Incursions of southern-sourced water into the deep North Atlantic during late Pliocene glacial intensification
The circulation and internal structure of the oceans exert a strong influence on Earth’s climate because they control latitudinal heat transport and the segregation of carbon between the atmosphere and the abyss. Circulation change, particularly in the Atlantic Ocean, is widely suggested to have bee...
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Online Access: | https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31958/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31958/1/Lang.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO2688 |
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ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:31958 2023-05-15T17:29:01+02:00 Incursions of southern-sourced water into the deep North Atlantic during late Pliocene glacial intensification Lang, David C. Bailey, Ian Wilson, Paul A. Chalk, Thomas B. Foster, Gavin L. Gutjahr, Marcus 2016-05 text https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31958/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31958/1/Lang.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO2688 en eng Nature Research https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31958/1/Lang.pdf Lang, D. C., Bailey, I., Wilson, P. A., Chalk, T. B., Foster, G. L. and Gutjahr, M. (2016) Incursions of southern-sourced water into the deep North Atlantic during late Pliocene glacial intensification. Nature Geoscience, 9 (5). pp. 375-379. DOI 10.1038/NGEO2688 <https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO2688>. doi:10.1038/NGEO2688 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Article PeerReviewed 2016 ftoceanrep https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO2688 2023-04-07T15:24:35Z The circulation and internal structure of the oceans exert a strong influence on Earth’s climate because they control latitudinal heat transport and the segregation of carbon between the atmosphere and the abyss. Circulation change, particularly in the Atlantic Ocean, is widely suggested to have been instrumental in the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation when large ice sheets first developed on North America and Eurasia during the late Pliocene, approximately 2.7 million years ago. Yet the mechanistic link and cause/effect relationship between ocean circulation and glaciation are debated. Here we present new records of North Atlantic Ocean structure using the carbon and neodymium isotopic composition of marine sediments recording deep water for both the Last Glacial to Holocene (35–5 thousand years ago) and the late Pliocene to earliest Pleistocene (3.3–2.4 million years ago). Our data show no secular change. Instead we document major southern-sourced water incursions into the deep North Atlantic during prominent glacials from 2.7 million years ago. Our results suggest that Atlantic circulation acts as a positive feedback rather than as an underlying cause of late Pliocene Northern Hemisphere glaciation. We propose that, once surface Southern Ocean stratification and/or extensive sea-ice cover was established, cold-stage expansions of southern-sourced water such as those documented here enhanced carbon dioxide storage in the deep ocean, helping to increase the amplitude of glacial cycles. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Sea ice Southern Ocean OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) Southern Ocean Nature Geoscience 9 5 375 379 |
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Open Polar |
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OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) |
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ftoceanrep |
language |
English |
description |
The circulation and internal structure of the oceans exert a strong influence on Earth’s climate because they control latitudinal heat transport and the segregation of carbon between the atmosphere and the abyss. Circulation change, particularly in the Atlantic Ocean, is widely suggested to have been instrumental in the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation when large ice sheets first developed on North America and Eurasia during the late Pliocene, approximately 2.7 million years ago. Yet the mechanistic link and cause/effect relationship between ocean circulation and glaciation are debated. Here we present new records of North Atlantic Ocean structure using the carbon and neodymium isotopic composition of marine sediments recording deep water for both the Last Glacial to Holocene (35–5 thousand years ago) and the late Pliocene to earliest Pleistocene (3.3–2.4 million years ago). Our data show no secular change. Instead we document major southern-sourced water incursions into the deep North Atlantic during prominent glacials from 2.7 million years ago. Our results suggest that Atlantic circulation acts as a positive feedback rather than as an underlying cause of late Pliocene Northern Hemisphere glaciation. We propose that, once surface Southern Ocean stratification and/or extensive sea-ice cover was established, cold-stage expansions of southern-sourced water such as those documented here enhanced carbon dioxide storage in the deep ocean, helping to increase the amplitude of glacial cycles. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lang, David C. Bailey, Ian Wilson, Paul A. Chalk, Thomas B. Foster, Gavin L. Gutjahr, Marcus |
spellingShingle |
Lang, David C. Bailey, Ian Wilson, Paul A. Chalk, Thomas B. Foster, Gavin L. Gutjahr, Marcus Incursions of southern-sourced water into the deep North Atlantic during late Pliocene glacial intensification |
author_facet |
Lang, David C. Bailey, Ian Wilson, Paul A. Chalk, Thomas B. Foster, Gavin L. Gutjahr, Marcus |
author_sort |
Lang, David C. |
title |
Incursions of southern-sourced water into the deep North Atlantic during late Pliocene glacial intensification |
title_short |
Incursions of southern-sourced water into the deep North Atlantic during late Pliocene glacial intensification |
title_full |
Incursions of southern-sourced water into the deep North Atlantic during late Pliocene glacial intensification |
title_fullStr |
Incursions of southern-sourced water into the deep North Atlantic during late Pliocene glacial intensification |
title_full_unstemmed |
Incursions of southern-sourced water into the deep North Atlantic during late Pliocene glacial intensification |
title_sort |
incursions of southern-sourced water into the deep north atlantic during late pliocene glacial intensification |
publisher |
Nature Research |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31958/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31958/1/Lang.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO2688 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
North Atlantic Sea ice Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Sea ice Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/31958/1/Lang.pdf Lang, D. C., Bailey, I., Wilson, P. A., Chalk, T. B., Foster, G. L. and Gutjahr, M. (2016) Incursions of southern-sourced water into the deep North Atlantic during late Pliocene glacial intensification. Nature Geoscience, 9 (5). pp. 375-379. DOI 10.1038/NGEO2688 <https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO2688>. doi:10.1038/NGEO2688 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO2688 |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
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9 |
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5 |
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375 |
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379 |
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1766122330816249856 |