Subsurface ocean warming preceded Heinrich Events.

ABSTRACT: Although the global environmental impact of Laurentide Ice-Sheet destabilizations on glacial climate during Heinrich Events is well-documented, the mechanism driving these ice-sheet instabilities remains elusive. Here we report foraminifera-based subsurface (~150 m water depth) ocean temperature and salinity reconstructions from a sediment core collected in the western subpolar North Atlantic, showing a consistent pattern of rapid subsurface ocean warming preceding the transition into each Heinrich Event identified in the same core of the last 27,000 years. These results provide the first solid evidence for the massive accumulation of ocean heat near the critical depth to trigger melting of marine-terminating portions of the Laurentide Ice Sheet around Labrador Sea followed by Heinrich Eve

SUBMITTER: Max L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9304376 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature