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Enhanced surface melting of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet during periods of North Atlantic cooling
Heinrich events (HEs) are dramatic episodes of marine-terminating ice discharge and sediment rafting during periods of cold North Atlantic climate. However, the causal chain of events leading to their occurrence is unresolved. Here, we demonstrate that enhanced surface melting of land-terminating margins of the southern Fennoscandian Ice Sheet (FIS) is a recurring feature of Heinrich stadials (HSs), the cold periods during which HEs occur. We use neodymium isotopes to show that the Channel River transported detrital sediments from the interior of eastern Europe to the Bay of Biscay in the northeast Atlantic Ocean at ca. 158–154 ka. Based on similar evidence from the last glacial period, we infer that this interval corresponds to the melting and retreat of the southern FIS margin despite contemporaneous cooling in the North Atlantic and central Europe. The FIS melting episode occurred just prior to a HE, consistent with findings from the more recent HSs 1, 2, and 3. Based on this evidence, we clarify a sequence of events that precedes HEs. Precursor melting of North Atlantic–adjacent ice sheets induces an initial Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) slowdown. Atmospheric changes during the resulting HS cause summertime warming in northern Europe that drives enhanced FIS melting. Subsequent meltwater discharge to the North Atlantic further weakens the AMOC and warms the intermediate water masses that contribute to HEs
Variability in intermediate water circulation of the western Tyrrhenian margin (NE Corsica) over the past 56 kyr
The Marion Dufrene core MD01-2472 made of hemipelagic fine-grained sediments (silt and clays) was collected
at 501 m depth on the East Corsica continental slope in 2001 and studied in detail in its 12 uppermost meters.
The correlation between sedimentological parameters (Sortable Silt), isotopic data and 14C dating allowed to
establish the chronology of main climate events (Younger Dryas/YD, Bölling-Alleröd/B-A, Heinrich events/HS)
on this record and to evaluate the impact of major climate oscillations on bottom water condition variability.
The sea temperature changes are identified thanks to the planktonic foraminifera assemblages. HS are marked
by planktonic foraminifers with peaks of the polar species N. pachyderma (left-coiling), whilst interstadials are
marked by warm planktonics that become very abundant during the B-A and Holocene.
The occurrence of reworked ostracod species (originating from the continental shelf) and the presence of shallow
water Elphidium/Ammonia benthic foraminifera are used to estimate the degree of along-slope transport at the
core site. This has revealed two intervals of along-slope transport also associated with coarse-grained contourites,
deposited during the YD and HS2 episodes.
Intervals with Krithe spp. (ostracod), C. wuellerstorfi (benthic foraminifera) indicate bottom water oxygenation
during stadials, whereas interstadials are typified by A. acuminata and Paracypris sp (ostracods) indicating low
oxygenated environments. The Last Glacial Maximum is dominated by the planktonic foraminifer T. quinqueloba
suggesting high surface primary productivity associated with the establishment of mestrophic bottom conditions.
During the Holocene, benthic assemblages indicate oligo-mesotrophic conditions and weak hydrodynamic bottom
regime.
We hypothesize that there is relationship between the Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) intensification during
cold rapid climate events and benthic fauna assemblages due to changes in: 1) bottom water ventilation, corresponding
to a significant reinforcement of the LIW velocity, and 2) the export of nutrients (generating changes in
trophic conditions) and/or sediment particles by bottom currents (contributing to the formation of contourites)
Land-ocean changes on orbital and millennial time scales and the penultimate glaciation
Past glacials can be thought of as natural experiments in which variations in boundary conditions influenced the character of climate change. However, beyond the last glacial, an integrated view of orbital- and millennial-scale changes and their relation to the record of glaciation has been lacking. Here, we present a detailed record of variations in the land-ocean system from the Portuguese margin during the penultimate glacial and place it within the framework of ice-volume changes, with particular reference to European ice-sheet dynamics. The interaction of orbital- and millennial-scale variability divides the glacial into an early part with warmer and wetter overall conditions and prominent climate oscillations, a transitional mid-part, and a late part with more subdued changes as the system entered a maximum glacial state. The most extreme event occurred in the mid-part and was associated with melting of the extensive European ice sheet and maximum discharge from the Fleuve Manche river. This led to disruption of the meridional overturning circulation, but not a major activation of the bipolar seesaw. In addition to stadial duration, magnitude of freshwater forcing, and background climate, the evidence also points to the influence of the location of freshwater discharges on the extent of interhemispheric heat transport
Deltaic and Coastal Sediments as Recorders of Mediterranean Regional Climate and Human Impact Over the Past Three Millennia
This work was financially supported by the MISTRALS/PaleoMex program and by the Project of Strategic Interest NextData PNR 2011–2013 (www. nextdataproject.it). Lionel Savignan is thanked for his participation in the biomarker analysis. Radiocarbon datings for core KESC9-14 have been funded by Institut Carnot Ifremer-EDROME (grant A0811101). We also thank the Holocene North-Atlantic Gyres and Mediterranean Overturning dynamic through Climate Changes (HAMOC) project for financial support. The biomarker data presented here are available in the supporting information.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Atlantic circulation changes across a stadial-interstadial transition
We combine consistently dated benthic carbon isotopic records distributed over the entire Atlantic Ocean with numerical simulations performed by a glacial configuration of the Norwegian Earth System Model with active ocean biogeochemistry, in order to interpret the observed Cibicides δ13C changes at the stadial-interstadial transition corresponding to the end of Heinrich Stadial 4 (HS4) in terms of ocean circulation and remineralization changes. We show that the marked increase in Cibicides δ13C observed at the end of HS4 between ~2000 and 4200 m in the Atlantic can be explained by changes in nutrient concentrations as simulated by the model in response to the halting of freshwater input in the high latitude glacial North Atlantic. Our model results show that this Cibicides δ13C signal is associated with changes in the ratio of southern-sourced (SSW) versus northern-sourced (NSW) water masses at the core sites, whereby SSW is replaced by NSW as a consequence of the resumption of deep water formation in the northern North Atlantic and Nordic Seas after the freshwater input is halted. Our results further suggest that the contribution of ocean circulation changes to this signal increases from ~40 % at 2000 m to ~80 % at 4000 m. Below ~4200 m, the model shows little ocean circulation change but an increase in remineralization across the transition marking the end of HS4. The simulated lower remineralization during stadials than interstadials is particularly pronounced in deep subantarctic sites, in agreement with the decrease in the export production of carbon to the deep Southern Ocean during stadials found in previous studies.</p
The Ponto-Caspian basin as a final trap for southeastern Scandinavian Ice-Sheet meltwater
This paper provides new data on the evolution of the Caspian Sea and Black Sea from the Last Glacial Maximum until ca. 12 cal kyr BP. We present new analyses (clay mineralogy, grain-size, Nd isotopes and pollen) applied to sediments from the river terraces in the lower Volga, from the middle Caspian Sea and from the western part of the Black Sea. The results show that during the last deglaciation, the Ponto-Caspian basin collected meltwater and fine-grained sediment from the southern margin of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS) via the Dniepr and Volga Rivers. It induced the deposition of characteristic red-brownish/chocolate-coloured illite-rich sediments (Red Layers in the Black Sea and Chocolate Clays in the Caspian Sea) that originated from the Baltic Shield area according to Nd data. This general evolution, common to both seas was nevertheless differentiated over time due to the specificities of their catchment areas and due to the movement of the southern margin of the SIS. Our results indicate that in the eastern part of the East European Plain, the meltwater from the SIS margin supplied the Caspian Sea during the deglaciation until ∼13.8 cal kyr BP, and possibly from the LGM. That led to the Early Khvalynian transgressive stage(s) and Chocolate Clays deposition in the now-emerged northern flat part of the Caspian Sea (river terraces in the modern lower Volga) and in its middle basin. In the western part of the East European Plain, our results confirm the release of meltwater from the SIS margin into the Black Sea that occurred between 17.2 and 15.7 cal kyr BP, as previously proposed. Indeed, recent findings concerning the evolution of the southern margin of the SIS and the Black Sea, show that during the last deglaciation, occurred a westward release of meltwater into the North Atlantic (between ca. 20 and 16.7 cal kyr BP), and a southward one into the Black Sea (between 17.2 and 15.7 cal kyr BP). After the Red Layers/Chocolate Clays deposition in both seas and until 12 cal kyr BP, smectite became the dominant clay mineral. The East European Plain is clearly identified as the source for smectite in the Caspian Sea sediments. In the Black Sea, smectite originated either from the East European Plain or from the Danube River catchment. Previous studies consider smectite as being only of Anatolian origin. However, our results highlight both, the European source for smectite and the impact of this source on the depositional environment of the Black Sea during considered period
Atlantic circulation changes across a stadial-interstadial transition
[EN] We combine consistently dated benthic carbon isotopic records distributed over the entire Atlantic Ocean with numerical simulations performed by a glacial configuration of the Norwegian Earth System Model with active ocean biogeochemistry in order to interpret the observed Cibicides 13C changes at the stadial-interstadial transition corresponding to the end of Heinrich Stadial 4 (HS4) in terms of ocean circulation and remineralization changes. We show that the marked increase in Cibicides 13C observed at the end of HS4 between g1/42000 and 4200gm in the Atlantic can be explained by changes in nutrient concentrations as simulated by the model in response to the halting of freshwater input in the high-latitude glacial North Atlantic. Our model results show that this Cibicides 13C signal is associated with changes in the ratio of southern-sourced (SSW) versus northern-sourced (NSW) water masses at the core sites, whereby SSW is replaced by NSW as a consequence of the resumption of deep-water formation in the northern North Atlantic and Nordic Seas after the freshwater input is halted. Our results further suggest that the contribution of ocean circulation changes to this signal increases from g1/440g% at 2000gm to g1/480g% at 4000gm. Below g1/44200gm, the model shows little ocean circulation change but an increase in remineralization across the transition marking the end of HS4. The simulated lower remineralization during stadials compared to during interstadials is particularly pronounced in deep subantarctic sites, in agreement with the decrease in the export production of carbon to the deep Southern Ocean during stadials found in previous studies.This research has been supported by the Research Council of Norway (RNC – KLIMAFORSK contract no. 326603/E10 and Coordination and Support Activity contract no. 310328/E10).
The research leading to these results derives from exchanges and collaborations between participants in the ACCLIMATE ERC project (FP7/2007-2013 grant agreement no. 339108) and ice2ice ERC project (FP7/2007-2013 grant agreement no. 610055).
Guncheng Guo acknowledges support from the RCN-funded project ABRUPT (project no. 325333). Susana Lebreiro acknowledges funding from project CTM2017-84113-R. Jerry Tjiputra acknowledges RCN project INES (project no. 270061).Peer reviewe
Distinct control mechanism of fine-grained sediments from Yellow River and Kyushu supply in the northern Okinawa Trough since the last glacial
© 2017. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. High-resolution multiproxy records, including clay minerals and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopes of the clay-sized silicate fraction of sediments from IODP Site U1429 in the northern Okinawa Trough, provide reliable evidence for distinct control mechanism on fine-grained sediments input from the Yellow River and the southern Japanese Islands to the northern Okinawa Trough since 34 ka BP. Provenance analysis indicates that the sediments were mainly derived from the Yellow River and the island of Kyushu. Since the last glacial, clay-sized sediments transported from the Yellow River to the study site were strongly influenced by sea-level fluctuation. During low sea-level stage (∼34–14 ka BP), the paleo-Yellow River mouth was positioned closer to the northern Okinawa Trough, favoring large fluvial discharge or even direct input of detrital sediments, which resulted about four times more flux of clay-sized sediments supply to the study area as during the relatively high sea-level stage (∼14–0 ka BP). The input of Kyushu-derived clay-sized sediments to the study site was mainly controlled by the Kuroshio Current and Tsushima Warm Current intensity, with increased input in phase with weakened Kuroshio Current/Tsushima Warm Current. Our study suggests that the Kuroshio Current was very likely flowed into the Okinawa Trough and thus influenced the fine-grained sediment transport in the area throughout the last glacial and deglacial. During ∼34–11 ka BP, the Kyushu clay-sized sediment input was mainly controlled by the Kuroshio Current. Since ∼11 ka BP, the occurrence of Tsushima Warm Current became important in influencing the Kyushu fine-grained sediment input to the northern Okinawa Trough
Deltaic and Coastal Sediments as Recorders of Mediterranean Regional Climate and Human Impact Over the Past Three Millennia
International audienc
Position of the Polar Front along the western Iberian margin during key cold episodes of the last 45 ka
This paper documents the migration of the Polar Front (PF) over the Iberian margin during some of the cold climatic extremes of the last 45 ka. It is based on a compilation of robust and coherent paleohydrological proxies obtained from eleven cores distributed between 36 and 42°N. Planktonic δ18O (Globigerina bulloides), ice-rafted detritus concentrations, and the relative abundance of the polar foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral were used to track the PF position. These three data sets, compared from core to core, show a consistent evolution of the sea surface paleohydrology along the Iberian margin over the last 45 ka. We focused on five time slices representative of cold periods under distinct paleoenvironmental forcings: the 8.2 ka event and the Younger Dryas (two recent cold events occurring within high values of summer insolation), Heinrich events 1 and 4 (reflecting major episodes of massive iceberg discharges into the North Atlantic), and the Last Glacial Maximum (typifying the highest ice volume accumulated in the Northern Hemisphere). For each event, we generated schematic maps mirroring past sea surface hydrological conditions. The maps revealed that the Polar Front presence along the Iberian margin was restricted to Heinrich events. The sea surface conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum were close to those at present day, except for the northern sites which briefly experienced subarctic conditions
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