Stalagmite-inferred European westerly drift in the early Weichselian with centennial-scale variability in marine isotope stage 5a

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Chung, Yun-Chuan, Menviel, Laurie, Marchionne, Arianna, Mii, Horng-Sheng, Michel, Véronique, Valensi, Patricia, Jiang, Xiuyang, Simon, Patrick, Rossoni-Notter, Elena, Moussous, Abdelkader, Seppä, Heikki, Chien, Yu-Tang, Wu, Chung-Che, Hu, Hsun-Ming, Shen, Chuan-Chou
• Other Authors: CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH CENTRE SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES SYDNEY AUS, Partenaires IRSTEA, Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA), Department of Mathematics and Statistics Helsinki, Falculty of Science Helsinki, Helsingin yliopisto = Helsingfors universitet = University of Helsinki-Helsingin yliopisto = Helsingfors universitet = University of Helsinki, Department of Earth Sciences NTNU Taipei, National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), Culture et Environnements, Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age (CEPAM), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) (UNS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA), Géoazur (GEOAZUR 7329), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud ), Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Fujian Normal University Fujian, Department of Geosciences and Geography Helsinki, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH Zürich), High-Precision Mass Spectrometry and Environment Change Laboratory (HISPEC), National Taiwan University Taiwan (NTU)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: Southern Europe; Stalagmite; Model simulation; Precipitation; Weichselian; MIS 5a; Multi-centennial arid intervals; AMOC; [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03687628; https://hal.science/hal-03687628/document; https://hal.science/hal-03687628/file/JQSR-D-21-00661.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107581

International audience The Weichselian glaciation is characterized by significant ocean circulation variations starting from ∼115 thousand years ago (ka) and terminating at ∼11.5 ka. The early Weichselian (115–74 ka), especially marine isotope stage (MIS) 5a at 85–74 ka, provides a window for understanding the linkage between the European westerlies and Mediterranean climate. However, lack of highly-resolved paleoclimate records with absolute chronologies hampers our knowledge of decadal-to-centennial-scale climate changes and forcings in the circum-Mediterranean realm. Here, we present 230Th-dated stalagmite-inferred hydroclimate records from Observatoire cave (43°44′ N, 7°25’ E), Monaco, for the period between 88.7 ± 0.4 and 80.3 ± 0.1 ka, covering portions of MIS 5b and 5a. Agreement between Observatoire and circum-Mediterranean stalagmite records confirm large-scale warming over the Atlantic-Europe territory during the transition from MIS 5b to 5a. Subdecadally-resolved Observatoire δ18O and δ13C records express four multi-centennial arid intervals in southern Europe at 84–80 ka in the first-half of MIS 5a, suggesting centennial westerly drifts, a finding supported by a model simulation. Westerly changes and associated arid events can be attributed to slowdowns of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, North Atlantic Oscillation states, and solar activity.