Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

North Atlantic forcing of tropical Indian Ocean climate

Nature volume 509, pages 76–80 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

The response of the tropical climate in the Indian Ocean realm to abrupt climate change events in the North Atlantic Ocean is contentious. Repositioning of the intertropical convergence zone is thought to have been responsible for changes in tropical hydroclimate during North Atlantic cold spells1,2,3,4,5, but the dearth of high-resolution records outside the monsoon realm in the Indian Ocean precludes a full understanding of this remote relationship and its underlying mechanisms. Here we show that slowdowns of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during Heinrich stadials and the Younger Dryas stadial affected the tropical Indian Ocean hydroclimate through changes to the Hadley circulation including a southward shift in the rising branch (the intertropical convergence zone) and an overall weakening over the southern Indian Ocean. Our results are based on new, high-resolution sea surface temperature and seawater oxygen isotope records of well-dated sedimentary archives from the tropical eastern Indian Ocean for the past 45,000 years, combined with climate model simulations of Atlantic circulation slowdown under Marine Isotope Stages 2 and 3 boundary conditions. Similar conditions in the east and west of the basin rule out a zonal dipole structure as the dominant forcing of the tropical Indian Ocean hydroclimate of millennial-scale events. Results from our simulations and proxy data suggest dry conditions in the northern Indian Ocean realm and wet and warm conditions in the southern realm during North Atlantic cold spells.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Hydroclimate records from the eastern tropical Indian Ocean.
Figure 2: Comparison of East Indian Ocean δ18OSW and SST data with other records of palaeoclimate.
Figure 3: Results from the CCSM3 simulations of Heinrich stadials 1 and 4.

References

  1. Lewis, S. C. et al. High-resolution stalagmite reconstructions of Australian-Indonesian monsoon rainfall variability during Heinrich stadial 3 and Greenland interstadial 4. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 303, 133–142 (2011)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Arbuszewski, J. A., deMenocal, P. B., Cleroux, C., Bradtmiller, L. & Mix, A. Meridional shifts of the Atlantic intertropical convergence zone since the Last Glacial Maximum. Nature Geosci. 6, 959–962 (2013)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Marzin, C., Kallel, N., Kageyama, M., Duplessy, J.-C. & Braconnot, P. Glacial fluctuations of the Indian monsoon and their relationship with North Atlantic climate: new data and modelling experiments. Clim. Past 9, 2135–2151 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Mohtadi, M. et al. Glacial to Holocene swings of the Australian-Indonesian monsoon. Nature Geosci. 4, 540–544 (2011)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Muller, J., McManus, J. F., Oppo, D. W. & Francois, R. Strengthening of the Northeast Monsoon over the Flores Sea, Indonesia, at the time of Heinrich event 1. Geology 40, 635–638 (2012)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Condron, A. & Winsor, P. Meltwater routing and the Younger Dryas. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 109, 19928–19933 (2012)

    Article  ADS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. McManus, J. F., Francois, R., Gherardi, J. M., Keigwin, L. D. & Brown-Leger, S. Collapse and rapid resumption of Atlantic meridional circulation linked to deglacial climate changes. Nature 428, 834–837 (2004)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Moreno, P. I., Jacobson, G. L., Lowell, T. V. J. & Denton, G. H. Interhemispheric climate links revealed by a late-glacial cooling episode in southern Chile. Nature 409, 804–808 (2001)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Deplazes, G. et al. Links between tropical rainfall and North Atlantic climate during the last glacial period. Nature Geosci. 6, 213–217 (2013)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Mohtadi, M., Steinke, S., Lückge, A., Groeneveld, J. & Hathorne, E. C. Glacial to Holocene surface hydrography of the tropical eastern Indian Ocean. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 292, 89–97 (2010)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Partin, J. W., Cobb, K. M., Adkins, J. F., Clark, B. & Fernandez, D. P. Millennial-scale trends in west Pacific warm pool hydrology since the Last Glacial Maximum. Nature 449, 452–455 (2007)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Thomas, D. S. G., Burrough, S. L. & Parker, A. G. Extreme events as drivers of early human behaviour in Africa? The case for variability, not catastrophic drought. J. Quaternary Sci. 27, 7–12 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Stager, J. C., Ryves, D. B., Chase, B. M. & Pausata, F. S. R. Catastrophic drought in the Afro-Asian monsoon region during Heinrich event 1. Science 331, 1299–1302 (2011)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Tierney, J. E. et al. Northern hemisphere controls on tropical southeast African Climate during the past 60,000 years. Science 322, 252–255 (2008)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Muller, J. et al. Possible evidence for wet Heinrich phases in tropical NE Australia: the Lynch’s crater deposit. Quat. Sci. Rev. 27, 468–475 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Griffiths, M. L. et al. Increasing Australian-Indonesian monsoon rainfall linked to early Holocene sea-level rise. Nature Geosci. 2, 636–639 (2009)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Schefuß, E., Kuhlmann, H., Mollenhauer, G., Prange, M. & Pätzold, J. Forcing of wet phases in southeast Africa over the past 17,000 years. Nature 480, 509–512 (2011)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. De Deckker, P., Moros, M., Perner, K. & Jansen, E. Influence of the tropics and southern westerlies on glacial interhemispheric asymmetry. Nature Geosci. 5, 266–269 (2012)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Clement, A. C. & Peterson, L. C. Mechanisms of abrupt climate change of the last glacial period. Rev. Geophys. 46, RG4002 (2008)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Kageyama, M. et al. Climatic impacts of fresh water hosing under Last Glacial Maximum conditions: a multi-model study. Clim. Past 9, 935–953 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Gibbons, F. T. et al. Deglacial δ18O and hydrologic variability in the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 387, 240–251 (2014)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Parrenin, F. et al. Synchronous change of atmospheric CO2 and Antarctic temperature during the Last Deglacial Warming. Science 339, 1060–1063 (2013)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Hemming, S. R. Heinrich events: massive late Pleistocene detritus layers of the North Atlantic and their global climate imprint. Rev. Geophys. 42, RG1005 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Frierson, D. M. W. et al. Contribution of ocean overturning circulation to tropical rainfall peak in the Northern Hemisphere. Nature Geosci. 6, 940–944 (2013)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Pourmand, A., Marcantonio, F. & Schulz, H. Variations in productivity and eolian fluxes in the northeastern Arabian Sea during the past 110 ka. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 221, 39–54 (2004)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Carolin, S. A. et al. Varied response of Western Pacific hydrology to climate forcings over the Last Glacial Period. Science 340, 1564–1566 (2013)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Verschuren, D. et al. Half-precessional dynamics of monsoon rainfall near the East African Equator. Nature 462, 637–641 (2009)

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Tierney, J. E. & deMenocal, P. B. Abrupt shifts in Horn of Africa hydroclimate since the Last Glacial Maximum. Science 342, 843–846 (2013)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Svensson, A. et al. A 60000 year Greenland stratigraphic ice core chronology. Clim. Past 4, 47–57 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Wang, Y. et al. Millennial- and orbital-scale changes in the East Asian monsoon over the past 224,000 years. Nature 451, 1090–1093 (2008)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Antonov, J. I., Locarnini, R. A., Boyer, T. P., Mishonov, A. V. & Garcia, H. E. World Ocean Atlas 2005 Volume 2: Salinity 182 (US Government Printing Office, 2006)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Aldrian, E. & Susanto, R. D. Identification of three dominant rainfall regions within Indonesia and their relationship to sea surface temperature. Int. J. Climatol. 23, 1435–1452 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Wang, B. & Ding, Q. Global monsoon: dominant mode of annual variation in the tropics. Dyn. Atmos. Oceans 44, 165–183 (2008)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Yoo, S.-H., Yang, S. & Ho, C.-H. Variability of the Indian Ocean sea surface temperature and its impacts on Asian-Australian monsoon climate. J. Geophys. Res. 111, D03108 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  35. Schott, F. A. & McCreary, J. P. The monsoon circulation of the Indian Ocean. Prog. Oceanogr. 51, 1–123 (2001)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  36. Sengupta, D., Raj, G. N. B. & Shenoi, S. S. C. Surface freshwater from Bay of Bengal runoff and Indonesian Throughflow in the tropical Indian Ocean. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L22609 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  37. Schott, F. A., Xie, S.-P. & McCreary, J. P., Jr Indian Ocean circulation and climate variability. Rev. Geophys. 47, RG1002 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  38. Vinayachandran, P. N., Murty, V. S. N. & Ramesh Babu, V. Observations of barrier layer formation in the Bay of Bengal during summer monsoon. J. Geophys. Res. 107, 8018 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  39. Qu, T., Du, Y., Strachan, J., Meyers, G. & Slingo, J. M. Sea surface temperature and its variability in the Indonesian region. Oceanography 18, 50–61 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Du, Y., Qu, T., Meyers, G., Masumoto, Y. & Sasaki, H. Seasonal heat budget in the mixed layer of the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean in a high-resolution ocean general circulation model. J. Geophys. Res. 110, C04012 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  41. Qu, T. & Meyers, G. Seasonal variation of barrier layer in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean. J. Geophys. Res. 110, C11003 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  42. Sprintall, J. & Tomczak, M. Evidence of the barrier layer in the surface layer of the tropics. J. Geophys. Res. 97, 7305–7316 (1992)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  43. Qiu, Y., Cai, W., Li, L. & Guo, X. Argo profiles variability of barrier layer in the tropical Indian Ocean and its relationship with the Indian Ocean Dipole. Geophys. Res. Lett. 39, L08605 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  44. Sprintall, J., Potemra, J. T., Hautala, S. L., Bray, N. A. & Pandoe, W. W. Temperature and salinity variability in the exit passages of the Indonesian Throughflow. Deep Sea Res. Part II Top. Stud. Oceanogr. 50, 2183–2204 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Janowiak, J. E. & Xie, P. CAMS-OPI: a global satelliterain gauge merged product for real-time precipitation monitoring applications. J. Clim. 12, 3335–3342 (1999)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  46. Rosenthal, Y., Oppo, D. W. & Linsley, B. K. The amplitude and phasing of climate change during the last deglaciation in the Sulu Sea, western equatorial Pacific. Geophys. Res. Lett. 30, 1428 (2003)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  47. Levi, C. et al. Low-latitude hydrological cycle and rapid climate changes during the last deglaciation. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 8, Q05N12 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Zuraida, R. et al. Evidence for Indonesian Throughflow slowdown during Heinrich events 3-5. Paleoceanography 24, PA2205 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  49. Wiedicke-Hombach, M. et al. SUMATRA - The Hydrocarbon System of the Sumatra Forearc. Vol. Archive No. 0126492 (Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources Hannover, 2007)

  50. Mohtadi, M. et al. Modern environmental conditions recorded in surface sediment samples off W and SW Indonesia: planktonic foraminifera and biogenic compounds analyses. Mar. Micropaleontol. 65, 96–112 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  51. Mohtadi, M. et al. Reconstructing the thermal structure of the upper ocean: Insights from planktic foraminifera shell chemistry and alkenones in modern sediments of the tropical eastern Indian Ocean. Paleoceanography 26, PA3219 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  52. Reimer, P. J. et al. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55, 1869–1887 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Dutta, K., Bhushan, K. & Somayajulu, B. L. K. ΔR correction values for the northern Indian Ocean. Radiocarbon 43, 483–488 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Southon, J., Kashgarian, M., Fontugne, M., Metivier, B. & Yim, W. W.-S. Marine reservoir corrections for the Indian Ocean and southeast Asia. Radiocarbon 44, 167–180 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Wang, L. Isotopic signals in two morphotypes of Globigerinoides ruber (white) from the South China Sea: implications for monsoon climate change during the last glacial cycle. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 161, 381–394 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Mohtadi, M. et al. Low-latitude control on seasonal and interannual changes in planktonic foraminiferal flux and shell geochemistry off south Java: a sediment trap study. Paleoceanography 24, PA1201 (2009)

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  57. Barker, S., Greaves, M. & Elderfield, H. A study of cleaning procedures used for foraminiferal Mg/Ca paleothermometry. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 4, 8407 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. Greaves, M. et al. Interlaboratory comparison study of calibration standards for foraminiferal Mg/Ca thermometry. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 9, Q08010 (2008)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. Anand, P., Elderfield, H. & Conte, M. H. Calibration of Mg/Ca thermometry in planktonic foraminifera from a sediment trap time series. Paleoceanography 18, 1050 (2003)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  60. Bemis, B. E., Spero, H. J., Bijma, J. & Lea, D. W. Reevaluation of the oxygen isotopic composition of planktonic foraminifera: experimental results and revised paleotemperature equations. Paleoceanography 13, 150–160 (1998)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  61. Waelbroeck, C. et al. Sea-level and deep water temperature changes derived from benthic foraminifera isotopic records. Quat. Sci. Rev. 21, 295–305 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  62. Bevington, P. R. & Robinson, D. K. Data Reduction and Error Analysis for the Physical Sciences 3rd edn, 320 (McGraw-Hill, 2003)

    Google Scholar 

  63. Mudelsee, M. Ramp function regression: a tool for quantifying climate transitions. Comput. Geosci. 26, 293–307 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  64. Fleitmann, D. et al. Holocene forcing of the Indian monsoon recorded in a stalagmite from Southern Oman. Science 300, 1737–1739 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Fleitmann, D. et al. Timing and climatic impact of Greenland interstadials recorded in stalagmites from northern Turkey. Geophys. Res. Lett. 36, L19707 (2009)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  66. Steffensen, J. P. et al. High-resolution Greenland ice core data show abrupt climate change happens in few years. Science 321, 680–684 (2008)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. Mudelsee, M. & Raymo, M. E. Slow dynamics of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Paleoceanography 20, PA4022 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  68. Mudelsee, M. Estimating Pearson’s correlation coefficient with bootstrap confidence interval from serially dependent time series. Math. Geol. 35, 651–665 (2003)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  69. Collins, W. D. et al. The Community Climate System Model version 3 (CCSM3). J. Clim. 19, 2122–2143 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  70. Yeager, S. G., Shields, C. A., Large, W. G. & Hack, J. J. The low-resolution CCSM3. J. Clim. 19, 2545–2566 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  71. Levis, S., Bonan, G. B., Vertenstein, M. & Oleson, K. W. The Community Land Model’s Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (CLM-DGVM): Technical Description and User’s Guide (National Center for Atmospheric Research, 2004)

    Google Scholar 

  72. Oleson, K. et al. Technical Description of the Community Land Model (CLM). (National Center for Atmospheric Research, 2004)

  73. Oleson, K. W. et al. Improvements to the Community Land Model and their impact on the hydrological cycle. J. Geophys. Res. 113, G01021 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  74. Braconnot, P. et al. Results of PMIP2 coupled simulations of the Mid-Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum – Part 1: experiments and large-scale features. Clim. Past 3, 261–277 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  75. Berger, A. L. Long-term variations of daily insolation and Quaternary climate changes. J. Atmos. Sci. 35, 2362–2367 (1978)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  76. Peltier, W. R. 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)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  77. Merkel, U., Prange, M. & Schulz, M. ENSO variability and teleconnections during glacial climates. Quat. Sci. Rev. 29, 86–100 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  78. Flückiger, J. et al. N2O and CH4 variations during the last glacial epoch: insight into global processes. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 18, GB1020 (2004)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  79. Spahni, R. et al. Atmospheric methane and nitrous oxide of the Late Pleistocene from Antarctic ice cores. Science 310, 1317–1321 (2005)

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  80. Ahn, J. & Brook, E. J. Atmospheric CO2 and climate from 65 to 30 ka B.P. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L10703 (2007)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  81. Otto-Bliesner, B. L. et al. Climate sensitivity of moderate- and low-resolution versions of CCSM3 to preindustrial forcings. J. Clim. 19, 2567–2583 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  82. Ding, Q. & Wang, B. Circumglobal teleconnection in the Northern Hemisphere summer. J. Clim. 18, 3483–3505 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  83. Ding, Q. & Wang, B. Intraseasonal teleconnection between the summer Eurasian wave train and the Indian Monsoon. J. Clim. 20, 3751–3767 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  84. Broccoli, A. J., Dahl, K. A. & Stouffer, R. J. Response of the ITCZ to Northern Hemisphere cooling. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L01702 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to K. Olafsdottir, M. Segl and B. Meyer-Schack for technical support. This study was funded by the German Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (grant 03G0189A) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG grants HE3412/15-1 and STE1044/4-1, and the DFG Research Centre/Cluster of Excellence ‘The Ocean in the Earth System’). Climate model simulations were performed on the SGI Altix supercomputer of the Norddeutscher Verbund für Hoch- und Höchstleistungsrechnen. D.W.O. is funded by the US NSF, R.D.P.-H. is supported by Chilean FONDAP 15110009/ICM Nucleus NC120066.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MARUM-Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany ,

    Mahyar Mohtadi, Matthias Prange, Ute Merkel, Xiao Zhang & Stephan Steinke

  2. Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, 02543, Massachusetts, USA

    Delia W. Oppo

  3. Department of Oceanography, University of Concepción, Concepción, Chile

    Ricardo De Pol-Holz

  4. Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, 30655 Hannover, Germany ,

    Andreas Lückge

Authors
  1. Mahyar Mohtadi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Matthias Prange
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Delia W. Oppo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ricardo De Pol-Holz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ute Merkel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Xiao Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Stephan Steinke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Andreas Lückge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

M.M., D.W.O. and A.L. designed the study. M.P., U.M. and X.Z. designed, performed and analysed the climate model experiments. M.M. and S.S. generated and analysed the proxy data. R.D.P.-H., M.M. and D.W.O. were responsible for the radiocarbon analyses. M.M. and M.P. wrote the manuscript; all authors discussed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mahyar Mohtadi.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Figure 1 Instrumental records of temperature and precipitation in the study area.

Records are at or close to the sites 119KL (black) and 39KL (red). a, Average monthly SST for the Simeulue basin (4° N, 96° E; black) and the northern Mentawai basin (2° S, 100° E; red) based on extended reconstruction sea surface temperature (ERSST) data from 1854 to 2008 (http://nomads.ncdc.noaa.gov/las/getUI.do). Dashed lines indicate average SST for the entire period. b, Twenty-four-hour air temperatures measured in Sabang in northwestern Sumatra (from 1976 to 1989; black) and in Padang in western Sumatra (from 1850 to 1989; red; http://climexp.knmi.nl). Dashed lines indicate the average air temperature over the entire period. c, Average monthly precipitation (mm per month) over Banda Aceh in northwestern Sumatra (black) and Padang (red), between 1879 and 1989 (http://climexp.knmi.nl). Open circles represent mean monthly precipitation of different seasons (winter, spring, summer and autumn), with the numbers indicating the percentage contribution of each season to the total annual precipitation. Dashed lines indicate average monthly precipitation for the entire period. Note the small seasonality of SST, air temperature and precipitation in the study area.

Extended Data Figure 2 Seasonality of surface currents, SST and salinity in the eastern Indian Ocean.

Seasonal changes in SST (colour shading), salinity (dashed lines; p.s.u.) and surface currents (arrows) in the study area during boreal summer (top) and winter (bottom). The meridional Ekman transport (ME) is also indicated with arrows. Seasonal SST is averaged for the period between 2002 and 2010 (http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi/l3). Salinities are averaged for the period between 1960 and 200431. Surface currents and ME are redrawn following ref. 35. Note the seasonal reversal of the surface currents and the MET, and the small seasonality of SST and salinity off western and northwestern Sumatra. The positions of the cores from the tropical eastern Indian Ocean are indicated by stars (this study). NECC, north equatorial counter current; NMC, northeast monsoon current; SECC, south equatorial counter current; SJC, south Java current; SMC, southwest monsoon current.

Extended Data Figure 3 Sill depths in the study area.

Sill depths of the Simeulue basin (1–3), the Nias basin (4–6) and the northern Mentawai basin (7–9), with the positions of the cores indicated (yellow dots). The maximum depth of each sill is as indicated.

Extended Data Figure 4 Age–depth relationship of the investigated cores.

Core depth (cm) versus calendar age (years) with 2σ errors (bars and yellow envelope) in cores 119KL (a), 144KL (b) and 39KL (c).

Extended Data Figure 5 Estimated errors (1σ) for SST and δ18OSW in core 119KL.

Grey envelopes indicate errors in reconstructions of SST (a) and δ18OSW (b). For comparison, the 39KL records (red) are shown. Grey bars indicate 2σ errors of the calibrated radiocarbon ages (black and red triangles).

Extended Data Figure 6 Mg/Ca SST record of core 39KL for the period 5–29 kyr ago, along with the fitted ramp function (red).

Extended Data Figure 7 AMOC for different climate states, as simulated by CCSM3.

Meridional overturning stream function averaged over the last 100 yr of each experiment for the MIS3 baseline run (a), the H4 hosing experiment (b), the LGM simulation (c), the H1 hosing experiment (d) and the pre-industrial control run (e).

Extended Data Figure 8 Climatic response to a substantial slowdown of the AMOC under LGM (21 kyr ago) boundary conditions in a CCSM3 simulation.

Shown are long-term (100-yr) annual means of climatic anomalies (Heinrich stadial 1 hosing experiments minus LGM baseline run) for surface temperature (a) and vertical velocity (b) at 500 hPa.

Extended Data Figure 9 Summer (June, July and August) precipitation response to a substantial slowdown of the AMOC under MIS3 (38 kyr ago) boundary conditions, as simulated by CCSM3.

Shown are 100-yr averages (Heinrich stadial 4 hosing experiment minus MIS3 baseline run).

Extended Data Figure 10 Upper-tropospheric (200 hPa) wind response to a substantial slowdown of the AMOC (Heinrich stadial 4 hosing experiment minus MIS3 baseline run; 100-yr averages).

a, Summer (June, July and August) response; b, winter (December, January and February) response. Wave trains are highlighted by plus symbols (positive geopotential height anomaly/anticyclonic circulation anomaly) and minus symbols (negative geopotential height anomaly/cyclonic circulation anomaly).

Supplementary information

Supplementary Figures

This file contains Supplementary Figures 1-3. (PDF 1841 kb)

Supplementary Table 1

This file contains the radiocarbon dataset of the investigated cores. (XLS 36 kb)

PowerPoint slides

Source data

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mohtadi, M., Prange, M., Oppo, D. et al. North Atlantic forcing of tropical Indian Ocean climate. Nature 509, 76–80 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13196

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13196

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing