Abstract:
Evidence from a North Atlantic deep-sea sediment core reveals that the largest climatic perturbation in our present interglacial, the 8200-year event, is marked by two distinct cooling events in the subpolar North Atlantic at 8490 and 8290 years ago. An associated reduction in deep flow speed provides evidence of a significant change to a major downwelling limb of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. The existence of a distinct surface freshening signal during these events strongly suggests that the sequenced surface and deep ocean changes were forced by pulsed meltwater outbursts from a multistep final drainage of the proglacial lakes associated with the decaying Laurentide Ice Sheet margin.
School of Earth, Ocean, and Planetary Sciences
Cardiff University
Main Building
City:
Cardiff
Postal Code:
CF10 3YE
Country:
United Kingdom
Publications/References
Ellison, C.R.W., M.R. Chapman, and I.R. Hall. 2006. Surface and Deep Ocean Interactions During the Cold Climate Event 8200 Years Ago. Science, Vol 312, Issue 5782, Pages 1929-1932, 30 June 2006.
