1. |
- Abram, Nerilie J., et al.
(author)
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Early onset of industrial-era warming across the oceans and continents
- 2016
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 536:7617, s. 411-418
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The evolution of industrial-era warming across the continents and oceans provides a context for future climate change and is important for determining climate sensitivity and the processes that control regional warming. Here we use post-ad 1500 palaeoclimate records to show that sustained industrial-era warming of the tropical oceans first developed during the mid-nineteenth century and was nearly synchronous with Northern Hemisphere continental warming. The early onset of sustained, significant warming in palaeoclimate records and model simulations suggests that greenhouse forcing of industrial-era warming commenced as early as the mid-nineteenth century and included an enhanced equatorial ocean response mechanism. The development of Southern Hemisphere warming is delayed in reconstructions, but this apparent delay is not reproduced in climate simulations. Our findings imply that instrumental records are too short to comprehensively assess anthropogenic climate change and that, in some regions, about 180 years of industrial-era warming has already caused surface temperatures to emerge above pre-industrial values, even when taking natural variability into account.
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2. |
- Braun, Stefan, et al.
(author)
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Microbial turnover times in the deep seabed studied by amino acid racemization modelling
- 2017
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The study of active microbial populations in deep, energy-limited marine sediments has extended our knowledge of the limits of life on Earth. Typically, microbial activity in the deep biosphere is calculated by transport-reaction modelling of pore water solutes or from experimental measurements involving radiotracers. Here we modelled microbial activity from the degree of D: L-aspartic acid racemization in microbial necromass (remains of dead microbial biomass) in sediments up to ten million years old. This recently developed approach (D: L-amino acid modelling) does not require incubation experiments and is highly sensitive in stable, low-activity environments. We applied for the first time newly established constraints on several important input parameters of the D: L-amino acid model, such as a higher aspartic acid racemization rate constant and a lower cell-specific carbon content of sub-seafloor microorganisms. Our model results show that the pool of necromass amino acids is turned over by microbial activity every few thousand years, while the turnover times of vegetative cells are in the order of years to decades. Notably, microbial turnover times in million-year-old sediment from the Peru Margin are up to 100-fold shorter than previous estimates, highlighting the influence of microbial activities on element cycling over geologic time scales.
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3. |
- Jiang, Hui, et al.
(author)
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Solar forcing of Holocene summer sea-surface temperatures in the northern North Atlantic
- 2015
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In: Geology. - 0091-7613. ; 43:3, s. 203-206
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mounting evidence from proxy records suggests that variations in solar activity have played a significant role in triggering past climate changes. However, the mechanisms for sun-climate links remain a topic of debate. Here we present a high-resolution summer sea-surface temperature (SST) record covering the past 9300 yr from a site located at the present-day boundary between polar and Atlantic surface-water masses. The record is age constrained via the identification of 15 independently dated tephra markers from terrestrial archives, circumventing marine reservoir age variability problems. Our results indicate a close link between solar activity and SSTs in the northern North Atlantic during the past 4000 yr; they suggest that the climate system in this area is more susceptible to the influence of solar variations during cool periods with less vigorous ocean circulation. Furthermore, the high-resolution SST record indicates that climate in the North Atlantic regions follows solar activity variations on multidecadal to centennial time scales.
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4. |
- Li, Dongling, et al.
(author)
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East Asian Winter Monsoon Variations and Their Links to Arctic Sea Ice During the Last Millennium, Inferred From Sea Surface Temperatures in the Okinawa Trough
- 2018
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In: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology. - 2572-4517. ; 33:1, s. 61-75
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) significantly impacts living conditions in a large part of Asia, and therefore, it is important to understand its major driving mechanisms. Winter sea surface temperature (SSTW) and circulation in the southern Okinawa Trough are today both primarily controlled by the EAWM. Here we present a new SSTW reconstruction for the last millennium based on a diatom record from sediment core MD05-2908, from the continental slope of the southern Okinawa Trough off northeastern Taiwan. Our reconstruction indicates that SSTW varied between 14.1 and 19.6°C over the past 1,000 years. Changes in SSTW in the southern Okinawa Trough correspond closely to the index of warm winters based on historical documents from the East Asian monsoon domain. This implies that our SSTW record can be used to reconstruct EAWM variability during the last millennium. Comparisons with the reconstructed winter Arctic Oscillation (AO, developed from historical snow anomaly events in Eastern Asia) and Arctic sea ice cover reveal a significant positive correlation between the EAWM and AO during the time interval from 1000–1400 Common Era (C.E.), coinciding with reduced sea ice cover. However, there is no significant correlation with increased sea ice cover during the interval from 1400 to 1700 C.E. This suggests that the reduction in Arctic sea ice may periodically have played a role in strengthening the relationship between the EAWM and the AO during the last millennium and that the current and future reduction in Arctic sea ice may have significant consequences for the EAWM.
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5. |
- McGregor, Helen V., et al.
(author)
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Robust global ocean cooling trend for the pre-industrial Common Era
- 2015
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In: Nature Geoscience. - 1752-0908. ; 8:9, s. 671-677
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The oceans mediate the response of global climate to natural and anthropogenic forcings. Yet for the past 2,000 years - a key interval for understanding the present and future climate response to these forcings - global sea surface temperature changes and the underlying driving mechanisms are poorly constrained. Here we present a global synthesis of sea surface temperatures for the Common Era (CE) derived from 57 individual marine reconstructions that meet strict quality control criteria. We observe a cooling trend from 1 to 1800 CE that is robust against explicit tests for potential biases in the reconstructions. Between 801 and 1800 CE, the surface cooling trend is qualitatively consistent with an independent synthesis of terrestrial temperature reconstructions, and with a sea surface temperature composite derived from an ensemble of climate model simulations using best estimates of past external radiative forcings. Climate simulations using single and cumulative forcings suggest that the ocean surface cooling trend from 801 to 1800 CE is not primarily a response to orbital forcing but arises from a high frequency of explosive volcanism. Our results show that repeated clusters of volcanic eruptions can induce a net negative radiative forcing that results in a centennial and global scale cooling trend via a decline in mixed-layer oceanic heat content.
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6. |
- Möller, Per, et al.
(author)
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Data set on sedimentology, palaeoecology and chronology of Middle to Late Pleistocene deposits on the Taimyr Peninsula, Arctic Russia
- 2019
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In: Data in Brief. - : Elsevier. - 2352-3409. ; 25, s. 1-35
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This Data in Brief paper contains data (including images) from Quaternary sedimentary successions investigated along the Bol'shaya Balakhnya River and the Luktakh-Upper Taimyra-Logata river system on southern Taimyr Peninsula, NW Siberia (Russia). Marine foraminifera and mollusc fauna composition, extracted from sediment samples, is presented. The chronology (time of deposition) of the sediment successions is reconstructed from three dating methods; (i) radiocarbon dating of organic detritus (from lacustrine/fluvial sediment) and molluscs (marine sediment) as finite ages (usually <42 000 years) or as non-finite ages (>42 000-48 000 years) on samples/sediments beyond the radiocarbon dating limit; (ii) Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) dating on marine molluscs (up to ages >400 000 years); (iii) Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating, usually effective up to 100-150 0000 years. Terrestrial Cosmogenic Nuclide (TCN) exposure dating has been applied to boulders resting on top of moraine ridges (Ice Marginal Zones). See (Moller et al., 2019) (doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.04.004) for interpretation and discussion of all data. (c) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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7. |
- Möller, Per, et al.
(author)
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Glacial history and palaeo-environmental change of southern Taimyr Peninsula, Arctic Russia, during the Middle and Late Pleistocene
- 2019
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In: Earth-Science Reviews. - : Elsevier. - 0012-8252 .- 1872-6828. ; 196
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We here reconstruct a glacial and climate history of arctic NW Siberia for the last similar to 600,000 years, based on the stratigraphy and chronology of 35 studied river sections on the southern Taimyr Peninsula. From this strati graphic mosaic we have identified four glacial events, marked by tills/glaciotectonics, which are intercalated with mainly marine sediments deposited in proglacial settings during transitions from glacial conditions into subsequent interglacials/interstadials. The traces of early shelf-based Kara Sea Ice Sheet (KSIS) glaciations in marine isotope stages (MIS) 12-14 and 8 are sparsely preserved, but these ice advances are suggested to have terminated far south into the central Siberian uplands, as also was the case with the younger Taz glaciation (MIS 6). The inception phase of the latter glaciation was complex, with ice advancing into a proglacial marine basin both from the south (Putorana - Anabar uplands) and the north. The deglaciation leading into the Karginsky interglacial (MIS 5e) was marked by the development of the southerrunost ice-marginal zones (IMZs) on the Taimyr lowlands - the Urdakh and Sampesa IMZs. The most recent (late Pleistocene) glacial cycle is recorded by three successively smaller KSIS advances from the Kara Sea shelf onto Taimyr, of which only the first, during Early Zyryanka (MIS 5d), reached south of the Byrranga Mountains, with its maximum extent marked by the Jangoda - Syntabul - Severokokorsky IMZ. Retreat of the ice margin during MIS 5c-b was accompanied by deposition of glaciomarine sediment in the proglacial basin and deposition of large successions of delta sediments in the foothills of the Byrranga Motmtains, reaching a >= 100 m above present sea level. The region north of the Byrranga Mountains was subjected to two subsequent KSIS glaciations, during MIS 4 and MIS 2, while the area south of the Byrranga Mountains transitioned to a terrestrial environment from the Middle into the Lower Zyryanka, as evidenced by deposition of fluvial, aeolian and ice-complex (Yedoma) sediments.
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8. |
- Sha, Longbin, et al.
(author)
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Solar forcing as an important trigger for West Greenland sea-ice variability over the last millennium
- 2016
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In: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791. ; 131, s. 148-156
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Arctic sea ice represents an important component of the climate system, and the present reduction of sea ice in the Arctic is of major concern. Despite its importance, little is known about past changes in sea-ice cover and the underlying forcing mechanisms. Here, we use diatom assemblages from a marine sediment core collected from the West Greenland shelf to reconstruct changes in sea-ice cover over the last millennium. The proxy-based reconstruction demonstrates a generally strong link between changes in sea-ice cover and solar variability during the last millennium. Weaker (or stronger) solar forcing may result in the increase (or decrease) in sea-ice cover west of Greenland. In addition, model simulations show that variations in solar activity not only affect local sea-ice formation, but also control the sea-ice transport from the Arctic Ocean through a sea-ice-ocean-atmosphere feedback mechanism. The role of solar forcing, however, appears to have been more ambiguous during an interval around AD 1500, after the transition from the Medieval Climate Anomaly to the Little Ice Age, likely to be driven by a range of factors. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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9. |
- Sheldon, Christina M., et al.
(author)
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Holocene oceanographic changes in SW Labrador Sea, off Newfoundland
- 2016
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In: The Holocene. - : SAGE Publications. - 0959-6836 .- 1477-0911. ; 26:2, s. 274-289
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Benthic foraminiferal assemblages supported by selected geochemical data from three marine sediment cores collected in Placentia Bay, SE Newfoundland, are used to construct an ~13,000-year-long record of regional oceanographic changes in the SW Labrador Sea. The area is located in the boundary zone between the cold, ice-loaded Labrador Current (LC) in the north and the warm Gulf Stream (GS) waters to the south. After the Younger Dryas termination, the influence of GS-derived water increased and was further strengthened at 10.7 cal. kyr BP through enhanced northward flow of Atlantic water via the Slopewater Current. A short-term event of increased terrestrial input and water column stratification at 8.4 cal. kyr BP was likely linked to the distal drainage of glacial Lake Agassiz. After 7.3 cal. kyr BP, a stronger LC weakened the inflow of warmer subsurface waters from the GS. This may be explained by extensive meltwater release from ice sheets in Arctic Canada and is concurrent with a general shift in oceanographic conditions in the Labrador Sea region. Around 4.0 cal. kyr BP, conditions became more stable with a slight increase in salinity, indicating a decrease in meltwater transported via the LC. The Northern Hemisphere neoglacial cooling around 2.8 cal. kyr BP was characterized off SE Newfoundland by a further stabilization of the current system, dominated by the LC with some continued influx of GS water.
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10. |
- Strunk, Astrid, et al.
(author)
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Relative Sea-Level Changes and Ice Sheet History in Finderup Land, North Greenland
- 2018
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In: Frontiers in Earth Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-6463. ; 6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Rising global sea level caused by melting ice sheets poses a major challenge in a persistently warming climate. The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is among the main contributors, and in order to make accurate predictions of future ice retreat and sea level rise, it is imperative to understand how the ice sheet responded to global warming in the past. Reconstructions of relative sea level (RSL) are a key constraint in models of past ice sheet fluctuations, however, high-precision data has until now been sparse in North Greenland. In this study, we present a RSL reconstruction for Finderup Land, North Greenland based on five isolation lakes located between 19.6 and 81.2 m a.s.l. The transition between marine and lacustrine sediments has been identified using XRF, lithological interpretation, and foraminiferal analysis. Age constraints are based on 14C dating of foraminifera and paleomagnetic age correlation. Our results show that Finderup Land was ice free by 10.8 ± 0.2 cal ka BP with a subsequent rapid RSL fall occurring from 9.5 ± 0.2 to 8.0 cal ka BP, at which point the RSL started to approach present level. Furthermore, we establish the marine limit to be minimum at 81.2 m a.s.l. We compare our data to modeled RSL predictions for the area and our results indicate a faster RSL fall, which in turn reflects that the ice retreat was more rapid than estimated and possibly, that the ice sheet in North and Northeast Greenland was larger than previous estimates suggest.
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