Article abstract
Nature Geoscience 2, 428 - 433 (2009)
Published online: 24 May 2009 | doi:10.1038/ngeo527
Subject Category: Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography
Oceanic forcing of the Marine Isotope Stage 11 interglacial
Alexander J. Dickson1, Christopher J. Beer2, Ciara Dempsey3, Mark A. Maslin1, James A. Bendle4, Erin L. McClymont5 & Richard D. Pancost3
Abstract
The interglacial known as Marine Isotope Stage 11 has been proposed to be analogous to the Holocene, owing to similarities in the amplitudes of orbital forcing. It has been difficult to compare the periods, however, because of the long duration of Stage 11 and a lack of detailed knowledge of any extreme climate events that may have occurred. Here we use the distinctive phasing between seasurface temperatures and the oxygen-isotope records of benthic foraminifera in the southeast Atlantic Ocean to stratigraphically align the Holocene interglacial with the first half of the Marine Isotope Stage 11 interglacial optimum. This alignment suggests that the second half of Marine Isotope Stage 11 should not be used as a reference for 'pre-anthropogenic' greenhouse-gas emissions. By compiling benthic carbon-isotope records from sites in the Atlantic Ocean on a single timescale, we also find that meridional overturning circulation strengthened about 415,000 years ago, at a time of high orbital obliquity. We propose that this mechanism transported heat to the high northern latitudes, inhibiting significant ice-sheet build-up and prolonging interglacial conditions. We suggest that this mechanism may have also prolonged other interglacial periods throughout the past 800,000 years.
- Department of Geography, University College London, Pearson Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK
- Department of Geographical and Earth Science, University of Glasgow, Gregory Building, Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
- School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Newcastle On Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
Correspondence to: Alexander J. Dickson1 e-mail: a.j.dickson@dunelm.org.uk
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