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Absence of deep-water formation in the Labrador Sea during the last interglacial period

Nature volume 410, pages 1073–1077 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

The two main constituent water masses of the deep North Atlantic Ocean—North Atlantic Deep Water at the bottom and Labrador Sea Water at an intermediate level—are currently formed in the Nordic seas and the Labrador Sea, respectively1. The rate of formation of these two water masses tightly governs the strength of the global ocean circulation and the associated heat transport across the North Atlantic Ocean2. Numerical simulations have suggested a possible shut-down of Labrador Sea Water formation as a consequence of global warming3. Here we use micropalaeontological data and stable isotope measurements in both planktonic and benthic foraminifera from deep Labrador Sea cores to investigate the density structure of the water column during the last interglacial period, which was thought to be about 2 °C warmer than present4. Our results indicate that today's stratification between Labrador Sea Water and North Atlantic Deep Water never developed during the last interglacial period. Instead, a buoyant surface layer was present above a single water mass originating from the Nordic seas. Thus the present situation, with an active site of intermediate-water formation in the Labrador Sea, which settled some 7,000 years ago, has no analogue throughout the last climate cycle.

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Figure 1: The Arctic–North Atlantic sector and the location of the study cores.
Figure 2: Structure of the modern water column at the Greenland rise site.
Figure 3: Estimation of potential-density values from proxies.
Figure 4: Magnified views of Holocene and ISS-5e records.

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Acknowledgements

This study is a contribution to the Climate System, History and Dynamics project, supported by the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and to the international Images program. Complementary support by the Fonds pour la Formation de chercheurs et l’Aide à la Recherche of Quebec Province is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GEOTOP, Université du Québec à Montréal, CP 8888, Montreal, H3C 3P8, Quebec, Canada

    C. Hillaire-Marcel, A. de Vernal & G. Bilodeau

  2. School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, PO Box 3055, V8W 3P6, British Colombia, Canada

    A. J. Weaver

Authors
  1. C. Hillaire-Marcel
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  3. G. Bilodeau
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  4. A. J. Weaver
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Correspondence to C. Hillaire-Marcel.

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Hillaire-Marcel, C., de Vernal, A., Bilodeau, G. et al. Absence of deep-water formation in the Labrador Sea during the last interglacial period. Nature 410, 1073–1077 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35074059

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