Phase relationship between sea level and abrupt climate change

Direct traces of past sea levels are based on the elevation of old coral reefs at times of sea-level highstands. However, these measurements are discontinuous and cannot be easily correlated with climate records from ice cores. In this study we show a new approach to recognizing the imprint of sea l...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary Science Reviews
Main Authors: Sierro Sánchez, Francisco Javier, Andersen, Nils, Bassetti, Maria A., Berné, Serge, Canals, Miquel, Curtis, Jason H., Dennielou, Bernard, Flores Villarejo, José Abel, Frigola, Jaime, González-Mora, Beatriz, Grimalt, Joan O., Hodell, David A., Jouet, Gwenael, Pérez Folgado, Marta, Schneider, Ralph
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2009
Subjects:
Palaeontology
Paleobiology
Geology
Sedimentology
Evolution
Biogeography
Paleoclimatology
Paleoecology
Foraminifers
Paleobiología
Foraminíferos
Paleontología
Geología
Sedimentología
Biogeografía
Greenland
Greenland ice cores
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/68773
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.07.019
Description
Summary:Direct traces of past sea levels are based on the elevation of old coral reefs at times of sea-level highstands. However, these measurements are discontinuous and cannot be easily correlated with climate records from ice cores. In this study we show a new approach to recognizing the imprint of sea level changes in continuous sediment records taken from the continental slope at locations that were continuously submerged, even during periods of sea-level lowstand. By using a sediment core precisely synchronized with Greenland ice cores, we were able to recognize major floods of the Mediterranean continental shelf over the past 270 kyr. During the last glacial period five flooding events were observed at the onset of the warmest Greenland interstadials. Consistent correspondence between warm climate episodes and eustatic sea level rises shows that these global flooding events were generated by pronounced melting of the Northern Hemisphere ice-sheets, due to rapid intensification of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The method described in this study opens a new perspective for inter hemispheric synchronization of marine climate records if applied in other continental margins from the Southern Hemisphere or the equatorial regions.

Similar Items