Interhemispheric Atlantic seesaw response during the last deglaciation

International audience The asynchronous relationship between millennial-scale temperature changes over Greenland and Antarctica during the last glacial period has led to the notion of a bipolar seesaw which acts to redistribute heat depending on the state of meridional overturning circulation within...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature
Main Authors: Barker, Stephen, Diz, Paula, Vautravers, Maryline, Pike, Jennifer, Knorr, Gregor, Hall, Ian, Broecker, Wallace
Other Authors: School of Earth and Ocean Sciences Cardiff, Cardiff University, Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes UMR 6112 (LPGN), Université de Nantes (UN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB), Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung = Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research = Institut Alfred-Wegener pour la recherche polaire et marine (AWI), Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft = Helmholtz Association
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2009
Subjects:
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]
Greenland
Southern Ocean
Antarc*
Antarctica
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://univ-angers.hal.science/hal-03277978
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07770
Description
Summary:International audience The asynchronous relationship between millennial-scale temperature changes over Greenland and Antarctica during the last glacial period has led to the notion of a bipolar seesaw which acts to redistribute heat depending on the state of meridional overturning circulation within the Atlantic Ocean. Here we present new records from the South Atlantic that show rapid changes during the last deglaciation that were instantaneous (within dating uncertainty) and of opposite sign to those observed in the North Atlantic. Our results demonstrate a direct link between the abrupt changes associated with variations in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and the more gradual adjustments characteristic of the Southern Ocean. These results emphasize the importance of the Southern Ocean for the development and transmission of millennial-scale climate variability and highlight its role in deglacial climate change and the associated rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Similar Items