Source, timing, frequency and flux of ice-rafted detritus to the Northeast Atlantic margin, 30-12 ka:testing the Heinrich precursor hypothesis
Increased fluxes of ice-rafted detritus (IRD) from European ice sheets have been documented some 1000-1500 years before the arrival of Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS)-sourced IRD during Heinrich (H) events. These early fluxes have become known as 'precursor events', and it has been suggested th...
Published in: | Boreas |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2010
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/source-timing-frequency-and-flux-of-icerafted-detritus-to-the-northeast-atlantic-margin-3012-ka(77f66d9a-2977-4732-bc36-9450ed39824f).html https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.2010.00141.x http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77954814543&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
Summary: | Increased fluxes of ice-rafted detritus (IRD) from European ice sheets have been documented some 1000-1500 years before the arrival of Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS)-sourced IRD during Heinrich (H) events. These early fluxes have become known as 'precursor events', and it has been suggested that they have mechanistic significance in the propagation of H events. Here we present a re-analysis of one of the main cores used to generate the precursor concept, OMEX-2K from the Goban Spur covering the last 30 ka, in order to identify whether the British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) IRD fluxes occur only as precursors before H layers. IRD characterization and planktonic foraminiferal delta 18O measurements constrained by a new age model have enabled the generation of a continuous record of IRD sources, timing, frequency and flux, and of local contemporary hydrographic conditions. The evidence indicates that BIIS IRD precursors are not uniquely, or mechanistically, linked to H events, but are part of the pervasive millennial-scale cyclicity. Our results support an LIS source for the IRD comprising H layers, but the ambient glacial sections are dominated by assemblages typical of the Irish Sea Ice Stream. Light isotope excursions associated with H events are interpreted as resulting from the melting of the BIIS, with ice-sheet destabilization attributed to eustatic jumps generated by LIS discharge during H events. This positive-feedback mechanism probably caused similar responses in all circum-Atlantic ice-sheet margins, and the resulting gross freshwater flux contributed to the perturbation of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during H events. |
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