Subpolar North Atlantic Circulation at 9300 yr BP: Faunal Evidence

1975 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.F. Ruddiman ◽  
L.K. Glover
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Volcanic Ash ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Polar Front ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Wind Drift ◽  
Oceanic Fronts ◽  
Drift Current ◽  
Silicic Volcanic

We have examined the circulation of the subpolar North Atlantic at 9300 yr BP by using a dispersed layer of silicic volcanic ash as a synchronous horizon. At the level of this datum, we have reconstructed from foraminiferal evidence a geologically synoptic view of seasonal variations in sea-surface temperatures and salinities. The reconstruction defines two oceanic fronts at 9300 yr BP: (1) the meridionally oriented Polar Front bordering the axis of deglacial outflow of Arctic and Laurentide ice and meltwater and (2) a zonal portion of the Subarctic Convergence along 48° N, marking a major confluence between the subtropical and subpolar gyres. The 9300-yr configuration primarily differed from the modern pattern in the more easterly position (by 3°) of the Polar Front and the more southerly (3°) and easterly (5°) position of the Subarctic Convergene. Both fronts had been merged at 18,000 yr BP into the full-glacial Polar Front; at 9300 yr BP, they were approaching the end of a northwestward deglacial retreat toward the modern interglacial positions.There were two dominant departures at 9300 yr BP from the Earth's modern configuration, both related to deglaciation: the very large Laurentide Ice Sheet still covering eastern North America to 48° N, and the region of cold Arctic/Laurentide deglacial outflow. These two features caused: a more easterly position than now of the region of upper air divergence and lower air convergence downstream from the Ice Sheet and meltwater outflow; a more intense expression of this upper air divergence and lower air convergence over the central portion of the subpolar North Atlantic; and a latitudinally more stable axis of convergence of surface westerlies over this region. These factors apparently caused the stronger oceanic convergence along 48°N than at present. They also created a stronger, southeastward-directed wind drift current, which opposed the meridional (northward) flow typical of the present interglaciation.

scholarly journals Holocene lowering of the Laurentide ice sheet affects North Atlantic gyre circulation and climate

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 3797-3813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren J. Gregoire ◽  
Ruza F. Ivanovic ◽  
Amanda C. Maycock ◽  
Paul J. Valdes ◽  
Samantha Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Gyre Circulation

Late Quaternary (Stage 2 and 3) Meltwater and Heinrich Events, Northwest Labrador Sea

1994 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Andrews ◽  
Helmut Erlenkeuser ◽  
Katherine Tedesco ◽  
Ali E. Aksu ◽  
A.J.Timothy Jull
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Heinrich Events ◽  
Eastern Margin ◽  
Detrital Carbonate

AbstractTwo major meltwater events are documented in cores from the NW Labrador Sea. One occurred ca. 20,000 14C yr B.P. in association with deposition of a major detrital carbonate unit. Both prior to and after this event, δ18O values of near-surface planktonic foraminifera were 4.5%, indicating fully enriched glacial values. A younger event (ca. 14,000 14 C yr B.P.) is characterized by a dramatic change in δ18O from 4.5 to 2.0% and coincided with the retreat of ice from the outer SE Baffin Shelf, possibly into Hudson Strait. These meltwater events coincide with Heinrich (H) layers 1 and 2 from North Atlantic sediments. The 14,000 14C yr B.P. meltwater event indicates that the eastern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet also underwent rapid retreat at approximately the same time as other ice sheet margins around the NE North Atlantic. A third major detrital carbonate event at the base of HU87-033-009, possibly correlative with Heinrich layer 3, occurred ca. 33,960 ± 675 14 C yr B.P.; however, this is older than the accepted date for H-3 of 27,000 14C yr B.P. and may be H-4.

Oceanic Evidence for the Mechanism of Rapid Northern Hemisphere Glaciation

1980 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. F. Ruddiman ◽  
A. McIntyre ◽  
V. Niebler-Hunt ◽  
J. T. Durazzi
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Local Source ◽  
The North ◽  
Land Mass ◽  
Oxygen Isotopic ◽  
The North Atlantic

AbstractThe oxygen isotopic stage 5/4 boundary in deep-sea sediments marks a prominent interval of northern hemisphere ice-sheet growth that lasted about 10,000 yr. During much of this rapid ice growth, the North Atlantic Ocean from at least 40°N to 60°N maintained warm sea-surface temperatures, within 1° to 2°C of today's subpolar ocean. This oceanic warmth provided a local source of moisture for ice-sheet accretion on the adjacent continents. The unusually strong thermal gradient off the east coast of North America (an “interglacial” ocean alongside a “glacial” land mass) also should have directed low-pressure storms from warm southern latitudes north-ward toward the Laurentide Ice Sheet. In addition, minimal calving of ice into the North Atlantic occurred during most of the stage 5/4 transition, indicative of ice retention within the continents. Diminished summer and autumn insolation, a warm subpolar ocean, and minimal calving of ice are conducive to rapid and extensive episodes of northern hemisphere ice-sheet growth.

scholarly journals The Atmosphere’s Response to the Ice Sheets of the Last Glacial Maximum

1990 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 32-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry H. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Stationary Waves ◽  
The North ◽  
The Last Glacial

This paper discusses some modeling results that indicate how the atmospheric response to the topography of the continental ice of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) may be related to the cold North Atlantic Ocean of that time. Broccoli and Manabe (1987) used a three-dimensional general circulation model (GCM) of the atmosphere coupled with a fixed-depth, static ocean mixed-layer model with ice-age boundary conditions to investigate the individual influences of the CLIMAP ice sheets, snow-free land albedos, and reduced atmospheric CO2 concentrations. They found that the ice sheets are the most influential of the ice-age boundary conditions in modifying the northern hemisphere climate, and that the presence of continental ice sheets alone leads to cooling over the North Atlantic Ocean. One approach for extending these GCM results is to consider the stationary waves generated by the ice sheets. Cook and Held (1988) showed that a linearized, steady-state, primitive equation model can give a reasonable simulation of the GCM’s stationary waves forced by the Laurentide ice sheet. The linear model analysis suggests that the mechanical effect of the changed slope of the surface, and not changes in the diabatic heating (e.g. the high surface albedos) or time-dependent transports that necessarily accompany the ice sheet in the GCM, is largely responsible for the ice sheet’s influence. To obtain the ice-age stationary-wave simulation, the linear model must be linearized about the zonal mean fields from the GCM’s ice-age climate. This is the case because the proximity of the cold polar air to the region of adiabatic heating on the downslope of the Laurentide ice sheet is an important factor in determining the stationary waves. During the ice age, cold air can be transported southward to balance this downslope heating by small perturbations in the meridional wind, consistent with linear theory. Since the meridional temperature gradient is more closely related to the surface albedo (ice extent) than to the ice volume, this suggests a mechanism by which changes in the stationary waves and, therefore, their cooling influence at low levels over the North Atlantic Ocean, can occur on time scales faster than those associated with large changes in continental ice volume.

scholarly journals On the Reduced North Atlantic Storminess during the Last Glacial Period: The Role of Topography in Shaping Synoptic Eddies

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1637-1652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwendal Rivière ◽  
Ségolène Berthou ◽  
Guillaume Lapeyre ◽  
Masa Kageyama
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Storm Track ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
Last Glacial

The North Atlantic storminess of Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) fully coupled climate simulations is generally less intense than that of their preindustrial (PI) counterparts, despite having stronger baroclinicity. An explanation for this counterintuitive result is presented by comparing two simulations of the IPSL full climate model forced by Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project Phase 3 (PMIP3) LGM and PI conditions. Two additional numerical experiments using a simplified dry general circulation model forced by idealized topography and a relaxation in temperature provide guidance for the dynamical interpretation. The forced experiment with idealized Rockies and an idealized Laurentide Ice Sheet has a less intense North Atlantic storm-track activity than the forced experiment with idealized Rockies only, despite similar baroclinicity. Both the climate and idealized runs satisfy or support the following statements. The reduced storm-track intensity can be explained by a reduced baroclinic conversion, which itself comes from a loss in eddy efficiency to tap the available potential energy as shown by energetic budgets. The eddy heat fluxes are northeastward oriented in the western Atlantic in LGM and are less well aligned with the mean temperature gradient than in PI. The southern slope of the Laurentide Ice Sheet topography forces the eddy geopotential isolines to be zonally oriented at low levels in its proximity. This distorts the tubes of constant eddy geopotential in such a way that they tilt northwestward with height during baroclinic growth in LGM while they are more optimally westward tilted in PI.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of Greenland Ice Sheet surface mass balance to perturbations in sea surface temperature and sea ice cover: a study with the regional climate model MAR

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1871-1883 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Noël ◽  
X. Fettweis ◽  
W. J. van de Berg ◽  
M. R. van den Broeke ◽  
M. Erpicum
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Sst Anomalies

Abstract. During recent summers (2007–2012), several surface melt records were broken over the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). The extreme summer melt resulted in part from a persistent negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), favoring warmer atmospheric conditions than normal over the GrIS. Simultaneously, large anomalies in sea ice cover (SIC) and sea surface temperature (SST) were observed in the North Atlantic, suggesting a possible connection. To assess the direct impact of 2007–2012 SIC and SST anomalies on GrIS surface mass balance (SMB), a set of sensitivity experiments was carried out with the regional climate model MAR forced by ERA-Interim. These simulations suggest that perturbations in SST and SIC in the seas surrounding Greenland do not considerably impact GrIS SMB, as a result of the katabatic wind blocking effect. These offshore-directed winds prevent oceanic near-surface air, influenced by SIC and SST anomalies, from penetrating far inland. Therefore, the ice sheet SMB response is restricted to coastal regions, where katabatic winds cease. A topic for further investigation is how anomalies in SIC and SST might have indirectly affected the surface melt by changing the general circulation in the North Atlantic region, hence favoring more frequent warm air advection towards the GrIS.

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