Sea-level changes in Iceland and the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation during the last half millennium.
We present a new, diatom-based sea-level reconstruction for Iceland spanning the last ~500 years, and investigate the possible mechanisms driving the sea-level changes. A sea-level reconstruction from near the Icelandic low pressure system is important as it can improve understanding of ocean-atmosp...
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Online Access: | http://dro.dur.ac.uk/14063/ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/14063/1/14063.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.11.005 |
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ftunivdurham:oai:dro.dur.ac.uk.OAI2:14063 2023-05-15T16:46:24+02:00 Sea-level changes in Iceland and the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation during the last half millennium. Saher, M.H. Gehrels, W.R. Barlow, N.L.M. Long, A.J. Haigh, I.D. Blaauw, M. 2015-01-15 application/pdf http://dro.dur.ac.uk/14063/ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/14063/1/14063.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.11.005 unknown Elsevier dro:14063 issn:0277-3791 doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.11.005 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/14063/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.11.005 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/14063/1/14063.pdf NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Quaternary Science Reviews. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Quaternary Science Reviews, 108, 15 January 2015, 10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.11.005. Quaternary science reviews, 2015, Vol.108, pp.23-36 [Peer Reviewed Journal] Diatoms Ocean dynamics Iceland Little Ice Age Sea-level rise NAO Article PeerReviewed 2015 ftunivdurham https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.11.005 2020-05-28T22:31:43Z We present a new, diatom-based sea-level reconstruction for Iceland spanning the last ~500 years, and investigate the possible mechanisms driving the sea-level changes. A sea-level reconstruction from near the Icelandic low pressure system is important as it can improve understanding of ocean-atmosphere forcing on North Atlantic sea-level variability over multi-decadal to centennial timescales. Our reconstruction is from Viðarhólmi salt marsh in Snæfellsnes in western Iceland, a site from where we previously obtained a 2000-yr record based upon less precise sea-level indicators (salt-marsh foraminifera). The 20th century part of our record is corroborated by tide-gauge data from Reykjavik. Overall, the new reconstruction shows ca. 0.6 m rise of relative sea level during the last four centuries, of which ca. 0.2 m occurred during the 20th century. Low-amplitude and high-frequency sea-level variability is super-imposed on the pre-industrial long-term rising trend of 0.65 m per 1000 years. Most of the relative sea-level rise occurred in three distinct periods: AD 1620-1650, AD 1780-1850 and AD 1950-2000, with maximum rates of ~3 ± 2 mm/yr during the latter two of these periods. Maximum rates were achieved at the end of large shifts (from negative to positive) of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Index as reconstructed from proxy data. Instrumental data demonstrate that a strong and sustained positive NAO (a deep Icelandic Low) generates setup on the west coast of Iceland resulting in rising sea levels. There is no strong evidence that the periods of rapid sea-level rise were caused by ocean mass changes, glacial isostatic adjustment or regional steric change. We suggest that wind forcing plays an important role in causing regional-scale coastal sea-level variability in the North Atlantic, not only on (multi-)annual timescales, but also on multi-decadal to centennial timescales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Durham University: Durham Research Online Quaternary Science Reviews 108 23 36 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Durham University: Durham Research Online |
op_collection_id |
ftunivdurham |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Diatoms Ocean dynamics Iceland Little Ice Age Sea-level rise NAO |
spellingShingle |
Diatoms Ocean dynamics Iceland Little Ice Age Sea-level rise NAO Saher, M.H. Gehrels, W.R. Barlow, N.L.M. Long, A.J. Haigh, I.D. Blaauw, M. Sea-level changes in Iceland and the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation during the last half millennium. |
topic_facet |
Diatoms Ocean dynamics Iceland Little Ice Age Sea-level rise NAO |
description |
We present a new, diatom-based sea-level reconstruction for Iceland spanning the last ~500 years, and investigate the possible mechanisms driving the sea-level changes. A sea-level reconstruction from near the Icelandic low pressure system is important as it can improve understanding of ocean-atmosphere forcing on North Atlantic sea-level variability over multi-decadal to centennial timescales. Our reconstruction is from Viðarhólmi salt marsh in Snæfellsnes in western Iceland, a site from where we previously obtained a 2000-yr record based upon less precise sea-level indicators (salt-marsh foraminifera). The 20th century part of our record is corroborated by tide-gauge data from Reykjavik. Overall, the new reconstruction shows ca. 0.6 m rise of relative sea level during the last four centuries, of which ca. 0.2 m occurred during the 20th century. Low-amplitude and high-frequency sea-level variability is super-imposed on the pre-industrial long-term rising trend of 0.65 m per 1000 years. Most of the relative sea-level rise occurred in three distinct periods: AD 1620-1650, AD 1780-1850 and AD 1950-2000, with maximum rates of ~3 ± 2 mm/yr during the latter two of these periods. Maximum rates were achieved at the end of large shifts (from negative to positive) of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Index as reconstructed from proxy data. Instrumental data demonstrate that a strong and sustained positive NAO (a deep Icelandic Low) generates setup on the west coast of Iceland resulting in rising sea levels. There is no strong evidence that the periods of rapid sea-level rise were caused by ocean mass changes, glacial isostatic adjustment or regional steric change. We suggest that wind forcing plays an important role in causing regional-scale coastal sea-level variability in the North Atlantic, not only on (multi-)annual timescales, but also on multi-decadal to centennial timescales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Saher, M.H. Gehrels, W.R. Barlow, N.L.M. Long, A.J. Haigh, I.D. Blaauw, M. |
author_facet |
Saher, M.H. Gehrels, W.R. Barlow, N.L.M. Long, A.J. Haigh, I.D. Blaauw, M. |
author_sort |
Saher, M.H. |
title |
Sea-level changes in Iceland and the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation during the last half millennium. |
title_short |
Sea-level changes in Iceland and the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation during the last half millennium. |
title_full |
Sea-level changes in Iceland and the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation during the last half millennium. |
title_fullStr |
Sea-level changes in Iceland and the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation during the last half millennium. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sea-level changes in Iceland and the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation during the last half millennium. |
title_sort |
sea-level changes in iceland and the influence of the north atlantic oscillation during the last half millennium. |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dro.dur.ac.uk/14063/ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/14063/1/14063.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.11.005 |
genre |
Iceland North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
genre_facet |
Iceland North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
op_source |
Quaternary science reviews, 2015, Vol.108, pp.23-36 [Peer Reviewed Journal] |
op_relation |
dro:14063 issn:0277-3791 doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.11.005 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/14063/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.11.005 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/14063/1/14063.pdf |
op_rights |
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Quaternary Science Reviews. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Quaternary Science Reviews, 108, 15 January 2015, 10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.11.005. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.11.005 |
container_title |
Quaternary Science Reviews |
container_volume |
108 |
container_start_page |
23 |
op_container_end_page |
36 |
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1766036498438684672 |