Abstract
The Holocene thermal maximum, a period of relatively warm climate between 11,000 and 5,000 years ago1,2, is most clearly recorded in the middle and high latitudes2,3 of the Northern Hemisphere, where it is generally associated with the local orbitally forced summer insolation maximum. However, proxy-based reconstructions have shown that both the timing and magnitude of the warming vary substantially between different regions2,3,4, suggesting the involvement of extra feedbacks and forcings. Here, we simulate the Holocene thermal maximum in a coupled global ocean–atmosphere–vegetation model. We find that before 7,000 years ago, summers were substantially cooler over regions directly influenced by the presence of the Laurentide ice sheet, whereas other regions of the Northern Hemisphere were dominated by orbital forcing. Our simulations suggest that the cool conditions arose from a combination of the inhibition of Labrador Sea deep convection by the flux of meltwater from the ice sheet, which weakened northward heat transport by the ocean, and the high surface albedo of the ice sheet. We thus conclude that interglacial climate is highly sensitive to relatively small changes in ice-sheet configuration.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wanner, H. et al. Mid- to late Holocene climate change: An overview. Quat. Sci. Rev. 27, 1791–1828 (2008).
Jansen, E. et al. in Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. 4th Assessment Report IPCC (eds Solomon, S. et al.) 433–498 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007).
Jansen, E. et al. in Natural Climate Variability and Global Warming: A Holocene Perspective (eds Battarbee, R. W. & Binney, H. A.) 123–137 (Wiley–Blackwell, 2008).
Kaufman, D. S. et al. Holocene thermal maximum in the western Arctic (0–180∘ W). Quat. Sci. Rev. 23, 529–560 (2004).
Rimbu, N. et al. Holocene climate variability as derived from alkenone sea surface temperature and coupled ocean–atmosphere model experiments. Clim. Dyn. 23, 215–227 (2004).
Renssen, H. et al. Simulating the Holocene climate evolution at northern high latitudes using a coupled atmosphere–sea ice–ocean–vegetation model. Clim. Dyn. 24, 23–43 (2005).
Wiersma, A. P. et al. Evaluation of different freshwater forcing scenarios for the 8.2 ka BP event in a coupled climate model. Clim. Dyn. 27, 831–849 (2006).
Renssen, H., Goosse, H. & Fichefet, T. Contrasting trends in North Atlantic deep-water formation in the Labrador Sea and Nordic Seas during the Holocene. Geophys. Res. Lett. 32, L08711 (2005).
Steffensen, J. P. et al. High-resolution Greenland Ice Core data show abrupt climate change happens in few years. Science 321, 680–684 (2008).
Peltier, W. Global glacial isostasy and the surface of the ice-age Earth: The ICE-5G (VM2) model and GRACE. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 32, 111–149 (2004).
Linden, M. et al. Holocene shore displacement and deglaciation chronology in Norrbotten, Sweden. Boreas 35, 1–22 (2006).
Carlson, A. E. et al. Rapid early Holocene deglaciation of the Laurentide ice sheet. Nature Geosci. 1, 620–624 (2008).
Kutzbach, J. E. & Webb, T. III. in Global Climates Since the Last Glacial Maximum (eds Wright, H. E. Jr et al.) 5–11 (Univ. Minnesota Press, 1993).
Opsteegh, J. D. et al. ECBILT: A dynamic alternative to mixed boundary conditions in ocean models. Tellus A 50, 348–367 (1998).
Goosse, H. & Fichefet, T. Importance of ice-ocean interactions for the global ocean circulation: A model study. J. Geophys. Res. 104, 23337–23355 (1999).
Brovkin, V. et al. Carbon cycle, vegetation and climate dynamics in the Holocene: Experiments with the CLIMBER-2 model. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 16, 1139 (2002).
Dahl-Jensen, D. et al. Past temperatures directly from the Greenland ice sheet. Science 282, 268–271 (1998).
Johnsen, S. et al. Oxygen isotope and palaeotemperature records from six Greenland ice-core stations: Camp Century, Dye-3, GRIP, GISP2, Renland and NorthGRIP. J. Quat. Sci. 16, 299–307 (2001).
Licciardi, J. M. et al. in Mechanisms of Global Climate Change at Millennial Time Scale (eds Clark, P. U. et al.) 177–201 (American Geophysical Union, 1999).
Hall, I. R. et al. Centennial to millennial scale Holocene climate-deep water linkage in the North Atlantic. Quat. Sci. Rev. 23, 1529–1536 (2004).
de Vernal, A. & Hillaire-Marcel, C. Provincialism in trends and high frequency changes in the northwest North Atlantic during the Holocene. Glob. Planet. Change 54, 263–290 (2006).
Hillaire-Marcel, C., de Vernal, A. & Piper, D. J. W. Lake Agassiz final drainage event in the northwest North Atlantic. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L15601 (2007).
Roche, D. M. et al. Climate of the last glacial maximum: Sensitivity studies and model-data comparison with the LOVECLIM coupled model. Clim. Past 3, 205–224 (2007).
Wiersma, A. P. & Renssen, H. Model-data comparison for the 8.2 ka BP event: Confirmation of a forcing mechanism by catastrophic drainage of Laurentide Lakes. Quat. Sci. Rev. 25, 63–88 (2006).
Goosse, H. et al. Modelling the climate of the last millennium: What causes the differences between simulations? Geophys. Res. Lett. 32, L06710 (2005).
Berger, A. L. Long-term variations of daily insolation and Quaternary climatic changes. J. Atmos. Sci. 35, 2363–2367 (1978).
Raynaud, D. et al. The ice record of greenhouse gases: a view in the context of future changes. Quat. Sci. Rev. 19, 9–17 (2000).
Acknowledgements
The authors thank M. W. Kerwin for making his data set available for this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors collaborated on the text. H.R. and D.M.R. designed the model boundary conditions, H.R. carried out the model simulations, and H.R., D.M.R., H.G. and T.F. analysed the climate model results. H.S. and O.H. compiled records for the temperature reconstructions.
Corresponding author
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Information (PDF 660 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Renssen, H., Seppä, H., Heiri, O. et al. The spatial and temporal complexity of the Holocene thermal maximum. Nature Geosci 2, 411–414 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo513
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo513
This article is cited by
-
Holocene thermal maximum mode versus the continuous warming mode: Problems of data-model comparisons and future research prospects
Science China Earth Sciences (2023)
-
Holocene temperature variation recorded by branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers in a loess-paleosol sequence from the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau
Frontiers of Earth Science (2023)
-
Unravelling the roles of orbital forcing and oceanic conditions on the mid-Holocene boreal summer monsoons
Climate Dynamics (2023)
-
Orbital-scale dynamic vegetation feedback caused the Holocene precipitation decline in northern China
Communications Earth & Environment (2022)
-
Freshwater forcing of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation revisited
Nature Climate Change (2022)