Promotion of meridional overturning by Mediterranean-derived salt during the last deglaciation

• Published in: Paleoceanography
• Main Authors: Rogerson, M., Rohling, E.J., Weaver, P.P.E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2006
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/142025/; http://www.agu.org/journals/pa/pa0604/2006PA001306/; https://doi.org/10.1029/2006PA001306

We demonstrate that changes in the behavior of the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) prior to and through the last deglaciation played an important role in promoting Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC). Estimation of past MOW salt and heat fluxes indicates that they gradually increased through the last deglaciation. Between 17.5 and 14.6 thousand years ago (ka B.P., where B.P. references year 1950), net evaporation from the Mediterranean exported sufficient fresh water from the North Atlantic catchment to cause an average salinity increase of 0.5 psu throughout the upper 2000 m of the entire North Atlantic to the north of 25