Glacial terminations and the global water budget

Technical Report · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:5831217

Broecker, W S ^[1]

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1. Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (United States). Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory

Evidence suggests that the last glacial period came to an abrupt close about 13,500 years ago. This evidence indicates: (1) that the melting of the North American ice sheet commenced abruptly at this time; (2) that surface temperatures in the northern Atlantic rose sharply at this time; (3) that surface water conditions in the Antarctic changed abruptly at this time; (4) that the salinity of the Red Sea dropped abruptly at this time; and (5) that accumulation rate of planktonic foraminifera in the South China Sea underwent an abrupt five-fold increase at this time. This project has been directed toward better developing and documenting our explanation for the abruptness of these changes. This project has supported investigation of several aspects of this hypothesis. We suggest that the Greenland climate changes are driven by oscillations in salt content which modulate the strength of the Atlantic's conveyor circulation.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States); Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (United States). Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5831217
• Report Number(s): UCRL-CR-109709; ON: DE92008939
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
WATER VAPOR
GROUND WATER
BUDGETS
ICE
ISOTOPE DATING
SURFACE WATERS
CLIMATE MODELS
CLIMATES
CLIMATIC CHANGE
GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS
GEOLOGY
GLACIERS
GREENLAND
HUMIDITY
HYDROLOGY
LITTLE ICE AGE
MOISTURE
OCEANIC CIRCULATION
PROGRESS REPORT
SALINITY
WIND
AGE ESTIMATION
DOCUMENT TYPES
FLUIDS
GASES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
VAPORS
WATER
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540310 - Environment
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580000 - Geosciences
990200 - Mathematics & Computers