Search results for "Thermohaline circulation"
showing 10 items of 14 documents
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…
A global palaeoclimatic reconstruction for the Valanginian based on clay mineralogical and geochemical data
2020
International audience; High-resolution clay mineral and δ18Ocarb analyses have been performed on three sections of Valanginian age (Early Cretaceous), from northwestern (~20–30°N) and southern (~53°S) Tethyan realms. The data have been integrated in a large set of published mineralogical (clays), and geochemical (δ18Ocarb, δ18Obivalve, δ18Olenticulina, δ18Obelemnite, and TEX86) data from 17 sections, situated between ~45°N and ~53°S. Based on this data set, we provide new insights into Valanginian climate conditions from a wide range of palaeolatitudes. We highlight climate trends within specific areas and identify main climate belts. In the Proto-North Atlantic realm (~15–17°N) large amou…
Warming in the Agulhas Current system since the 1980's
2009
International audience; Since the 1980's, the sea surface temperature of the Agulhas Current system has increased significantly. The warming is due to an augmentation of its transport in response to an increase in wind stress curl in the South Indian Ocean at relevant latitudes. This causes an increase in the fluxes of salt and heat into the Atlantic Ocean and in the transfer of energy from the ocean to the atmosphere. Therefore, the changes we are witnessing in the region could have far reaching consequences on top of the regional impacts on ecosystem and climate. The increase in wind stress curl is consistent with a poleward shift of westerly wind in the Southern Hemisphere reported by ot…
Impact of Freshwater Inflow From the Volturno River on Coastal Circulation
2020
The coastal area located in front of the Volturno river's estuary (Gulf of Gaeta, central-eastern Tyrrhenian Sea) has been synoptically sampled during seven surveys, between June 2012 and October 2014. The vertical profiles of temperature and salinity have been acquired on a high resolution nearly-regular grid, in order to describe the spatial and temporal variability of the water masses characteristics. Moreover, to provide a first assessment of the steady circulation at small scale, the three-dimensional velocity field associated to each survey has been obtained through the full momentum equations of the Princeton Ocean Model. The data analysis has shown the entire water column characteri…
Seismic stratigraphy of upper Quaternary shallow-water contourite drifts in the Gulf of Taranto (Ionian Sea, southern Italy)
2018
Abstract The occurrence of articulated seafloor morphology over continental shelf-upper slope environments, may result in a significant change in the patterns and intensity of basin-scale thermohaline circulation during eustatic sea-level fluctuations. These changes may cause, in turn, erosion, deposition and/or transport of sediments at the seafloor, to form shallow-water contourite drifts. Here we investigate this process in the NW sector of the Gulf of Taranto (Ionian Sea) during and following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), by integrating multibeam bathymetric data, ultra-high resolution seismic-reflection data and gravity core data. Sea level fall caused subaerial exposure of the summi…
Species of Acryptolaria Norman, 1875 (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) collected by US Antarctic and sub-Antarctic expeditions.
2020
Acryptolaria is a worldwide genus of deep-water benthic hydroids. The genus has relatively high species diversity, with 36 species described so far, yet most of them have been reported only occasionally. As a result, scientific knowledge of their ecology and distribution is scarce. Here I present the results of the study of species of Acryptolaria collected during several Antarctic and sub-Antarctic expeditions under the United States Antarctic Research Program between 1958 and 1986. Eight species were found in the collection (plus one determined to the genus level), with A. operculata having the highest occurrence. Acryptolaria flabellum is reported for the second time; the study also repr…
Seasonal changes in glacial polynya activity inferred from Weddell Sea varves
2013
Abstract. The Weddell Sea and the associated Filchner–Rønne Ice Shelf constitute key regions for global bottom-water production today. However, little is known about bottom-water production under different climate and ice-sheet conditions. Therefore, we studied core PS1795, which consists primarily of fine-grained siliciclastic varves that were deposited on contourite ridges in the southeastern Weddell Sea during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We conducted high-resolution X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis and grain-size measurements with the RADIUS tool (Seelos and Sirocko, 2005) using thin sections to characterize the two seasonal components of the varves at sub-mm resolution to distingui…
Centennial- to millennial-scale climate oscillations in the Central-Eastern Mediterranean Sea between 20,000 and 70,000 years ago: Evidence from a hi…
2012
Abstract Here we present a high-resolution faunal, floral and geochemical (stable isotopes and trace elements) record from the sediments of Ocean Drilling Program Site 963 (central Mediterranean basin), which shows centennial/millennial-scale resemblance to the high-northern latitude rapid temperature fluctuations documented in the Greenland ice cores between 20 and 70 kyr BP. Oxygen and carbon isotopes, planktic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossil distributions suggest that Dansgaard–Oeschger (D/O) and Heinrich events (HE) are distinctly expressed in the Mediterranean climate record. Moreover, recurrent though subdued oscillations not previously identified in the Lateglacial Mediterran…
Chronological records of metal deposition in sediments from the Strait of Sicily, central Mediterranean: assessing natural fluxes and anthropogenic a…
2010
Abstract Sediment box-cores were recovered from the Strait of Sicily along two onshore–offshore transects in water depths of 29–500 m. Samples were dated by 210 Pb and analysed for major and trace elements. Inspections of chronological profiles integrated with application of statistical algorithms to the geochemical dataset and supported by in situ hydrological observations were used to assess factors driving element distributions. Mineralogical and chemical variability of sediments offshore of the southwestern Sicily coast reflect the irregular sea floor morphology of the Adventure Bank. Anthropogenic inputs explain enrichments with respect to background values for Sb, As, Pb, and Hg, that…