A reconciled solution of Meltwater Pulse 1A sources using sea-level fingerprinting.

The most rapid global sea-level rise event of the last deglaciation, Meltwater Pulse 1A (MWP-1A), occurred ∼14,650 years ago. Considerable uncertainty regarding the sources of meltwater limits understanding of the relationship between MWP-1A and the concurrent fast-changing climate. Here we present...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Communications
Main Authors: Lin, Yin, Hibbert, Fiona D., Whitehouse, Pippa L., Woodroffe, Sarah A., Purcell, Anthony, Shennan, Ian, Bradley, Sarah L.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2021
Subjects:
Antarctic
Antarc*
Antarctica
Ice Sheet
Online Access:http://dro.dur.ac.uk/32695/
http://dro.dur.ac.uk/32695/1/32695.pdf
http://dro.dur.ac.uk/32695/2/32695VOR.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21990-y
Description
Summary:The most rapid global sea-level rise event of the last deglaciation, Meltwater Pulse 1A (MWP-1A), occurred ∼14,650 years ago. Considerable uncertainty regarding the sources of meltwater limits understanding of the relationship between MWP-1A and the concurrent fast-changing climate. Here we present a data-driven inversion approach, using a glacio-isostatic adjustment model to invert for the sources of MWP-1A via sea-level constraints from six geographically distributed sites. The results suggest contributions from Antarctica, 1.3 m (0–5.9 m; 95% probability), Scandinavia, 4.6 m (3.2–6.4 m) and North America, 12.0 m (5.6–15.4 m), giving a global mean sea-level rise of 17.9 m (15.7–20.2 m) in 500 years. Only a North American dominant scenario successfully predicts the observed sea-level change across our six sites and an Antarctic dominant scenario is firmly refuted by Scottish isolation basin records. Our sea-level based results therefore reconcile with field-based ice-sheet reconstructions.

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