Past climate variability: model analysis and proxy intercomparison

• Published in: Nature Geoscience
• Main Author: Pausata, Francesco S. R.
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: The University of Bergen 2015
• Subjects: Ice Sheet; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1956/9433

This thesis investigates the climate variability of the late Quaternary (21 000 yrs BP to present day) using model simulations and proxy data. The thesis consists of four manuscripts and one appendix. In the first two manuscripts and the appendix I, the extratropical Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation in different Quaternary time slices (preindustrial, PI, 1750 AD; Mid Holocene, MH, 6 kyrs BP; Last Glacial Maximum, LGM, 21 kyrs BP) is investigated using different climate models. The contributions of greenhouse gases, ice-sheet topography and albedo on the atmospheric mean climate and its variability are analyzed. In general, the models show no major changes in atmospheric circulation nor in its interannual variability in a climate slightly warmer (MH) than the PI one. In the LGM simulations, the models show decreased sea level pressure interannual variability relative to PI; on the other hand, the interannual variability of surface temperature is increased. The leading mode of sea level pressure variability in the North Atlantic is characterized by a NAO-like behavior in all climate states; however, it represents less total variance and the centers of action are weaker at the LGM. The presence of the Laurentide ice-sheet over North America during the LGM accounts for most of the changes observed in the LGM climate. Finally, the models show that the link between atmospheric and surface climate (temperature and precipitation) variability is altered in a glacial climate compared to the PI. Therefore, assuming present-day climate-proxy relationships when interpreting proxy records may well lead to a misinterpretation of past climates. The results of the first manuscript point out that certain proxies may record seasonal rather than annual climate changes or that they could be tape recorders for climate changes far afield rather than local. These issues are tackled in the second and third manuscripts. In paper III, various marine proxy records from the North Atlantic Ocean that spann the Holocene (10-0 kyrs ...