scholarly journals Last Interglacial Climates

2002 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
George J. Kukla ◽  
Michael L. Bender ◽  
Jacques-Louis de Beaulieu ◽  
Gerard Bond ◽  
Wallace S. Broecker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Proxy Record ◽  
Ice Volume ◽  
Global Ice Volume ◽  
Glacial Stage ◽  
Mis 5E

AbstractThe last interglacial, commonly understood as an interval with climate as warm or warmer than today, is represented by marine isotope stage (MIS) 5e, which is a proxy record of low global ice volume and high sea level. It is arbitrarily dated to begin at approximately 130,000 yr B.P. and end at 116,000 yr B.P. with the onset of the early glacial unit MIS 5d. The age of the stage is determined by correlation to uranium–thorium dates of raised coral reefs. The most detailed proxy record of interglacial climate is found in the Vostok ice core where the temperature reached current levels 132,000 yr ago and continued rising for another two millennia. Approximately 127,000 yr ago the Eemian mixed forests were established in Europe. They developed through a characteristic succession of tree species, probably surviving well into the early glacial stage in southern parts of Europe. After ca. 115,000 yr ago, open vegetation replaced forests in northwestern Europe and the proportion of conifers increased significantly farther south. Air temperature at Vostok dropped sharply. Pulses of cold water affected the northern North Atlantic already in late MIS 5e, but the central North Atlantic remained warm throughout most of MIS 5d. Model results show that the sea surface in the eastern tropical Pacific warmed when the ice grew and sea level dropped. The essentially interglacial conditions in southwestern Europe remained unaffected by ice buildup until late MIS 5d when the forests disappeared abruptly and cold water invaded the central North Atlantic ca. 107,000 yr ago.

Duration of Last Interglacial Conditions in Northwestern Greece

2002 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Polychronis C. Tzedakis ◽  
Michael R. Frogley ◽  
Timothy H.E. Heaton
Keyword(s):  
Calibration Method ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Forest Communities ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Ice Volume ◽  
Global Ice Volume ◽  
Northwestern Greece ◽  
Mis 5E ◽  
Pollen Records

AbstractA new astronomical calibration method for long pollen records from southern Europe is applied to the last interglacial interval of the Ioannina sequence, northwestern Greece. This shows that the last interglacial in this region, as defined by the presence of forest communities, lasted ca. 15,500 yr, from 127,300 to 111,800 yr B.P. Interglacial conditions developed within marine isotope substage (MIS) 5e and persisted into MIS 5d, lagging changes in global ice volume.

scholarly journals Giant boulders and Last Interglacial storm intensity in the North Atlantic

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (46) ◽  
pp. 12144-12149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessio Rovere ◽  
Elisa Casella ◽  
Daniel L. Harris ◽  
Thomas Lorscheid ◽  
Napayalage A. K. Nandasena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Storm Intensity ◽  
The North ◽  
Rising Sea Levels ◽  
Mis 5E

As global climate warms and sea level rises, coastal areas will be subject to more frequent extreme flooding and hurricanes. Geologic evidence for extreme coastal storms during past warm periods has the potential to provide fundamental insights into their future intensity. Recent studies argue that during the Last Interglacial (MIS 5e, ∼128–116 ka) tropical and extratropical North Atlantic cyclones may have been more intense than at present, and may have produced waves larger than those observed historically. Such strong swells are inferred to have created a number of geologic features that can be observed today along the coastlines of Bermuda and the Bahamas. In this paper, we investigate the most iconic among these features: massive boulders atop a cliff in North Eleuthera, Bahamas. We combine geologic field surveys, wave models, and boulder transport equations to test the hypothesis that such boulders must have been emplaced by storms of greater-than-historical intensity. By contrast, our results suggest that with the higher relative sea level (RSL) estimated for the Bahamas during MIS 5e, boulders of this size could have been transported by waves generated by storms of historical intensity. Thus, while the megaboulders of Eleuthera cannot be used as geologic proof for past “superstorms,” they do show that with rising sea levels, cliffs and coastal barriers will be subject to significantly greater erosional energy, even without changes in storm intensity.

The Last Interglacial Ocean

1984 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose Marie L. Cline ◽  
James D. Hays ◽  
Warren L. Prell ◽  
William F. Ruddiman ◽  
Ted C. Moore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Oxygen Isotope ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
World Ocean ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Ice Volume ◽  
Global Ice Volume ◽  
Oceanic Response ◽  
Oxygen Isotopic

The final effort of the CLIMAP project was a study of the last interglaciation, a time of minimum ice volume some 122,000 yr ago coincident with the Substage 5e oxygen isotopic minimum. Based on detailed oxygen isotope analyses and biotic census counts in 52 cores across the world ocean, last interglacial sea-surface temperatures (SST) were compared with those today. There are small SST departures in the mid-latitude North Atlantic (warmer) and the Gulf of Mexico (cooler). The eastern boundary currents of the South Atlantic and Pacific oceans are marked by large SST anomalies in individual cores, but their interpretations are precluded by no-analog problems and by discordancies among estimates from different biotic groups. In general, the last interglacial ocean was not significantly different from the modern ocean. The relative sequencing of ice decay versus oceanic warming on the Stage 6/5 oxygen isotopic transition and of ice growth versus oceanic cooling on the Stage 5e/5d transition was also studied. In most of the Southern Hemisphere, the oceanic response marked by the biotic census counts preceded (led) the global ice-volume response marked by the oxygen-isotope signal by several thousand years. The reverse pattern is evident in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, where the oceanic response lagged that of global ice volume by several thousand years. As a result, the very warm temperatures associated with the last interglaciation were regionally diachronous by several thousand years. These regional lead-lag relationships agree with those observed on other transitions and in long-term phase relationships; they cannot be explained simply as artifacts of bioturbational translations of the original signals.

scholarly journals Greenland ice sheet contribution to sea level rise during the last interglacial period: a modelling study driven and constrained by ice core data

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 353-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Quiquet ◽  
C. Ritz ◽  
H. J. Punge ◽  
D. Salas y Mélia
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Orbital Configuration ◽  
Global Sea Level

Abstract. As pointed out by the forth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC-AR4 (Meehl et al., 2007), the contribution of the two major ice sheets, Antarctica and Greenland, to global sea level rise, is a subject of key importance for the scientific community. By the end of the next century, a 3–5 °C warming is expected in Greenland. Similar temperatures in this region were reached during the last interglacial (LIG) period, 130–115 ka BP, due to a change in orbital configuration rather than to an anthropogenic forcing. Ice core evidence suggests that the Greenland ice sheet (GIS) survived this warm period, but great uncertainties remain about the total Greenland ice reduction during the LIG. Here we perform long-term simulations of the GIS using an improved ice sheet model. Both the methodologies chosen to reconstruct palaeoclimate and to calibrate the model are strongly based on proxy data. We suggest a relatively low contribution to LIG sea level rise from Greenland melting, ranging from 0.7 to 1.5 m of sea level equivalent, contrasting with previous studies. Our results suggest an important contribution of the Antarctic ice sheet to the LIG highstand.

scholarly journals Last interglacial (MIS 5e) sea-level proxies in southeastern South America

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-197
Author(s):  
Evan J. Gowan ◽  
Alessio Rovere ◽  
Deirdre D. Ryan ◽  
Sebastian Richiano ◽  
Alejandro Montes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Amino Acid Racemization ◽  
Exceptional Preservation ◽  
Infrared Stimulated Luminescence ◽  
Spin Resonance ◽  
Coastal Deposits ◽  
Mis 5E ◽  
Terrace Level

Abstract. Coastal southeast South America is one of the classic locations where there are robust, spatially extensive records of past high sea level. Sea-level proxies interpreted as last interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 5e, MIS 5e) exist along the length of the Uruguayan and Argentinian coast with exceptional preservation especially in Patagonia. Many coastal deposits are correlated to MIS 5e solely because they form the next-highest terrace level above the Holocene highstand; however, dating control exists for some landforms from amino acid racemization, U∕Th (on molluscs), electron spin resonance (ESR), optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL), and radiocarbon dating (which provides minimum ages). As part of the World Atlas of Last Interglacial Shorelines (WALIS) database, we have compiled a total of 60 MIS 5 proxies attributed, with various degrees of precision, to MIS 5e. Of these, 48 are sea-level indicators, 11 are marine-limiting indicators (sea level above the elevation of the indicator), and 1 is terrestrial limiting (sea level below the elevation of the indicator). Limitations on the precision and accuracy of chronological controls and elevation measurements mean that most of these indicators are considered to be low quality. The database is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3991596 (Gowan et al., 2020).

scholarly journals Sensitivity of Red Sea circulation to sea level and insolation forcing during the last interglacial

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1195-1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Trommer ◽  
M. Siccha ◽  
E. J. Rohling ◽  
K. Grant ◽  
M. T. J. van der Meer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Gulf Of Aden ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Circulation Mode ◽  
Monsoon Strength ◽  
Mis 5E ◽  
Mis 5

Abstract. This study investigates the response of Red Sea circulation to sea level and insolation changes during termination II and across the last interglacial, in comparison with termination I and the Holocene. Sediment cores from the central and northern part of the Red Sea were investigated by micropaleontological and geochemical proxies. The recovery of the planktonic foraminiferal fauna following high salinities during MIS 6 took place at similar sea-level stand (~50 m below present day), and with a similar species succession, as during termination I. This indicates a consistent sensitivity of the basin oceanography and the plankton ecology to sea-level forcing. Based on planktonic foraminifera, we find that increased water exchange with the Gulf of Aden especially occurred during the sea-level highstand of interglacial MIS 5e. From MIS 6 to the peak of MIS 5e, northern Red Sea SST increased from 21 °C to 25 °C, with about 3 °C of this increase taking place during termination II. Changes in planktonic foraminiferal assemblages indicate that the development of the Red Sea oceanography during MIS 5 was strongly determined by insolation and monsoon strength. The SW Monsoon summer circulation mode was enhanced during the termination, causing low productivity in northern central Red Sea core KL9, marked by high abundance of G. sacculifer, which – as in the Holocene – followed summer insolation. Core KL11 records the northern tip of the intruding intermediate water layer from the Gulf of Aden and its planktonic foraminifera fauna shows evidence for elevated productivity during the sea-level highstand in the southern central Red Sea. By the time of MIS 5 sea-level regression, elevated organic biomarker BIT values suggest denudation of soil organic matter into the Red Sea and high abundances of G. glutinata, and high reconstructed chlorophyll-a values, indicate an intensified NE Monsoon winter circulation mode. Our results imply that the amplitude of insolation fluctuations, and the resulting monsoon strength, strongly influence the Red Sea oceanography during sea-level highstands by regulating the intensity of water exchange with the Gulf of Aden. These processes are responsible for the observation that MIS 5e/d is characterized by higher primary productivity than the Holocene.

scholarly journals A review of MIS 5e sea-level proxies around Japan

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1477-1497
Author(s):  
Evan Tam ◽  
Yusuke Yokoyama
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Age Dating ◽  
Stratigraphic Correlation ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
14C Dating ◽  
Carbon 14 ◽  
Marine Terraces ◽  
Uplift Rates ◽  
Tephra Layers ◽  
Mis 5E

Abstract. Sea-level proxies for Marine Isotopic Stage 5e (MIS 5e, ca. 124 ka) are abundant along the Japanese shoreline and have been documented for over at least the past 60 years. The bulk of these sea-level proxies are identified in Japan as marine terraces, often correlated by stratigraphic relationships to identified tephra layers, or other chronologically interpreted strata. Use of stratigraphic correlation in conjunction with other techniques such as paleontological analysis, tectonic uplift rates, tephra (volcanic ash), uranium–thorium (U–Th), and carbon-14 (14C) dating have connected Japan's landforms to global patterns of sea-level change. This paper reviews over 60 years of publications containing sea-level proxies correlated with MIS 5e in Japan. Data collected for this review have been added to the World Atlas of Last Interglacial Shorelines (WALIS), following their standardizations on the elements necessary to analyze paleosea-levels. This paper reviewed over 70 studies, assembling data points for over 300 locations and examining related papers denoting sea-level indicators for MIS 5e. The database compiled for this review (Tam and Yokoyama, 2020) is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4294326. Sea-level proxy studies in Japan rely heavily on chronostratigraphic techniques and are recognized as reliable, though opportunities exist for further constraining through the further use of numerical age dating techniques.

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