Evidence for enhanced Mediterranean thermohaline circulation during rapid climatic coolings

Cacho, Isabel; Grimalt, Joan O.; Sierro, Francisco J.; Shackleton, N. J.; Canals, Miquel

doi:10.1016/s0012-821x(00)00296-x

Cited by 273 publications

(265 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…7) (Cacho et al, 1999(Cacho et al, , 2000(Cacho et al, , 2002 showing a 7°C change between full glacial and modern conditions. There are no seasonalresolution SST records in the Mediterranean for the last glacial with which to directly compare the seasonal-resolution results of this study.…”

Section: Past Seasonality In Sst At Gibraltarmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased seasonality in the Western Mediterranean during the last glacial from limpet shell geochemistry

Ferguson

Henderson

et al. 2011

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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Editor: P. DeMenocalKeywords: mollusc seasonality Gibraltar palaeoclimate oxygen isotopesThe seasonal cycle is a fundamental aspect of climate, with a significant influence on mean climate and on human societies. Assessing seasonality in different climate states is therefore important but, outside the tropics, very few palaeoclimate records with seasonal resolution exist and there are currently no glacial-age seasonal-resolution sea-surface-temperature (SST) records at mid to high latitudes. Here we show that both Mg/Ca and oxygen isotope (δ 18 O) ratios in modern limpet (Patella) shells record the seasonal range of SST in the western Mediterranean -a region particularly susceptible to seasonal change. Analysis of a suite of fossil limpet shells from Gibraltar shows that SST seasonality was greater during the last glacial by~2°C as a result of greater winter cooling. These extra-tropical seasonal-resolution SST records for the last glacial suggest that the presence of large ice-sheets in the northern hemisphere enhances winter cooling. This result also indicates that seasonality in the Mediterranean is not well-represented in most palaeoclimate models, which typically show little change in seasonal amplitude, and provides a new test for the accuracy of climate models.

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Section: Past Seasonality In Sst At Gibraltarmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased seasonality in the Western Mediterranean during the last glacial from limpet shell geochemistry

Ferguson

Henderson

et al. 2011

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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“…The last glacial inception was marked by the expansion of continental ice sheets and substantial changes in oceanographic conditions in the North Atlantic as well as in atmospheric temperature and moisture balance in the Northern Hemisphere (e.g., Blunier and Brook, 2001;Cacho et al, 2000Cacho et al, , 1999Chapman and Shackleton, 1999;Sánchez Goñi et al, 2002;Svensson et al, 2008Svensson et al, , 2006Wolff et al, 2010). Between Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 5d and 2, the climatic conditions were characterized by numerous abrupt millennial-scale oscillations, known as Dansgaard-Oeschger events (DO; Dansgaard et al, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abrupt climate and vegetation variability of eastern Anatolia during the last glacial

et al. 2015

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Abstract. Detailed analyses of the Lake Van pollen, Ca / K ratio, and stable oxygen isotope record allow the identification of millennial-scale vegetation and environmental changes in eastern Anatolia throughout the last glacial (∼ 111.5-11.7 ka BP). The climate of the last glacial was cold and dry, indicated by low arboreal pollen (AP) levels. The driest and coldest period corresponds to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 (∼ 28-14.5 ka BP), which was dominated by highest values of xerophytic steppe vegetation.Our high-resolution multi-proxy record shows rapid expansions and contractions of tree populations that reflect variability in temperature and moisture availability. These rapid vegetation and environmental changes can be related to the stadial-interstadial pattern of Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events as recorded in the Greenland ice cores. Periods of reduced moisture availability were characterized by enhanced occurrence of xerophytic species and high terrigenous input from the Lake Van catchment area. Furthermore, the comparison with the marine realm reveals that the complex atmosphere-ocean interaction can be explained by the strength and position of the westerlies, which are responsible for the supply of humidity in eastern Anatolia. Influenced by the diverse topography of the Lake Van catchment, more pronounced DO interstadials (e.g., DO 19, 14, 12 and 8) show the strongest expansion of temperate species within the last glacial. However, Heinrich events (HE), characterized by highest concentrations of ice-rafted debris (IRD) in marine sediments, cannot be separated from other DO stadials based on the vegetation composition in eastern Anatolia. In addition, this work is a first attempt to establish a continuous microscopic charcoal record for the last glacial in the Near East.It documents an immediate response to millennial-scale climate and environmental variability and enables us to shed light on the history of fire activity during the last glacial.

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“…The peak to peak synchronization between Greenland ice core and Mediterranean suborbital climatic fluctuations is justified by teleconnection phenomena [7,8,57]. Cacho et al [7] developed two alternative age models for the last 50 kyr in the Alboran Sea, respectively based on calibrated radiocarbon datings and synchronization of alkenone-based sea surface temperatures with 18 O data from Greenland ice cores, which are remarkably in agreement.…”

Section: Chronological Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…In other words, there is not a hydrological-mediated response (e.g. local upwelling and mesoscale cyclonic or anticyclonic gyres), but a unique regional behaviour, likely due to atmospheric phenomena, for instance the Polar Vortex expansion during Stadials [8,59].…”

Section: Suborbital Climatic Oscillationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cacho et al [7][8][9][10] published a series of papers based on the Alboran Sea sedimentary archive (core MD95-2043) that disclosed the sensitivity of the Mediterranean Sea to the last glacial suborbital climatic oscillations: the occurrence of the whole sequence of Stadials (cold water phases) and Interstadials (warm water phases) over the last 50 kiloyears (kyr), synchronized to the same events in the Northern Hemisphere (Greenland ice *Address correspondence to this author at the Università degli Studi di Palermo, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, Via Archirafi 22, 90134 Palermo, Italy; Tel: +3909123864648; E-mail alessandro.incarbona@unipa.it cores and North Atlantic sedimentary cores); a circulation pattern strengthened during Stadials (and Heinrich events) and weakened during Interstadials, that is opposite to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation fashion; productivity levels decreased during Stadials and Heinrich events and vice versa increased during warm water phases. The work of these authors opened a new line of paleoceanographic research in the very high-resolution sedimentary record of the western and central Mediterranean Sea.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ten Years of Paleoceanographic Studies at ODP Site 963 (Central Mediterranean Sea)

Stefano

Incarbona

Sprovieri³

et al. 2014

TOPALOJ

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Abstract:The geographical location, the shape and the circulation pattern makes the Mediterranean Sea an ideal laboratory to study the interplay between different climatic systems, abrupt climate changes and the response of marine ecosystems. The Ocean Drilling Program Site 963 was drilled in the Northwestern part of the Sicily Channel, the sill that divides the western from the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Numerous papers have been published on Site 963 sediments in the last decade, investigating Mediterranean paleoceanographic themes. Here we offer a synthetic framework of these investigations carried out by sub-centennial resolution. We present the whole sequence of suborbital climatic oscillations over the last 130 kyr, that is since the last interglacial period, and we claim that teleconnection with Greenland and North Atlantic regions is the most likely phenomenon to explain our results. Furthermore we show the high sensitivity of marine planktonic (planktonic foraminifera and coccolithophores) ecosystems to Stadial/Interstadial fluctuations. We conclude that a three-steps scenario may describe productivity variations during each high-frequency oscillation, from Interstadial 24 to the last deglaciation (from 110 to 15 kiloyears ago): surface oligotrophy and a deep nutricline in the lower part of Interstadials; increased productivity, through a deep chlorophyll maximum and winter/spring coccolithophore blooms, during the upper part of Interstadials; a shallow nutricline during Stadials and possibly reduced productivity levels with respect to the upper Interstadial phase. Results from Site 963 investigations provide key information for very highresolution paleoceanographic research in the Mediterranean Sea.

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Evidence for enhanced Mediterranean thermohaline circulation during rapid climatic coolings

Cited by 273 publications

References 61 publications

Increased seasonality in the Western Mediterranean during the last glacial from limpet shell geochemistry

Increased seasonality in the Western Mediterranean during the last glacial from limpet shell geochemistry

Abrupt climate and vegetation variability of eastern Anatolia during the last glacial

Ten Years of Paleoceanographic Studies at ODP Site 963 (Central Mediterranean Sea)

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