Gradual South-North Climate Transition in the Atlantic Realm Within the Younger Dryas

Haiwei Zhang; Hai Cheng; Christoph Spötl; Xu Zhang; Francisco W. Cruz; Ashish Sinha; Augusto S. Auler; Nicolás M. Stríkis; Xianfeng Wang; Gayatri Kathayat; Xianglei Li; Hanying Li; Carlos Pérez-Mejías; Yanjun Cai; Youfeng Ning; Richard Lawrence Edwards

doi:10.1029/2021GL092620

Gradual South-North Climate Transition in the Atlantic Realm Within the Younger Dryas

Haiwei Zhang, Hai Cheng, Christoph Spötl, Xu Zhang, Francisco W. Cruz, Ashish Sinha, Augusto S. Auler, Nicolás M. Stríkis, Xianfeng Wang, Gayatri Kathayat, Xianglei Li, Hanying Li, Carlos Pérez-Mejías, Yanjun Cai, Youfeng Ning, Richard Lawrence Edwards

Earth and Environmental Sciences-Twin Cities

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

The abrupt climate event Younger Dryas (YD) has been extensively studied; however, its structure is still poorly understood. Climate in northeastern Brazil is very sensitive to the latitudinal position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) associated with abrupt climate change in the Atlantic. Here, we report changes in the ITCZ position within the YD by using precise speleothem multiproxy records from northeastern Brazil. We provide evidence for a gradual northward migration of the ITCZ preceding poleward shifts of the westerlies and the polar front in northern high latitudes within the YD. This can be attributed to gradual increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentration as a consequence of the weakening Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). We suggest that a persistent increase in atmospheric CO₂ might have triggered a resumption of the AMOC and reorganization of the atmosphere circulation in the Atlantic during the mid-YD.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e2021GL092620
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	48
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092620
State	Published - Apr 28 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank the Editor and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions. We also thank Ms. Xiaoli Qu for helping the CLFM scan. This study was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation of China (41888101, 41972186, 41731174, and 41502166), FAPESP (2017/50085‐3), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2019T120894 and 2015M580832). Sampling was performed under a SISBIO permit.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)
Younger Dryas
interhemispheric Atlantic seesaw
northeast Brazil
speleothem

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Zhang, H., Cheng, H., Spötl, C., Zhang, X., Cruz, F. W., Sinha, A., Auler, A. S., Stríkis, N. M., Wang, X., Kathayat, G., Li, X., Li, H., Pérez-Mejías, C., Cai, Y., Ning, Y., & Edwards, R. L. (2021). Gradual South-North Climate Transition in the Atlantic Realm Within the Younger Dryas. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(8), Article e2021GL092620. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092620

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title = "Gradual South-North Climate Transition in the Atlantic Realm Within the Younger Dryas",

abstract = "The abrupt climate event Younger Dryas (YD) has been extensively studied; however, its structure is still poorly understood. Climate in northeastern Brazil is very sensitive to the latitudinal position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) associated with abrupt climate change in the Atlantic. Here, we report changes in the ITCZ position within the YD by using precise speleothem multiproxy records from northeastern Brazil. We provide evidence for a gradual northward migration of the ITCZ preceding poleward shifts of the westerlies and the polar front in northern high latitudes within the YD. This can be attributed to gradual increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration as a consequence of the weakening Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). We suggest that a persistent increase in atmospheric CO2 might have triggered a resumption of the AMOC and reorganization of the atmosphere circulation in the Atlantic during the mid-YD.",

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note = "Funding Information: We thank the Editor and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions. We also thank Ms. Xiaoli Qu for helping the CLFM scan. This study was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation of China (41888101, 41972186, 41731174, and 41502166), FAPESP (2017/50085‐3), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2019T120894 and 2015M580832). Sampling was performed under a SISBIO permit. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.",

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AU - Zhang, Xu

AU - Cruz, Francisco W.

AU - Sinha, Ashish

AU - Auler, Augusto S.

AU - Stríkis, Nicolás M.

AU - Wang, Xianfeng

AU - Kathayat, Gayatri

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AU - Li, Hanying

AU - Pérez-Mejías, Carlos

AU - Cai, Yanjun

AU - Ning, Youfeng

AU - Edwards, Richard Lawrence

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PY - 2021/4/28

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N2 - The abrupt climate event Younger Dryas (YD) has been extensively studied; however, its structure is still poorly understood. Climate in northeastern Brazil is very sensitive to the latitudinal position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) associated with abrupt climate change in the Atlantic. Here, we report changes in the ITCZ position within the YD by using precise speleothem multiproxy records from northeastern Brazil. We provide evidence for a gradual northward migration of the ITCZ preceding poleward shifts of the westerlies and the polar front in northern high latitudes within the YD. This can be attributed to gradual increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration as a consequence of the weakening Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). We suggest that a persistent increase in atmospheric CO2 might have triggered a resumption of the AMOC and reorganization of the atmosphere circulation in the Atlantic during the mid-YD.

AB - The abrupt climate event Younger Dryas (YD) has been extensively studied; however, its structure is still poorly understood. Climate in northeastern Brazil is very sensitive to the latitudinal position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) associated with abrupt climate change in the Atlantic. Here, we report changes in the ITCZ position within the YD by using precise speleothem multiproxy records from northeastern Brazil. We provide evidence for a gradual northward migration of the ITCZ preceding poleward shifts of the westerlies and the polar front in northern high latitudes within the YD. This can be attributed to gradual increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration as a consequence of the weakening Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). We suggest that a persistent increase in atmospheric CO2 might have triggered a resumption of the AMOC and reorganization of the atmosphere circulation in the Atlantic during the mid-YD.

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ER -

Gradual South-North Climate Transition in the Atlantic Realm Within the Younger Dryas

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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