Millennial scale feedbacks determine the shape and rapidity of glacial termination

2021/04/15 by S. Barker, Gregor Knorr · 1 voice · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Cryospheric studies and observations #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Landslides and related hazards

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22388-6

openalex publication_date 2021/04/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31

Abstract

Within the Late Pleistocene, terminations describe the major transitions marking the end of glacial cycles. While it is established that abrupt shifts in the ocean/atmosphere system are a ubiquitous component of deglaciation, significant uncertainties remain concerning their specific role and the likelihood that terminations may be interrupted by large-amplitude abrupt oscillations. In this perspective we address these uncertainties in the light of recent developments in the understanding of glacial terminations as the ultimate interaction between millennial and orbital timescale variability. Innovations in numerical climate simulation and new geologic records allow us to highlight new avenues of research and identify key remaining uncertainties such as sea-level variability.

Citations

• A minimum thermodynamic model for the bipolar seesaw
• The timing of major climate terminations
• On the structure and origin of major glaciation cycles 2. The 100,000‐year cycle
• The Anthropogenic Greenhouse Era Began Thousands of Years Ago
• A Pliocene‐Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ18O records

Cited by

• Global and regional temperature change over the past 4.5 million years
• New age constraints for glacial terminations IV, III, and III.a based on western Mediterranean speleothem records

Discussions

• The hypothesis I like is that the AMOC collapse associated with the Younger Dryas was a result of the right combination of CO₂ concentration and intermediate Laurentide Ice Sheet size, as detailed by [bsky, 2 points, 0 comments]

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