-2011 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1089 |
op_container_end_page |
1101 |
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1766030471923236864 |