Mid-Holocene emergence of a lowfrequency millennial oscillation in western Mediterranean climate: Implications for past dynamics of the North Atlantic atmospheric westerlies

• Published in: The Holocene
• Main Authors: Fletcher, W.J., Debret, Maxime, Sanchez Goñi, M.F.
• Other Authors: Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB), University of Manchester Manchester, Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière (M2C), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rouen Normandie (UNIROUEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: [SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces; environment; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Norway; Iceland; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00861176; https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683612460783hol.sagepub.com

International audience The nature and tempo of Holocene climate variability is examined in the record of forest vegetation from western Mediterranean marine core MD95-2043. Episodes of forest decline occurred at 10.1, 9.2, 8.3, 7.4, 5.4-4.5 and 3.7-2.9 cal. ka BP, and between 1.9 cal. ka BP and the top of the record (1.3cal. ka BP). Wavelet analysis confirms a ~900 yr periodicity prior to and during the early Holocene and the dominance of a ~1750 yr periodicity after 6 cal. ka BP. The ~900 yr periodicity has counterparts in numerous North Atlantic and Northern Hemisphere palaeoclimate records, and in solar irradiance proxies (Δ14C and 10Be), and may relate to a Sun-climate connection during the early Holocene. Comparisons between the MD95-2043 forest record and strategically located records from Morocco, Iceland, Norway and Israel suggest that the ~1750 yr mid- to late-Holocene oscillation reflects shifts between a prevailing strong and weak state of the zonal flow, with impacts similar to the positive and negative modes of the present-day North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The mid- to late-Holocene millennial oscillation in zonal flow appears closely coupled to North Atlantic surface ocean circulation dynamics, and may have been driven by an internal oscillation in deep-water convection strength. The findings suggest that the mid-Holocene transition in western Mediterranean climate was accompanied by a shift in the fundamental tempo of millennial-scale variability, reflecting contrasting sensitivity of the North Atlantic climate system to different forcing factors (solar versus oceanic) under deglacial and fully interglacial conditions.