Last Century Warming Over the Canadian Atlantic Shelves Linked to Weak Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

Thibodeau, Benoit; Not, Christelle; Hu, Jiang; Schmittner, Andreas; Noone, David; Tabor, Clay; Zhang, Jiaxu; Liu, Zhengyu

doi:10.1029/2018GL080083

Title: Last Century Warming Over the Canadian Atlantic Shelves Linked to Weak Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

Journal Article · Tue Nov 06 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080083· OSTI ID:1499369

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Univ. of Hong Kong (China)
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (United States)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)

We report the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is a key component of the global climate system. Recent studies suggested a twentieth-century weakening of the AMOC of unprecedented amplitude (~15%) over the last millennium. Here we present a record of δ¹⁸O in benthic foraminifera from sediment cores retrieved from the Laurentian Channel and demonstrate that the δ¹⁸O trend is linked to the strength of the AMOC. In this 100-year record, the AMOC signal decreased steadily to reach its minimum value in the late 1970s, where the weakest AMOC signal then remains constant until 2000. We also present a longer δ¹⁸O record of 1,500 years and highlight the uniqueness of the last century δ¹⁸O trend. Moreover, the Little Ice Age period is characterized by statistically heavier δ¹⁸O, suggesting a relatively weak AMOC. Lastly, implications for understanding the mechanisms driving the intensity of AMOC under global warming and high-latitude freshwater input are discussed.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001

OSTI ID:: 1499369

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-19-21455

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 45, Issue 22; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 22 works

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Title: Last Century Warming Over the Canadian Atlantic Shelves Linked to Weak Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

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