scholarly journals High-resolution record of Northern Hemisphere climate extending into the last interglacial period

Nature ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 431 (7005) ◽  
pp. 147-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Last Interglacial Period

scholarly journals Last interglacial temperature evolution – a model inter-comparison

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 4663-4699 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Bakker ◽  
E. J. Stone ◽  
S. Charbit ◽  
M. Gröger ◽  
U. Krebs-Kanzow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Temperature Evolution ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
Last Interglacial Period ◽  
July Temperature

Abstract. There is a growing number of proxy-based reconstructions detailing the climatic changes during the Last Interglacial period. This period is of special interest because large parts of the globe were characterized by a warmer-than-present-day climate, making this period an interesting test bed for climate models in the light of projected global warming. However, mainly because synchronizing the different records is difficult, there is no consensus on a global picture of Last Interglacial temperature changes. Here we present the first model inter-comparison of transient simulations covering the Last Interglacial period. By comparing the different simulations we aim at investigating the robustness of the simulated surface air temperature evolution. The model inter-comparison shows a robust Northern Hemisphere July temperature evolution characterized by a maximum between 130–122 ka BP with temperatures 0.4 to 6.8 K above pre-industrial values. This temperature evolution is in line with the changes in June insolation and greenhouse-gas concentrations. For the evolution of July temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere, the picture emerging from the inter-comparison is less clear. However, it does show that including greenhouse-gas concentration changes is critical. The simulations that include this forcing show an early, 128 ka BP July temperature anomaly maximum of 0.5 to 2.6 K. The robustness of simulated January temperatures is large in the Southern Hemisphere and the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. In these latitudes maximum January temperature anomalies of respectively −2.5 to 2 K and 0 to 2 K are simulated for the period after 118 ka BP. The inter-comparison is inconclusive on the evolution of January temperatures in the high-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Further investigation of regional anomalous patterns and inter-model differences indicate that in specific regions, feedbacks within the climate system are important for the simulated temperature evolution. Firstly in the Arctic region, changes in the summer sea-ice cover control the evolution of Last Interglacial winter temperatures. Secondly, for the Atlantic region, the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific, possible changes in the characteristics of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation are critical. The third important feedback, having an impact on the temperature evolution of the Northern Hemisphere, is shown to be the presence of remnant continental ice from the preceding glacial period. Another important feedback are changes in the monsoon regime which controls the evolution of temperatures over parts of Africa and India. Finally, the simulations reveal an important land-sea contrast, with temperature changes over the oceans lagging continental temperatures by up to several thousand years. The aforementioned feedback mechanisms tend to be highly model-dependent, indicating that specific proxy-data is needed to constrain future climate simulations and to further enhance our understanding of the evolution of the climate during the Last Interglacial period.

scholarly journals Persistent millennial-scale link between Greenland climate and northern Pacific Oxygen Minimum Zone under interglacial conditions

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 3919-3952 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Cartapanis ◽  
K. Tachikawa ◽  
O. E. Romero ◽  
E. Bard
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Oxygen Minimum Zone ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Biological Productivity ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Last Interglacial Period ◽  
Northeastern Pacific ◽  
Minimum Zone ◽  
Oxygen Minimum

Abstract. The intensity and/or extent of the northeastern Pacific Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) varied in-phase with the Northern Hemisphere high latitude climate on millennial timescales during the last glacial period, indicating the presence of atmospheric and oceanic connections under glacial conditions. While millennial variability was observed for both the Greenland ice core and the northern Atlantic during the last interglacial period, the relationship with the northeastern Pacific OMZ has not yet been observed under warm interglacial conditions. Here we present a~new geochemical dataset, spanning the past 120 kyr, for major components (terrigenous fraction, marine organic matter, biogenic opal, and carbonates) by X-ray fluorescence scanning alongside with biological productivity and redox sensitive trace element content (Mo, Ni, Cd) of sediment core MD02-2508 at 23° N, retrieved from the northern limit of the modern OMZ. We evidenced high biological productivity from opal based on Si/Ti, and from Cd/Al, and Ni/Al ratios during last interglacial period. Highly resolved opal reconstruction presents millennial variability corresponding to all the Dansgaard–Oeschger interstadial events over the last interglacial, while the Mo/Al ratio indicates reduced oxygenation during these intervals. Extremely high opal content during warm interstadials suggests high diatom productivity. Despite the different climatic and oceanic background between glacial and interglacial periods, rapid variability in the northeastern Pacific OMZ seems to be tightly related to Northern Hemisphere high latitude climate mainly via atmospheric processes.

High-resolution record of climate stability in France during the last interglacial period

Nature ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 413 (6853) ◽  
pp. 293-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Rioual ◽  
Valérie Andrieu-Ponel ◽  
Miri Rietti-Shati ◽  
Richard W. Battarbee ◽  
Jacques-Louis de Beaulieu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Climate Stability ◽  
Last Interglacial Period

scholarly journals A tropical speleothem record of glacial inception, the South American summer monsoon from 125 to 115 ka

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 4365-4384
Author(s):  
S. J. Burns ◽  
L. C. Kanner ◽  
H. Cheng ◽  
R. L. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian Monsoon ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
South American ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Peruvian Andes ◽  
Last Interglacial Period ◽  
Rapid Changes

Abstract. Relatively few marine or terrestrial paleoclimate studies have focused on glacial inception, the transition from an interglacial to a glacial climate state. As a result, the timing and structure of glacial inception is not well known, nor is the spatial pattern of glacial inception in different parts of the world. Here we present results of a study of a speleothem from the Peruvian Andes that records changes in the intensity of South American Summer Monsoon (SASM) rainfall over the period from 125 to 115 ka. The results show that late in the last interglacial period, at 123 ka, SASM rainfall decreased, perhaps in response to a decrease in Northern Hemisphere ice cover. Then at 120.8 ka a rapid increase in SASM rainfall marks the end of the last interglacial. After a more gradual increase between 120 and 117 ka, a second abrupt increase occurs at 117 ka. This pattern of change is mirrored to a remarkable degree by changes in the East Asian Monsoon. It is interpreted to reflect both the a long term gradual response of the monsoons the orbitally-driven insolation changes and to rapid changes in Northern Hemisphere ice volume and temperature. Both monsoon systems are close to their full glacial conditions by 117 ka, before any significant decrease in atmospheric CO2.

Variability in surface and deep water conditions in the nordic seas during the last interglacial period

1998 ◽  
Vol 17 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 963-985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torben Fronval ◽  
Eystein Jansen ◽  
Haflidi Haflidason ◽  
Hans Petter Sejrup
Keyword(s):  
Deep Water ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Nordic Seas ◽  
Last Interglacial Period ◽  
Water Conditions

scholarly journals How warm was Greenland during the last interglacial period?

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1933-1948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amaelle Landais ◽  
Valérie Masson-Delmotte ◽  
Emilie Capron ◽  
Petra M. Langebroek ◽  
Pepijn Bakker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Water Isotopes ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Last Interglacial Period ◽  
Ice Sheet Topography ◽  
North Greenland

Abstract. The last interglacial period (LIG, ∼ 129–116 thousand years ago) provides the most recent case study of multimillennial polar warming above the preindustrial level and a response of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to this warming, as well as a test bed for climate and ice sheet models. Past changes in Greenland ice sheet thickness and surface temperature during this period were recently derived from the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) ice core records, northwest Greenland. The NEEM paradox has emerged from an estimated large local warming above the preindustrial level (7.5 ± 1.8 °C at the deposition site 126 kyr ago without correction for any overall ice sheet altitude changes between the LIG and the preindustrial period) based on water isotopes, together with limited local ice thinning, suggesting more resilience of the real Greenland ice sheet than shown in some ice sheet models. Here, we provide an independent assessment of the average LIG Greenland surface warming using ice core air isotopic composition (δ15N) and relationships between accumulation rate and temperature. The LIG surface temperature at the upstream NEEM deposition site without ice sheet altitude correction is estimated to be warmer by +8.5 ± 2.5 °C compared to the preindustrial period. This temperature estimate is consistent with the 7.5 ± 1.8 °C warming initially determined from NEEM water isotopes but at the upper end of the preindustrial period to LIG temperature difference of +5.2 ± 2.3 °C obtained at the NGRIP (North Greenland Ice Core Project) site by the same method. Climate simulations performed with present-day ice sheet topography lead in general to a warming smaller than reconstructed, but sensitivity tests show that larger amplitudes (up to 5 °C) are produced in response to prescribed changes in sea ice extent and ice sheet topography.

scholarly journals Sediment core fossils in ancient Lake Ohrid: testing for faunal change in molluscs since the Last Interglacial period

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 3969-3999 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Albrecht ◽  
H. Vogel ◽  
T. Hauffe ◽  
T. Wilke
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Core ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Ancient Lake ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Lake Ohrid ◽  
Last Interglacial Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
Extinction Events ◽  
Mollusc Shells

Abstract. Ancient Lake Ohrid is probably of early Pleistocene or Pliocene origin and amongst the few lakes in the world harboring an outstanding degree of endemic biodiversity. Although there is a long history of evolutionary research in Lake Ohrid, particularly on molluscs, a mollusc fossil record has been missing up to date. For the first time, gastropod and bivalve fossils are reported from the basal, calcareous part of a 2.6 m long sediment succession (core Co1200) from the north-eastern part of Lake Ohrid. Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of mollusc shells from the same stratigraphic level yielded an age of 130±28 ka. Lithofacies III sediments, i.e. a subdivision of the stratigraphic unit comprising the basal succession of core Co1200 between 181.5–263 cm appeared solid, grayish-white, and consisted almost entirely of silt-sized endogenic calcite (CaCO3>70%) and intact and broken mollusc shells. Here we compare the faunal composition of the thanatocoenosis with recent mollusc associations in Lake Ohrid. A total of 13 mollusc species (9 gastropod and 4 bivalve species) could be identified within Lithofacies III sediments. The value of sediment core fossils for reconstructing palaeoenvironmental settings was evaluated. The agreement between sediment and palaeontological proxies was tested. The combined findings of the ecological study and the sediment characteristics suggest deposition in a shallow water environment during the Last Interglacial period. We tested for major faunal changes since the Last Interglacial period and searched for signs of extinction events. The fossil fauna exclusively included species also found in the present fauna, i.e. no extinction events are evident for this site since the Last Interglacial. The thanatocoenosis showed the highest similarity with recent Intermediate Layer (5–25 m) mollusc assemblages. The demonstrated existence of a mollusc fossil record in Lake Ohrid sediment cores also has great significance for future deep drilling projects. It can be hoped that a more far reaching mollusc fossil record will then be obtained, enabling insight into the early evolutionary history of Lake Ohrid.

Advancing into Eternal Silence

2020 ◽  
pp. 571-580
Author(s):  
Hans Blumenberg
Keyword(s):  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Media Archaeology ◽  
Last Interglacial Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter discusses Hans Blumenberg's essay “Advancing into Eternal Silence: A Century after the Sailing of the Fram” (1993). This essay was written three years before his death. It offers not just the philosophical reading of an episode in the history of polar expeditions ripe with significance, but draws on an anecdote to muse on the relationship between media-archaeology and nihilism. Blumenberg explains that humans are risky beings, and not just because they seek frontier-pushing adventures like the voyage adrift of the Fram. They are risky for the very reason that their biological origins lie in the narrow span of the last interglacial period, when they learned the ability to cope with life caught between the advancing and receding glaciers; the natural being was now pitted against nature.

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