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Collapse and rapid resumption of Atlantic meridional circulation linked to deglacial climate changes

Author

Listed:
  • J. F. McManus

    (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

  • R. Francois

    (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

  • J.-M. Gherardi

    (Domaine de CNRS)

  • L. D. Keigwin

    (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

  • S. Brown-Leger

    (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Abstract

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation is widely believed to affect climate. Changes in ocean circulation have been inferred from records of the deep water chemical composition derived from sedimentary nutrient proxies1, but their impact on climate is difficult to assess because such reconstructions provide insufficient constraints on the rate of overturning2. Here we report measurements of 231Pa/230Th, a kinematic proxy for the meridional overturning circulation, in a sediment core from the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean. We find that the meridional overturning was nearly, or completely, eliminated during the coldest deglacial interval in the North Atlantic region, beginning with the catastrophic iceberg discharge Heinrich event H1, 17,500 yr ago, and declined sharply but briefly into the Younger Dryas cold event, about 12,700 yr ago. Following these cold events, the 231Pa/230Th record indicates that rapid accelerations of the meridional overturning circulation were concurrent with the two strongest regional warming events during deglaciation. These results confirm the significance of variations in the rate of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation for abrupt climate changes.

Suggested Citation

  • J. F. McManus & R. Francois & J.-M. Gherardi & L. D. Keigwin & S. Brown-Leger, 2004. "Collapse and rapid resumption of Atlantic meridional circulation linked to deglacial climate changes," Nature, Nature, vol. 428(6985), pages 834-837, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:428:y:2004:i:6985:d:10.1038_nature02494
    DOI: 10.1038/nature02494
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    Cited by:

    1. M. H. Løland & Y. Krüger & A. Fernandez & F. Buckingham & S. A. Carolin & H. Sodemann & J. F. Adkins & K. M. Cobb & A. N. Meckler, 2022. "Evolution of tropical land temperature across the last glacial termination," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-7, December.
    2. Gagan Mandal & Jia-Yuh Yu & Shih-Yu Lee, 2022. "The Roles of Orbital and Meltwater Climate Forcings on the Southern Ocean Dynamics during the Last Deglaciation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Laetitia E. Pichevin & Massimo Bollasina & Alexandra J. Nederbragt & Raja S. Ganeshram, 2024. "North Atlantic temperature control on deoxygenation in the northern tropical Pacific," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Yiping Yang & Lanlan Zhang & Liang Yi & Fuchang Zhong & Zhengyao Lu & Sui Wan & Yan Du & Rong Xiang, 2023. "A contracting Intertropical Convergence Zone during the Early Heinrich Stadial 1," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Jingyu Liu & Yipeng Wang & Samuel L. Jaccard & Nan Wang & Xun Gong & Nianqiao Fang & Rui Bao, 2023. "Pre-aged terrigenous organic carbon biases ocean ventilation-age reconstructions in the North Atlantic," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. Tao Li & Laura F. Robinson & Graeme A. MacGilchrist & Tianyu Chen & Joseph A. Stewart & Andrea Burke & Maoyu Wang & Gaojun Li & Jun Chen & James W. B. Rae, 2023. "Enhanced subglacial discharge from Antarctica during meltwater pulse 1A," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Chengfei He & Zhengyu Liu & Bette L. Otto-Bliesner & Esther C. Brady & Chenyu Zhu & Robert Tomas & Sifan Gu & Jing Han & Yishuai Jin, 2021. "Deglacial variability of South China hydroclimate heavily contributed by autumn rainfall," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    8. Lars Max & Dirk Nürnberg & Cristiano M. Chiessi & Marlene M. Lenz & Stefan Mulitza, 2022. "Subsurface ocean warming preceded Heinrich Events," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    9. Shinya Iwasaki & Lester Lembke-Jene & Kana Nagashima & Helge W. Arz & Naomi Harada & Katsunori Kimoto & Frank Lamy, 2022. "Evidence for late-glacial oceanic carbon redistribution and discharge from the Pacific Southern Ocean," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.

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