Strength and geometry of the glacial Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

• Published in: Nature Geoscience
• Main Authors: Lippold, Joerg, Luo, Yiming, Francois, Roger, Allen, Susan, E., Gherardi, Jeanne, Pichat, Sylvain, Hickey, Ben, Schulz, Hartmut
• Other Authors: Institute of Environmental Physics Heidelberg (IUP), Universität Heidelberg Heidelberg = Heidelberg University, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences Vancouver (EOS), University of British Columbia (UBC), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Glaces et Continents, Climats et Isotopes Stables (GLACCIOS), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon - Terre, Planètes, Environnement (LGL-TPE), École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne (UJM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Earth Sciences Oxford, University of Oxford, Institute for Geosciences Tübingen, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen = University of Tübingen, Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft : Li1815/2 NSERC Discovery Grant
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2012
• Subjects: THERMOHALINE CIRCULATION; OCEAN; PA-231/TH-230; MAXIMUM; CLIMATE; [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00786174; https://doi.org/10.1038/NGEO1608

International audience The strength and geometry of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation is tightly coupled to climate on glacial-interglacial and millennial timescales(1), but has proved difficult to reconstruct, particularly for the Last Glacial Maximum(2). Today, the return flow from the northern North Atlantic to lower latitudes associated with the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation reaches down to approximately 4,000 m. In contrast, during the Last Glacial Maximum this return flow is thought to have occurred primarily at shallower depths. Measurements of sedimentary Pa-231/Th-230 have been used to reconstruct the strength of circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean(3,4), but the effects of biogenic silica on Pa-231/Th-230-based estimates remain controversial(5). Here we use measurements of Pa-231/Th-230 ratios and biogenic silica in Holocene-aged Atlantic sediments and simulations with a two-dimensional scavenging model to demonstrate that the geometry and strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation are the primary controls of Pa-231/Th-230 ratios in modern Atlantic sediments. For the glacial maximum, a simulation of Atlantic overturning with a shallow, but vigorous circulation and bulk water transport at around 2,000 m depth best matched observed glacial Atlantic Pa-231/Th-230 values. We estimate that the transport of intermediate water during the Last Glacial Maximum was at least as strong as deep water transport today.