TY - JOUR
KW - 1605 Global Change: Abrupt/rapid climate change
KW - 1635 Global Change: Oceans
KW - 3025 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Marine seismics
KW - 4512 Oceanography: Physical: Currents
KW - deglaciation
KW - Mediterranean Outflow
KW - overturning circulation
AU - M. Rogerson
AU - E.J. Rohling
AU - P.P.E. Weaver
AB - We demonstrate that changes in the behavior of the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) prior to and through the last deglaciation played an important role in promoting Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC). Estimation of past MOW salt and heat fluxes indicates that they gradually increased through the last deglaciation. Between 17.5 and 14.6 thousand years ago (ka B.P., where B.P. references year 1950), net evaporation from the Mediterranean exported sufficient fresh water from the North Atlantic catchment to cause an average salinity increase of 0.5 psu throughout the upper 2000 m of the entire North Atlantic to the north of 25\textdegreeN. Combined with rapid intensification and shoaling of the MOW plume, which we identify around 15\textendash14.5 ka B.P., this deglacial MOW-related salt accumulation preconditioned the North Atlantic for abrupt resumption of the MOC at 14.6 ka B.P.
BT - Paleoceanography
M1 - 4
N2 - We demonstrate that changes in the behavior of the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) prior to and through the last deglaciation played an important role in promoting Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC). Estimation of past MOW salt and heat fluxes indicates that they gradually increased through the last deglaciation. Between 17.5 and 14.6 thousand years ago (ka B.P., where B.P. references year 1950), net evaporation from the Mediterranean exported sufficient fresh water from the North Atlantic catchment to cause an average salinity increase of 0.5 psu throughout the upper 2000 m of the entire North Atlantic to the north of 25\textdegreeN. Combined with rapid intensification and shoaling of the MOW plume, which we identify around 15\textendash14.5 ka B.P., this deglacial MOW-related salt accumulation preconditioned the North Atlantic for abrupt resumption of the MOC at 14.6 ka B.P.
PB - AGU
PY - 2006
SN - 0883-8305
EP - PA4101
T2 - Paleoceanography
TI - Promotion of meridional overturning by Mediterranean-derived salt during the last deglaciation
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2006PA001306
VL - 21
ER -