The North Atlantic Glacial Eastern Boundary Current as a key driver for ice‐sheet – AMOC interactions and climate instability
Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date | 2021-03 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Author(s) | Toucanne Samuel![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Affiliation(s) | 1 : IFREMER Unité de Recherche Géosciences Marines Laboratoire Géophysique et enregistrement Sédimentaire CS10070F‐29280 Plouzané ,France 2 : Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory Columbia University Palisades New York10964 ,United States 3 : Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentation et Approches Numériques LOCEAN/IPSL Sorbonne Université‐CNRS‐IRD‐MNHN UMR7159, Paris, France 4 : LPG‐BIAF UMR‐CNRS 6112 Université d’Angers UFR Sciences 2 bd Lavoisier49045 Angers Cedex 01 ,France 5 : PACEA UMR 5199 CNRS ‐ Université Bordeaux Bâtiment B8allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire33615 Pessac ,France 6 : UMR‐CNRS 5805 EPOC ‐ OASU Université de Bordeaux CS5002333615 Pessac, France 7 : CNRS IFREMER Université de Brest IRD Laboratoire d’Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS) Centre IFREMER de Bretagne CS10070F‐29280 Plouzané,France |
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Source | Paleoceanography And Paleoclimatology (2572-4517) (American Geophysical Union (AGU)), 2021-03 , Vol. 36 , N. 3 , P. e2020PA004068 (23p.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
DOI | 10.1029/2020PA004068 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Keyword(s) | AMOC, climate changes, Dansgaard‐, Oeschger events, Glacial Eastern Boundary Current, last glacial period | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | The upper branch of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) plays a critical role in ocean circulation and climate change, yet its variability during the last glacial period is poorly documented. Here, we investigate the northward‐flowing Glacial Eastern Boundary Current (GEBC) in the North Atlantic, known today as the European Slope Current, and representing the easternmost portion of the upper branch of the AMOC. Based on flow speed and isotopic records, we show that Dansgaard‐Oeschger (D/O) interstadials (stadials) correspond to a faster (weaker) GEBC during the ∼50‐15 ka period. This, by analogy to present‐day conditions, suggests enhanced (reduced) strength of the subpolar gyre and, by extension, of northern‐sourced water production and AMOC during D‐O interstadials (stadials). Concomitant fluctuations of both the GEBC and the European Ice Sheet between ∼30 and 17 ka suggest an active role of the upper branch of AMOC in the poleward transport of heat and freshwater to the northern North Atlantic, with direct impacts on deep water formation and AMOC strength. We explore these ice‐sheet ‐ AMOC interactions and the associated abrupt climate changes over the last glacial period and the last deglaciation. |
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