Freshwater routing in eddy-permitting simulations of the last deglacial: the impact of realistic freshwater discharge

Freshwater, in the form of glacial runoff, is hypothesized to play a critical role in centennial- to millennial-scale climate variability, such as the Younger Dryas and Dansgaard-Oeschger events, but this relationship is not straightforward. Large-scale glacial runoff events, such as Meltwater Pulse...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Climate of the past 2021-11, Vol.17 (6), p.2327-2341
Main Authors: Love, Ryan, Andres, Heather J, Condron, Alan, Tarasov, Lev
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Anomalies
Climate
Climate cycles
Climate variability
Deep water
Deep water formation
Entrainment
Experiments
Fresh water
Freshwater
Gateways
General circulation models
Geographical distribution
Geographical locations
Glacial runoff
Glaciation
Glacier melting
Gulf Stream
Ice sheets
Injection
Inland water environment
Meltwater
Ocean circulation
Oceans
Polar environments
Regions
Rivers
Runoff
Salinity
Salinity effects
Sea level
Simulation
Straits
Terrestrial environments
Vortices
Younger Dryas
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Summary:Freshwater, in the form of glacial runoff, is hypothesized to play a critical role in centennial- to millennial-scale climate variability, such as the Younger Dryas and Dansgaard-Oeschger events, but this relationship is not straightforward. Large-scale glacial runoff events, such as Meltwater Pulse 1a (MWP1a), are not always temporally proximal to subsequent large-scale cooling. Moreover, the typical design of hosing experiments that support this relationship tends to artificially amplify the climate response. This study explores the impact that limitations in the representation of runoff in conventional "hosing" simulations has on our understanding of this relationship by examining where coastally released freshwater is transported when it reaches the ocean. We particularly focus on the impact of (1) the injection of freshwater directly over sites of deep-water formation (DWF) rather than at runoff locations (i.e. hosing), (2) excessive freshwater injection volumes (often by a factor of 5), and (3) the use of present-day (rather than palaeo) ocean gateways.
ISSN:1814-9332
1814-9324
1814-9332
DOI:10.5194/cp-17-2327-2021