Laurentide Ice Sheet meltwater and abrupt climate change during the last glaciation
A leading hypothesis to explain abrupt climate change during the last glacial cycle calls on fluctuations in the margin of the North American Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS), which may have routed freshwater between the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and North Atlantic, affecting North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) variability and regional climate. Paired measurements of {delta}O and Mg/Ca of foraminiferal calcite from GOM sediments reveal five episodes of LIS meltwater input from 28-45 thousand years ago (ka) that do not match the millennial-scale Dansgaard-Oeschger (D/O) warmings recorded in Greenland ice. We suggest that summer melting of the LIS may occur during Antarctic warming and likely contributed to sea-level variability during Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3).
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 898043
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JRNL-215825; TRN: US200706%%219
- Journal Information:
- Paleoceanography, vol. 21, N/A, March 3, 2006, doi:10.1029/2005PA001186, Journal Name: Paleoceanography, vol. 21, N/A, March 3, 2006, doi:10.1029/2005PA001186
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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