73 research outputs found
Deciphering the spatio-temporal complexity of climate change of the last deglaciation: a model analysis
Get PDFUnderstanding the sequence of events occuring during the last major glacial to interglacial transition (21 ka BP to 9 ka BP) is a challenging task that has the potential to unveil the mechanisms behind large scale climate changes. Though many studies have focused on the understanding of the complex sequence of rapid climatic change that accompanied or interrupted the deglaciation, few have analysed it in a more theoretical framework with simple forcings. In the following, we address when and where the first significant temperature anomalies appeared when using slow varying forcing of the last deglaciation. We used here coupled transient simulations of the last deglaciation, including ocean, atmosphere and vegetation components to analyse the spatial timing of the deglaciation. To keep the analysis in a simple framework, we did not include freshwater forcings that potentially cause rapid climate shifts during that time period. We aimed to disentangle the direct and subsequent response of the climate system to slow forcing and moreover, the location where those changes are more clearly expressed. In a data - modelling comparison perspective, this could help understand the physically plausible phasing between known forcings and recorded climatic changes. Our analysis of climate variability could also help to distinguish deglacial warming signals from internal climate variability. We thus are able to better pinpoint the onset of local deglaciation, as defined by the first significant local warming and further show that there is a large regional variability associated with it, even with the set of slow forcings used here. In our model, the first significant hemispheric warming occurred simultaneously in the North and in the South and is a direct response to the obliquity forcing. © Author(s) 2011
A systematic study of the impact of freshwater pulses with respect to different geographical locations
Get PDFThe first comparative and systematic climate model study of the sensitivity of the climate response under Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) conditions to freshwater perturbations at various locations that are known to have received significant amounts of freshwater during the LGM (21 kyr BP) climate conditions is presented. A series of ten regions representative of those receiving most of the meltwater from decaying ice-sheets during the deglaciation is defined, comprising the border of LGM ice-sheets, outlets of rivers draining part of the melting ice-sheets and iceberg melt zones. The effect of several given freshwater fluxes applied separately in each of these regions on regional and global climate is subsequently tested. The climate response is then analysed both for the atmosphere and oceans. Amongst the regions defined, it is found that the area close by and dynamically upstream to the main deep water formation zone in the North Atlantic are most sensitive to freshwater pulses, as is expected. However, some important differences between Arctic freshwater forcing and Nordic Seas forcing are found, the former having a longer term response linked to sea-ice formation and advection whereas the latter exhibits more direct influence of direct freshening of the deep water formation sites. Combining the common surface temperature response for each respective zone, we fingerprint the particular surface temperature response obtained by adding freshwater in a particular location. This is done to examine if a surface climate response can be used to determine the origin of a meltwater flux, which is relevant for the interpretation of proxy data. We show that it is indeed possible to generally classify the fingerprints by their origin in terms of sea-ice modification and modification of deep-water formation. Whilst the latter is not an unambiguous characterization of each zone, it nonetheless provides important clues on the physical mechanisms at work. In particular, it is shown that in order to obtain a consistent see-saw temperature pattern, addition of freshwater in the Northern Hemisphere at sites dynamically close to the deep water formation zones is needed. Finally a preliminary data-model comparison for the time of the Heinrich event 1 suggests that those sites are indeed the most favourable to explain the pattern of climate variability recorded in proxy data for this period. More importantly, this model-data comparison enables us to clearly reject a substantial fraction of the zones tested as potential source for large freshwater entering the ocean at that time. © 2009 The Author(s)
δ<sup>18</sup>O water isotope in the <i>i</i>LOVECLIM model (version 1.0) – Part 3: A palaeo-perspective based on present-day data–model comparison for oxygen stable isotopes in carbonates
No full textOxygen stable isotopes (δ18O) are among the most useful tools in palaeoclimatology/palaeoceanography. Simulation of oxygen stable isotopes allows testing how the past variability of these isotopes in water can be interpreted. By modelling the proxy directly in the model, the results can also be directly compared with the data. Water isotopes have been implemented in the global three-dimensional model of intermediate complexity iLOVECLIM, allowing fully coupled atmosphere–ocean simulations. In this study, we present the validation of the model results for present-day climate against the global database for oxygen stable isotopes in carbonates. The limitation of the model together with the processes operating in the natural environment reveal the complexity of use the continental calcite-δ18O signal of speleothems for a global quantitative data–model comparison exercise. On the contrary, the reconstructed surface ocean calcite-δ18O signal in iLOVECLIM does show a very good agreement with the late Holocene database (foraminifers) at the global and regional scales. Our results indicate that temperature and the isotopic composition of the seawater are the main control on the fossil-δ18O signal recorded in foraminifer shells when all species are grouped together. Depth habitat, seasonality and other ecological effects play a more significant role when individual species are considered. We argue that a data–model comparison for surface ocean calcite δ18O in past climates, such as the Last Glacial Maximum (≈ 21 000 yr), could constitute an interesting tool for mapping the potential shifts of the frontal systems and circulation changes throughout time. Similarly, the potential changes in intermediate oceanic circulation systems in the past could be documented by a data (benthic foraminifers)-model comparison exercise whereas future investigations are necessary in order to quantitatively compare the results with data for the deep ocean
δ<sup>18</sup>O water isotope in the <i>i</i>LOVECLIM model (version 1.0) – Part 1: Implementation and verification
Get PDFA new 18O stable water isotope scheme is developed for three components of the iLOVECLIM coupled climate model: atmospheric, oceanic and land surface. The equations required to reproduce the fractionation of stable water isotopes in the simplified atmospheric model ECBilt are developed consistently with the moisture scheme. Simplifications in the processes are made to account for the simplified vertical structure including only one moist layer. Implementation of these equations together with a passive tracer scheme for the ocean and a equilibrium fractionation scheme for the land surface leads to the closure of the (isotopic-) water budget in our climate system. Following the implementation, verification of the existence of usual δ18O to climatic relationships are performed for the Rayleigh distillation, the Dansgaard relationship and the δ18O –salinity relationship. Advantages and caveats of the approach taken are outlined. The isotopic fields simulated are shown to reproduce most expected oxygen-18–climate relationships with the notable exception of the isotopic composition in Antarctica
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Systematic study of the impact of fresh water fluxes on the glacial carbon cycle
Get PDFDuring glacial periods, atmospheric CO2 concentration increases and decreases by around 15 ppm. At the same time, the climate changes gradually in Antarctica. Such climate changes can be simulated in models when the AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Oceanic Circulation) is weakened by adding fresh water to the North Atlantic. The impact on the carbon cycle is less straightforward, and previous studies give opposite results. Because the models and the fresh water fluxes were different in these studies, it prevents any direct comparison and hinders finding whether the discrepancies arise from using different models or different fresh water fluxes.
In this study we use the CLIMBER-2 coupled climate carbon model to explore the impact of different fresh water fluxes. In both preindustrial and glacial states, the addition of fresh water and the resulting slow-down of the AMOC lead to an uptake of carbon by the ocean and a release by the terrestrial biosphere. The duration, shape and amplitude of the fresh water flux all have an impact on the change of atmospheric CO2 because they modulate the change of the AMOC. The maximum CO2 change linearly depends on the time integral of the AMOC change. The different duration, amplitude, and shape of the fresh water flux cannot explain the opposite evolution of ocean and vegetation carbon inventory in different models. The different CO2 evolution thus depends on the AMOC response to the addition of fresh water and the resulting climatic change, which are both model dependent. In CLIMBER-2, the rise of CO2 recorded in ice cores during abrupt events can be simulated under glacial conditions, especially when the sinking of brines in the Southern Ocean is taken into account. The addition of fresh water in the Southern Hemisphere leads to a decline of CO2, contrary to the addition of fresh water in the Northern Hemisphere
Evaluating Southern Ocean sea-ice for the Last Glacial Maximum and pre-industrial climates: PMIP-2 models and data evidence
No full textSea ice is recognized as an important factor controlling climate conditions at high latitudes. It has a major impact in controlling the ocean to atmosphere exchanges (e.g. for CO2) as well as surface oceanic conditions and deep water formation in the high latitude oceans. Being at the interface of two major components of the climate system, sea ice is useful to evaluate and intercompare different climate models. We here analyze the results of eight coupled climate models (from which seven are from the PMIP-2 database) against available reconstructions for winter and summer sea ice extent around Antarctica. To evaluate the ability of models in representing different climate states, we compare their results for both the pre-industrial and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We find that models generally have identical seasonal ranges for the two climate states analyzed, which is not supported by data inferences. Indeed, data indicate that the LGM seasonality was enhanced compared to the pre-industrial. The shape of the sea ice distribution is also different in models (circular around the Antarctic continent) and in reconstructions (oval-shaped distribution; similar to modern sea ice distribution). We show that models underestimating the sea ice extent for the pre-industrial are also underestimating the Last Glacial Maximum extent. Our results thus point to difficulties for climate models in representing the sea-ice dynamics in the Southern Ocean
Orbital Asian summer monsoon dynamics revealed using an isotope-enabled global climate model
No full textInternational audienceThe Asian summer monsoon dynamics at the orbital scale are a subject of considerable debate. The validity of Asian speleothem delta O-18 records as a proxy for summer monsoon intensity is questioned together with the ultimate forcing and timing of the monsoon. Here, using the results of a 150,000-year transient simulation including water isotopes, we demonstrate that Asian speleothem d18O records are not a valid proxy for summer monsoon intensity only at the orbital timescale. Rather, our results show that these records reflect annual variations in hydrologic processes and circulation regime over a large part of the Indo-Asian region. Our results support the role of internal forcing, such as sea surface temperature in the equatorial Pacific, to modulate the timing of monsoon precipitation recorded in paleo-proxies inside the Asian region
The deep ocean during the last interglacial period.
No full textOxygen isotope analysis of benthic foraminifera in deep sea cores from the Atlantic and Southern Oceans shows that during the last interglacial period, North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) was 0.4° ± 0.2°C warmer than today, whereas Antarctic Bottom Water temperatures were unchanged. Model simulations show that this distribution of deep water temperatures can be explained as a response of the ocean to forcing by high-latitude insolation. The warming of NADW was transferred to the Circumpolar Deep Water, providing additional heat around Antarctica, which may have been responsible for partial melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Modeling water isotopologues during the last glacial: implications for quantitative paleosalinity reconstruction
No full textQuantitative paleosalinity reconstructions with reasonable uncertainties remain a challenge in paleoceanography. In this study, we focus on stable isotope-based methods (
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