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| Titel |
North Atlantic surface ocean radiocarbon reservoir age variation: links to rapid global climate change |
| VerfasserIn |
W. E. N. Austin, Lytle Brown, R. J. Telford, U. S. Ninnemann, L. J. Wilson, C. L. Bryant |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2009
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 11 (2009) |
| Datensatznummer |
250021583
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| Zusammenfassung |
| High resolution palaeoclimate records show that the overall warming throughout the late glacial period to the present has been punctuated by repeated cooling events on decadal to centennial timescales. Reorganisation of the North Atlantic’s deep water thermohaline circulation is often considered an important factor in triggering or controlling these abrupt climate change intervals. During the Younger Dryas (YD), the most significant of these late glacial climatic coolings, a large, positive anomaly in atmospheric radiocarbon concentration (Δ14Catm) is observed, which is not fully accounted for by changes in the production rate of 14C. Another potential source of Δ14Catm variation is the extent of carbon exchange between the atmosphere and other reservoirs, such as the deep ocean, and it has been suggested that the circulation changes which drove the YD cooling were also partially responsible for limiting air-sea CO2 exchange and hence increasing Δ14Catm. Reconstructions of North Atlantic surface ocean radiocarbon reservoir ages (Rt) during the Younger Dryas, based on known-age markers such as tephra horizons, demonstrate an increase in Rt from modern values of 400 y to >800 y, widely believed to be indicative of reduced carbon exchange between the atmosphere and the deep ocean. However, the limited temporal resolution of these measurements has thus far been insufficient to fully explore the connection between changing Rt and rapid, ocean circulation-induced climate change. Here we present a detailed reconstruction of changing Rt in the late glacial period, from a high resolution marine sediment record north of 50° N. Stable isotope records and radiocarbon chronologies from cores collected in the St Kilda Basin, Hebridean shelf, containing highly-expanded late glacial records, will be used to assess the importance and controlling mechanisms of reservoir age variation in the NE Atlantic. |
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