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Subsurface heat channel drove sea surface warming in the high-latitude North Atlantic during the mid-pleistocene transition

The Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT, 1,200-600 ka) marks the rapid expansion of Northern Hemisphere (NH) continental ice sheets and stronger precession pacing of glacial/interglacial cyclicity. Here, we investigate the relationship between thermocline depth in the central North Atlantic, subsurface...

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Main Authors: Amorim Catunda, Maria Carolina (Author) , Bahr, André (Author) , Kaboth-Bahr, Stefanie (Author) , Zhang, Xu (Author) , Foukal, Nicholas P. (Author) , Friedrich, Oliver (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 1 June 2021
In: Geophysical research letters
Year: 2021, Volume: 48, Issue: 11, Pages: 1-12
ISSN:1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2020GL091899
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Author Notes:M. Carolina A. Catunda, André Bahr, Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr, Xu Zhang, Nicholas P. Foukal, and Oliver Friedrich
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Summary:The Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT, 1,200-600 ka) marks the rapid expansion of Northern Hemisphere (NH) continental ice sheets and stronger precession pacing of glacial/interglacial cyclicity. Here, we investigate the relationship between thermocline depth in the central North Atlantic, subsurface northward heat transport and the initiation of the 100-kyr cyclicity during the MPT. To reconstruct deep-thermocline temperatures, we generated a Mg/Ca-based temperature record of deep-dwelling (∼800 m) planktonic foraminifera from mid-latitude North Atlantic at Site U1313. This record shows phases of pronounced heat accumulation at subsurface levels during the mid-MPT glacial driven by increased outflow of the Mediterranean Sea. Concurrent warming of the subtropical thermocline and subpolar surface waters indicates enhanced (subsurface) inter-gyre transport of warm water to the subpolar North Atlantic, which provided moisture for ice-sheet growth. Precession-modulated variability in the northward transport of subtropical waters imprinted this orbital cyclicity into NH ice-sheets after Marine Isotope Stage 24.
Item Description:Gesehen am 12.08.2021
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2020GL091899

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