Iceberg discharges of the last glacial period driven by oceanic circulation changes

Proxy data reveal the existence of episodes of increased deposition of ice-rafted detritus in the North Atlantic Ocean during the last glacial period interpreted as massive iceberg discharges from the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Although these have long been attributed to self-sustained ice sheet oscillat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2013-10, Vol.110 (41), p.16350-16354
Main Authors: Alvarez-Solas, Jorge, Robinson, Alexander, Montoya, Marisa, Ritz, Catherine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atlantic Ocean
Climate
Climate Change
Climate models
Computer Simulation
Cryosphere
Detritus
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Glaciers
Ice
Ice ages
Ice Cover
Ice sheets
Ice shelves
Ice streams
Icebergs
Marine
Marine and continental quaternary
Models, Theoretical
Ocean circulation
Ocean temperature
Ocean warming
Oceans
Paleoclimatology
Physical Sciences
Seas
Simulation
Surficial geology
Temperature
Water circulation
Water Movements
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Summary:Proxy data reveal the existence of episodes of increased deposition of ice-rafted detritus in the North Atlantic Ocean during the last glacial period interpreted as massive iceberg discharges from the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Although these have long been attributed to self-sustained ice sheet oscillations, growing evidence of the crucial role that the ocean plays both for past and future behavior of the cryosphere suggests a climatic control of these ice surges. Here, we present simulations of the last glacial period carried out with a hybrid ice sheet–ice shelf model forced by an oceanic warming index derived from proxy data that accounts for the impact of past ocean circulation changes on ocean temperatures. The model generates a time series of iceberg discharge that closely agrees with ice-rafted debris records over the past 80 ka, indicating that oceanic circulation variations were responsible for the enigmatic ice purges of the last ice age.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1306622110