Titre du document / Document title

The Collapse of the Bering Strait Ice Dam and the Abrupt Temperature Rise in the Beginning of the Holocene

Auteur(s) / Author(s)

SANDAL Cathrine ⁽¹⁾ ; NOF Doron ⁽¹⁾ ;

Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)

⁽¹⁾ Department of Oceanography, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, ETATS-UNIS

Résumé / Abstract

This paper focuses on the abrupt increase in the oceanic and atmospheric temperature in the Northern Hemisphere at the beginning of the Holocene, approximately 11 000 yr before the present. De Boer and Nof hypothesized that, at that time, the Bering Strait (BS) opened up abruptly because of the breakup of an ice dam (by rising sea levels). It is proposed further here that this sudden opening caused an abrupt increase in the mean temperature of the Northern Hemisphere. An analytical, coupled ocean-atmosphere model is applied to the North Atlantic in an attempt to quantify the temperature change resulting from the opening of the BS. Heat, salt, and mass are all conserved within a box in the North Atlantic. A convection condition allows water to enter the deep layer and the island rule relates the wind field to the mass fluxes. The conventional approach that the meridional overturning cell (MOC) was not operating during the Younger Dryas because of an overwhelming freshwater flux is adopted here. Opening the BS in the early Holocene allowed these freshwater anomalies to be flushed out into the Pacific, reviving convection and the transport of heat northward. Restarting convection with an open BS increases mean oceanic and atmospheric temperature by 3° and 23°C, respectively. These values are comparable to those found in both the Centre Européen de Recherche et d'Enseignement des Géosciences de l'Environnement (CEREGE) alkenone and Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP 2) ice core records. Of course, restarting convection increases the temperature even with a closed BS, but in the closed BS case the oceanic increase is slightly higher (4°C instead of 3°C), whereas the atmospheric is much lower (17.5°C instead of 23°C). This is because, by requiring a continuous sea level around the Americas, an open BS allows the wind field to limit the amount of Southern Ocean water that enters the South Atlantic. This controlled volume flux (8 Sv) is considerably smaller than that allowed into the Atlantic in the no-wind control closed BS case (17 Sv).

Revue / Journal Title

Journal of physical oceanography   ISSN 0022-3670   CODEN JPYOBT 

Source / Source

2008, vol. 38, n^o9, pp. 1979-1991 [13 page(s) (article)] (3/4 p.)

Langue / Language

Anglais

Editeur / Publisher

American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA, ETATS-UNIS  (1971) (Revue)

Mots-clés anglais / English Keywords

Phanerozoic ; Cenozoic ; Quaternary ; upper Quaternary ; Holocene ; Atlantic Ocean ; polar regions ; Arctic region ; alkenone ; lower Holocene ; climate warming ; ice caps ; South Atlantic ; Antarctic Ocean ; collapse ; Greenland ice sheet ; North Atlantic ; Northern Hemisphere ; Bering Strait ; heat transfer ; transport ; Greenland ; ice ; drill cores ; paleotemperature ; O-18/O-16 ; stable isotopes ; flux ; convection ; anomalies ; thermohaline circulation ; Wind field ; Ocean-atmosphere model ; ocean-atmosphere interaction ; sea level ; Atmospheric temperature ; climate change ;

Mots-clés français / French Keywords

Phanérozoïque ; Cénozoïque ; Quaternaire ; Quaternaire sup ; Holocène ; Océan Atlantique ; Région Polaire ; Arctique ; Alcénone ; Holocène inf ; Réchauffement climat ; Calotte glaciaire ; CEREGE ; GISP 2 ; Barrage glace ; Océan Atlantique Sud ; Océan Antarctique ; Effondrement ; Calotte glaciaire Groenland ; Océan Atlantique Nord ; Hémisphère Nord ; Détroit Bering ; Transfert chaleur ; Transport ; Groenland ; Glace ; Carotte ; Paléotempérature ; O 18-O 16 ; Isotope stable ; Flux ; Convection ; Anomalie ; Circulation thermohaline ; Distribution vent ; Modèle atmosphère océan ; Interaction atmosphère océan ; Niveau mer ; Température atmosphérique ; Changement climatique ;

Mots-clés espagnols / Spanish Keywords

Fanerozoico ; Cenozoico ; Cuaternario ; Cuaternario sup ; Holoceno ; Océano Atlántico ; Ártico ; Holoceno inf ; Casquete glaciar ; Océano Atlántico Sur ; Océano Atlántico Norte ; Hemisferio norte ; Transferencia térmica ; Transporte ; Groenlandia ; Hielo ; Testigo ; Paleotemperatura ; O 18-O 16 ; Isótopo estable ; Convección ; Anomalía ; Circulación termohalina ; Distribución viento ; Temperatura atmosférica ;

Localisation / Location

INIST-CNRS, Cote INIST : 15148, 35400018561721.0080