On the Abruptness of Bølling–Allerød Warming

Su, Zhan; Ingersoll, Andrew P.; He, Feng

doi:10.1175/jcli-d-15-0675.1

On the Abruptness of Bølling–Allerød Warming

Journal Article · Tue Jun 21 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Climate

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1175/jcli-d-15-0675.1· OSTI ID:1565519

Su, Zhan ^[1]; Ingersoll, Andrew P. ^[1]; He, Feng ^[2]

California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Nelson Inst. for Environmental Studies, Center for Climatic Research; Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States). College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences

Previous observations and simulations suggest that an approximate 3°–5°C warming occurred at intermediate depths in the North Atlantic over several millennia during Heinrich stadial 1 (HS1), which induces warm salty water (WSW) lying beneath surface cold freshwater. This arrangement eventually generates ocean convective available potential energy (OCAPE), the maximum potential energy releasable by adiabatic vertical parcel rearrangements in an ocean column. The authors find that basin-scale OCAPE starts to appear in the North Atlantic (~67.5°–73.5°N) and builds up over decades at the end of HS1 with a magnitude of about 0.05 J kg^-1. OCAPE provides a key kinetic energy source for thermobaric cabbeling convection (TCC). Using a high-resolution TCC-resolved regional model, it is found that this decadal-scale accumulation of OCAPE ultimately overshoots its intrinsic threshold and is released abruptly (~1 month) into kinetic energy of TCC, with further intensification from cabbeling. TCC has convective plumes with approximately 0.2–1-km horizontal scales and large vertical displacements (~1 km), which make TCC difficult to be resolved or parameterized by current general circulation models. The simulation herein indicates that these local TCC events are spread quickly throughout the OCAPE-contained basin by internal wave perturbations. Their convective plumes have large vertical velocities (~8–15 cm s^-1) and bring the WSW to the surface, causing an approximate 2°C sea surface warming for the whole basin (~700 km) within a month. Finally, this exposes a huge heat reservoir to the atmosphere, which helps to explain the abrupt Bølling–Allerød warming.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1565519

Journal Information:: Journal of Climate, Journal Name: Journal of Climate Journal Issue: 13 Vol. 29; ISSN 0894-8755

Publisher:: American Meteorological SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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On the Abruptness of Bølling–Allerød Warming

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