Mechanisms of Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the Antarctic Peninsula region
The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the three fastest warming regions on Earth. Here we review Holocene proxy records of marine and terrestrial palaeoclimate in the region, and discuss possible forcing mechanisms underlying past change, with a specific focus on past warm periods. Our aim is to critica...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:8457 2023-05-15T14:05:16+02:00 Mechanisms of Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the Antarctic Peninsula region Bentley, M.J. Hodgson, D.A. Smith, J.A. Cofaigh, C.O Domack, E.W. Larter, R.D. Roberts, S.J. Brachfeld, S. Leventer, A. Hjort, C. Hillenbrand, C-D. Evans, J. 2009 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/8457/ unknown Bentley, M.J.; Hodgson, D.A. orcid:0000-0002-3841-3746 Smith, J.A. orcid:0000-0002-1333-2544 Cofaigh, C.O; Domack, E.W.; Larter, R.D. orcid:0000-0002-8414-7389 Roberts, S.J. orcid:0000-0003-3407-9127 Brachfeld, S.; Leventer, A.; Hjort, C.; Hillenbrand, C-D. orcid:0000-0003-0240-7317 Evans, J. 2009 Mechanisms of Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the Antarctic Peninsula region. The Holocene, 19 (1). 51-69. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683608096603 <https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683608096603> Marine Sciences Earth Sciences Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2009 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683608096603 2023-02-04T19:25:30Z The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the three fastest warming regions on Earth. Here we review Holocene proxy records of marine and terrestrial palaeoclimate in the region, and discuss possible forcing mechanisms underlying past change, with a specific focus on past warm periods. Our aim is to critically evaluate the mechanisms by which palaeoclimate changes might have occurred, in order to provide a longer-term context for assessing the drivers of recent warming. Two warm events are well recorded in the Holocene palaeoclimate record, namely the early Holocene warm period, and the `Mid Holocene Hypsithermal' (MHH), whereas there are fewer proxy data for the `Mediaeval Warm Period' (MWP) and the `Recent Rapid Regional' (RRR) warming. We show that the early Holocene warm period and MHH might be explained by relatively abrupt shifts in position of the Southern Westerlies, superimposed on slower solar insolation changes. A key finding of our synthesis is that the marine and terrestrial records in the AP appear to show markedly different behaviour during the MHH. This might be partly explained by contrasts in the seasonal insolation forcing between these records. Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) has been implicated in several of the prominent changes through the Holocene but there are still differences in interpretation of the proxy record that make its influence difficult to assess. Further work is required to investigate contrasts between marine and terrestrial proxy records, east—west contrasts in palaeoclimate, the history of CDW, to retrieve a long onshore high resolution record of the Holocene, and determine the role of sea ice in driving or modulating palaeoclimate change, along with further efforts to study the proxy record of the RRR and the MWP. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Sea ice Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Holocene 19 1 51 69 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Marine Sciences Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Marine Sciences Earth Sciences Bentley, M.J. Hodgson, D.A. Smith, J.A. Cofaigh, C.O Domack, E.W. Larter, R.D. Roberts, S.J. Brachfeld, S. Leventer, A. Hjort, C. Hillenbrand, C-D. Evans, J. Mechanisms of Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the Antarctic Peninsula region |
topic_facet |
Marine Sciences Earth Sciences |
description |
The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the three fastest warming regions on Earth. Here we review Holocene proxy records of marine and terrestrial palaeoclimate in the region, and discuss possible forcing mechanisms underlying past change, with a specific focus on past warm periods. Our aim is to critically evaluate the mechanisms by which palaeoclimate changes might have occurred, in order to provide a longer-term context for assessing the drivers of recent warming. Two warm events are well recorded in the Holocene palaeoclimate record, namely the early Holocene warm period, and the `Mid Holocene Hypsithermal' (MHH), whereas there are fewer proxy data for the `Mediaeval Warm Period' (MWP) and the `Recent Rapid Regional' (RRR) warming. We show that the early Holocene warm period and MHH might be explained by relatively abrupt shifts in position of the Southern Westerlies, superimposed on slower solar insolation changes. A key finding of our synthesis is that the marine and terrestrial records in the AP appear to show markedly different behaviour during the MHH. This might be partly explained by contrasts in the seasonal insolation forcing between these records. Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) has been implicated in several of the prominent changes through the Holocene but there are still differences in interpretation of the proxy record that make its influence difficult to assess. Further work is required to investigate contrasts between marine and terrestrial proxy records, east—west contrasts in palaeoclimate, the history of CDW, to retrieve a long onshore high resolution record of the Holocene, and determine the role of sea ice in driving or modulating palaeoclimate change, along with further efforts to study the proxy record of the RRR and the MWP. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bentley, M.J. Hodgson, D.A. Smith, J.A. Cofaigh, C.O Domack, E.W. Larter, R.D. Roberts, S.J. Brachfeld, S. Leventer, A. Hjort, C. Hillenbrand, C-D. Evans, J. |
author_facet |
Bentley, M.J. Hodgson, D.A. Smith, J.A. Cofaigh, C.O Domack, E.W. Larter, R.D. Roberts, S.J. Brachfeld, S. Leventer, A. Hjort, C. Hillenbrand, C-D. Evans, J. |
author_sort |
Bentley, M.J. |
title |
Mechanisms of Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the Antarctic Peninsula region |
title_short |
Mechanisms of Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the Antarctic Peninsula region |
title_full |
Mechanisms of Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the Antarctic Peninsula region |
title_fullStr |
Mechanisms of Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the Antarctic Peninsula region |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mechanisms of Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the Antarctic Peninsula region |
title_sort |
mechanisms of holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the antarctic peninsula region |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/8457/ |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Sea ice |
op_relation |
Bentley, M.J.; Hodgson, D.A. orcid:0000-0002-3841-3746 Smith, J.A. orcid:0000-0002-1333-2544 Cofaigh, C.O; Domack, E.W.; Larter, R.D. orcid:0000-0002-8414-7389 Roberts, S.J. orcid:0000-0003-3407-9127 Brachfeld, S.; Leventer, A.; Hjort, C.; Hillenbrand, C-D. orcid:0000-0003-0240-7317 Evans, J. 2009 Mechanisms of Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the Antarctic Peninsula region. The Holocene, 19 (1). 51-69. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683608096603 <https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683608096603> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683608096603 |
container_title |
The Holocene |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
51 |
op_container_end_page |
69 |
_version_ |
1766277085408526336 |