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Laurentide Ice Sheet meltwater and abrupt climate change during the last glaciation

Journal Article · · Paleoceanography, vol. 21, N/A, March 3, 2006, doi:10.1029/2005PA001186
OSTI ID:898043
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 Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
898043
Report Number(s):
UCRL-JRNL-215825
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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