Search results for "North Atlantic"

Inter-annual climate variability in Europe during the Oligocene icehouse

2017

Abstract New sclerochronological data suggest that a variability comparable to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) was already present during the middle Oligocene, about 20 Myr earlier than formerly assumed. Annual increment width data of long-lived marine bivalves of Oligocene (30–25 Ma) strata from Central Europe revealed a distinct quasi-decadal climate variability modulated on 2–12 (mainly 3–7) year cycles. As in many other modern bivalves, these periodic changes in shell growth were most likely related to changes in primary productivity, which in turn, were coupled to atmospheric circulation patterns. Stable carbon isotope values of the shells (δ 13 C shell ) further corroborated the …

Planktic foraminiferal changes in the western Mediterranean Anthropocene

2021

The increase in anthropogenic induced warming over the last two centuries is impacting marine environment. Planktic foraminifera are a globally distributed calcifying marine zooplankton responding sensitively to changes in sea surface temperatures and interacting with the food web structure. Here, we study two high resolution multicore records from two western Mediterranean Sea regions (Alboran and Balearic basins), areas highly affected by both natural climate change and anthropogenic warming. Cores cover the time interval from the Medieval Climate Anomaly to present. Reconstructed sea surface temperatures are in good agreement with other results, tracing temperature changes through the Co…

Numerical evidence for thermohaline circulation reversals during the Maastrichtian

2005

[1] The sensitivity of the Maastrichtian thermohaline circulation to the opening/closing of marine communications between the Arctic and North Pacific oceans is investigated through a set of numerical experiments using the model CLIMBER-2 (Earth Model of Intermediate Complexity). We show here that the opening or closing of an Arctic-Pacific marine gateway induces transitions between different equilibrium states of the thermohaline circulation. Sensitivity tests of the inferred modes of thermohaline circulation to atmospheric CO2 level changes have also been explored. An abrupt switch in deep convection from high northern to high southern latitudes, a change consistent with isotopic evidence…

Radiogenic isotopes: new tools help reconstruct paleocean circulation and erosion input

2001

Ocean and atmosphere circulation and continental weathering regimes have undergone great changes over thousands of years as well as tens of millions of years. During the glacial stages of the Pleistocene, ocean circulation was generally more sluggish and deep water circulation in the Atlantic had a shallower flow. At the same time, weathering on the continents was enhanced by glacial erosion, particularly in high northern latitudes, which increased the input of erosional detritus into the ocean. In addition, atmospheric pressure gradients were larger, leading to higher wind speeds and increased supply of aeolian dust to the ocean. Prior to the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation and pro…

Holocene climate variability in north-eastern Italy: potential influence of the NAO and solar activity recorded by speleothem data

2012

Abstract. Here we present high-resolution stable isotope and lamina thickness profiles as well as radiocarbon data for the Holocene stalagmite ER 76 from Grotta di Ernesto (north-eastern Italy), which was dated by combined U-series dating and lamina counting. ER 76 grew between 8 ka (thousands of years before 2000 AD) and today, with a hiatus from 2.6 to 0.4 ka. Data from nine meteorological stations in Trentino show a significant influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on winter temperature and precipitation in the cave region. Spectral analysis of the stable isotope signals of ER 76 reveals significant peaks at periods of 110, 60–70, 40–50, 32–37 and around 25 a. Except for the …

Climate variability and lake ecosystem responses in western Scandinavia (Norway) during the last Millennium

2017

This paper provides a high-resolution temperature reconstruction for the last Millennium from Lake Atnsjøen, SE Norway (61°52′31″N, 10°10′37″E). The sedimentary record reveals strong influence of the large-scale global climate patterns on the local climate in southern part of Eastern Norway. We reconstructed mean July air temperature using Chironomidae-based transfer function and fossil Chironomidae assemblages. The reconstruction was supported by a selection of climate-sensitive geochemical and paleoecological sedimentary proxies of terrestrial and aquatic origin, including Cladocera, pollen and macrofossils. Presented results revealed that summer temperatures were 1–2 °C warmer than the m…

North Atlantic Oscillation recorded in carbonate δ18O signature from Lagunillo del Tejo (Spain)

2016

Abstract Oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotope compositions of authigenic carbonates measured in Lagunillo del Tejo sediment document precipitation variability during the last millennium in the Iberian Range. Modern water samples show that Lagunillo δ18O and δD plot below the Global Meteoric Water Line (GMWL). Sediment samples show a covariant trend between carbonate δ18O and δ13C, indicating that the precipitation/evaporation ratio has largely controlled the isotopic composition of this lake. This covariant trend is used to extract information about past lake level changes. Humid periods occurred around AD 1300–1450, AD 1620–1775 and AD 1950–1980, while the driest periods were concentrat…

Morphological and molecular analysis of Henricia Gray, 1840 (Asteroidea: Echinodermata) from the Northern Atlantic Ocean

2017

Genetic structuring in Atlantic haddock contrasts with current management regimes

2020

AbstractThe advent of novel genetic methods has made it possible to investigate population structure and connectivity in mobile marine fish species: knowledge of which is essential to ensure a sustainable fishery. Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) is a highly exploited marine teleost distributed along the coast and continental shelf on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean. However, little is known about its population structure. Here, we present the first study using single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers to assess the genetic population structure of haddock at multiple geographic scales, from the trans-Atlantic to the local (fjord) level. Genotyping 138 SNP loci in 1329 individual…

Solar and atmospheric forcing on mountain lakes

2016

We investigated the influence of long-term external forcing on aquatic communities in Alpine lakes. Fossil microcrustacean (Cladocera) and macrobenthos (Chironomidae) community variability in four Austrian high-altitude lakes, determined as ultra-sensitive to climate change, were compared against records of air temperature, North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and solar forcing over the past ~400years. Summer temperature variability affected both aquatic invertebrate groups in all study sites. The influence of NAO and solar forcing on aquatic invertebrates was also significant in the lakes except in the less transparent lake known to have remained uniformly cold during the past centuries due to…