Abrupt climatic variability: Dansgaard-Oeschger events

• Main Authors: Landais, Amaelle, Sanchez Goni, Maria Fernanda, Toucanne, Samuel, Rodrigues, Teresa, Naughton, Filipa
• Other Authors: Environnements et Paléoenvironnements OCéaniques (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ELSEVIER
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Greenland; Antarc*; Antarctica; Dansgaard-Oeschger events; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04299263; https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-823498-3.00056-X

International audience This chapter describes the millennial-scale climatic variability in the atmosphere of Greenland during the Last Glacial Cycle (MIS 5e–MIS 1, 116–14.7 cal ka BP), that is, the Dansgaard–Oeschger (D–O) cycles, and the associated global changes in greenhouse gas atmospheric concentrations, particularly CO2 and CH4, and atmospheric circulation (Ca2+ concentration and d-excess). This chapter highlights the contrasting regional impact of the D–O cycles on the North Atlantic Sea surface temperatures and the vegetation and climate across Europe, as well as the synchronicity between changes in Greenland temperature and the hydrological cycle in the tropics and midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. By contrast, the shape and phasing of millennial-scale events between Greenland and Antarctica differ between the two regions. The mechanisms underlying such a variability are still under debate.