A new constraint on the size of Heinrich Events from an iceberg/sediment model
Heinrich Layers, anomalously thick layers of ice-borne sediment in the North Atlantic ocean, have long been associated with abrupt climate changes in glacial times. However, there is still no consensus on either the exact amount of ice needed to transport this sediment or how such a large volume of...
Published in: | Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1983/68c274e2-bb85-458f-83a6-87bef3ac317e https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/68c274e2-bb85-458f-83a6-87bef3ac317e https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.10.020 |
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ftubristolcris:oai:research-information.bris.ac.uk:publications/68c274e2-bb85-458f-83a6-87bef3ac317e 2024-01-28T10:07:29+01:00 A new constraint on the size of Heinrich Events from an iceberg/sediment model Roberts, William H G Valdes, Paul J Payne, A J 2014-01-15 https://hdl.handle.net/1983/68c274e2-bb85-458f-83a6-87bef3ac317e https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/68c274e2-bb85-458f-83a6-87bef3ac317e https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.10.020 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Roberts , W H G , Valdes , P J & Payne , A J 2014 , ' A new constraint on the size of Heinrich Events from an iceberg/sediment model ' , Earth and Planetary Science Letters , pp. 1-9 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.10.020 article 2014 ftubristolcris https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.10.020 2024-01-04T23:40:56Z Heinrich Layers, anomalously thick layers of ice-borne sediment in the North Atlantic ocean, have long been associated with abrupt climate changes in glacial times. However, there is still no consensus on either the exact amount of ice needed to transport this sediment or how such a large volume of ice could be produced. Using an iceberg model that includes sediment, we simulate the delivery of sediment to the North Atlantic during such an event. Our model assumes that sediment is uniformly distributed within the ice with a concentration of 4%. Unlike sediment models which assume that the sediment lies in a single layer, this model can carry sediment all the way from the western to the eastern North Atlantic. We use a variety of different estimates for the total volume of ice released to model the sediment layer thickness and we show that to best fit the observations 60 × 104 km3 (with a plausible range of 30–120 × 104 km3 ) of ice needs to be released. This is equivalent to a 0.04 Sv (106 m3 s−1 , with a plausible range of 0.02–0.08 Sv) release of freshwater over the 500 yr of a typical Heinrich Event. This is a smaller flux of water than is required to show a significant impact on the global climate in most current “state of the art” GCMs. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic University of Bristol: Bristol Research Earth and Planetary Science Letters 386 1 9 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Bristol: Bristol Research |
op_collection_id |
ftubristolcris |
language |
English |
description |
Heinrich Layers, anomalously thick layers of ice-borne sediment in the North Atlantic ocean, have long been associated with abrupt climate changes in glacial times. However, there is still no consensus on either the exact amount of ice needed to transport this sediment or how such a large volume of ice could be produced. Using an iceberg model that includes sediment, we simulate the delivery of sediment to the North Atlantic during such an event. Our model assumes that sediment is uniformly distributed within the ice with a concentration of 4%. Unlike sediment models which assume that the sediment lies in a single layer, this model can carry sediment all the way from the western to the eastern North Atlantic. We use a variety of different estimates for the total volume of ice released to model the sediment layer thickness and we show that to best fit the observations 60 × 104 km3 (with a plausible range of 30–120 × 104 km3 ) of ice needs to be released. This is equivalent to a 0.04 Sv (106 m3 s−1 , with a plausible range of 0.02–0.08 Sv) release of freshwater over the 500 yr of a typical Heinrich Event. This is a smaller flux of water than is required to show a significant impact on the global climate in most current “state of the art” GCMs. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Roberts, William H G Valdes, Paul J Payne, A J |
spellingShingle |
Roberts, William H G Valdes, Paul J Payne, A J A new constraint on the size of Heinrich Events from an iceberg/sediment model |
author_facet |
Roberts, William H G Valdes, Paul J Payne, A J |
author_sort |
Roberts, William H G |
title |
A new constraint on the size of Heinrich Events from an iceberg/sediment model |
title_short |
A new constraint on the size of Heinrich Events from an iceberg/sediment model |
title_full |
A new constraint on the size of Heinrich Events from an iceberg/sediment model |
title_fullStr |
A new constraint on the size of Heinrich Events from an iceberg/sediment model |
title_full_unstemmed |
A new constraint on the size of Heinrich Events from an iceberg/sediment model |
title_sort |
new constraint on the size of heinrich events from an iceberg/sediment model |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1983/68c274e2-bb85-458f-83a6-87bef3ac317e https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/68c274e2-bb85-458f-83a6-87bef3ac317e https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.10.020 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Roberts , W H G , Valdes , P J & Payne , A J 2014 , ' A new constraint on the size of Heinrich Events from an iceberg/sediment model ' , Earth and Planetary Science Letters , pp. 1-9 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.10.020 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.10.020 |
container_title |
Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
container_volume |
386 |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
9 |
_version_ |
1789335241587949568 |