Ocean circulation, ice shelf, and sea ice interactions explain Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles
- 20 November 2018
- journal article
- research article
- Published by National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Vol. 115 (47) , 201802573-E11014
Abstract
Significance: Paleoclimatic proxy records from Greenland ice cores show that the last glacial interval was punctuated by abrupt climatic transitions called Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) events. These events are characterized by temperature increases over Greenland of up to 15 ° C within a few decades. The cause of these transitions and their out-of-phase relationship with corresponding records from Antarctica remains unclear. Based on earlier hypotheses, we propose a model focusing on interactions between ice shelves, sea ice, and ocean currents to explain DO events in Greenland and their Antarctic counterparts. Our model reproduces the main features of the observations. Our study provides a potential explanation of DO events and could help assess more accurately the risk of abrupt climatic transitions in the future.Keywords
Funding Information
- Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung (n/a)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (BO 4455/1-1)
- DOD | United States Navy | Office of Naval Research (N00014-16-1-2073)
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