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Deglacial Indian monsoon failure and North Atlantic stadials linked by Indian Ocean surface cooling

Nature Geoscience volume 9, pages 46–50 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Indian monsoon, the largest monsoon system on Earth, responds to remote climatic forcings, including temperature changes in the North Atlantic1,2. The monsoon was weak during two cool periods that punctuated the last deglaciation—Heinrich Stadial 1 and the Younger Dryas. It has been suggested that sea surface cooling in the Indian Ocean was the critical link between these North Atlantic stadials and monsoon failure3; however, based on existing proxy records4 it is unclear whether surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea dropped during these intervals. Here we compile new and existing temperature proxy data4,5,6,7 from the Arabian Sea, and find that surface temperatures cooled whereas subsurface temperatures warmed during both Heinrich Stadial 1 and the Younger Dryas. Our analysis of model simulations shows that surface cooling weakens the monsoon winds and leads to destratification of the water column and substantial subsurface warming. We thus conclude that sea surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean are indeed the link between North Atlantic climate and the strength of the Indian monsoon.

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Figure 1: The thermal evolution of the Arabian Sea across the last deglaciation, relative to the late Holocene (0–2,000 yr BP) mean.
Figure 2: Spatial expression of the surface and subsurface proxy response to the Heinrich 1 (H1) event, relative to mean deglacial conditions.
Figure 3: Changes in the thermal structure of the Arabian Sea during an equilibrium simulation of an idealized Heinrich Event.
Figure 4: Changes in ocean currents in the Arabian Sea in response to a simulated Heinrich Event.

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Acknowledgements

We thank F. He for assistance with the TraCE data. Funding for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation (Grant #OCE-1203892 to J.E.T.) and the International Meteorological Institute at Stockholm University, with contributions from the Center for Climate & Life at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, 1040 E 4th Street, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA

    Jessica E. Tierney

  2. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA

    Jessica E. Tierney

  3. Department of Meteorology and Bolin Centre for Climate Change Research, Stockholm University, Arrhenius Väg 16C, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden

    Francesco S. R. Pausata

  4. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, 61 Route 9W, Palisades, New York 10961, USA

    Peter deMenocal

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  1. Jessica E. Tierney
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Contributions

J.E.T. and F.S.R.P. designed the study. J.E.T. measured and analysed the TEX86 and U37K′ proxy data from the Gulf of Aden core, and synthesized previously published proxy data. P.deM. measured and analysed the δ18O and Mg/Ca data from the Gulf of Aden core. F.S.R.P. designed and performed the model analysis and contributed to the interpretation of the proxy data. J.E.T. wrote the paper with contributions from all the authors.

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Correspondence to Jessica E. Tierney.

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Tierney, J., Pausata, F. & deMenocal, P. Deglacial Indian monsoon failure and North Atlantic stadials linked by Indian Ocean surface cooling. Nature Geosci 9, 46–50 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2603

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