Sustained North Atlantic warming drove anomalously intense MIS 11c interglacial

Creators: Hu, Hsun-Ming; Marino, Gianluca; Pérez-Mejías, Carlos; Spötl, Christoph; Yokoyama, Yusuke; Yu, Jimin; Rohling, Eelco; Kano, Akihiro; Ludwig, Patrick; Pinto, Joaquim; Michel, Véronique; Valensi, Patricia; Zhang, Xin; Jiang, Xiuyang; Mii, Horng-Sheng; Chien, Wei-Yi; Tsai, Hsien-Chen; Sung, Wen-Hui; Hsu, Chia-Hao; Starnini, Elisabetta; Zunino, Marta; Shen, Chuan-Chou

Others:: High-Precision Mass Spectrometry and Environment Change Laboratory (HISPEC) ; National Taiwan University [Taiwan] (NTU); Radiogenic Isotope Facility - School of Earth Sciences; Research Center for Future Earth, National Taiwan University; Centro de Investigacion Marina, GEOMA, Universidade de Vigo; Institut of Global environment change, Xi'an Jiaotong University; Universität Innsbruck [Innsbruck]; Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute [Kashiwa-shi] (AORI) ; The University of Tokyo (UTokyo); Department of Earth and Planetary Science [Tokyo] ; Graduate School of Science [Tokyo] ; The University of Tokyo (UTokyo)-The University of Tokyo (UTokyo); Laoshan Laboratory; Research School of Earth Sciences [ANU, Canberra] (RSES) ; ANU College of Science [Canberra] ; Australian National University (ANU)-Australian National University (ANU); Department of Earth Sciences [Utrecht] ; Universiteit Utrecht / Utrecht University [Utrecht]; Ocean and Earth Science [Southampton] ; University of Southampton-National Oceanography Centre (NOC); Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research ; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology = Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT); Culture et Environnements, Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age (CEPAM) ; Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) (UNS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Côte d'Azur (UniCA); Géoazur (GEOAZUR 7329) ; Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur ; Université Côte d'Azur (UniCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UniCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]); Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP) ; Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Key laboratory of humid subtropical eco-geographical processes, Fujian Normal University; Key laboratory of humid subtropical eco-geographical processes, Fujian Normal University; Department of Civilizations and Forms of Knowledge, University of Pisa; Toirano Cave, 17055, Toirano; European Project: 101052653,LATEUROPE

Description

The Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11c interglacial and its preceding glacial termination represent an enigmatically intense climate response to relatively weak insolation forcing. So far, a lack of radiometric age control has confounded a detailed assessment of the insolation-climate relationship during this period. Here, we present 230 Th-dated speleothem proxy data from northern Italy and compare them with palaeoclimate records from the North Atlantic region. We find that interglacial conditions started in subtropical to middle latitudes at 423.1 ± 1.3 thousand years (kyr) before present, during a first weak insolation maximum, whereas northern high latitudes remained glaciated (sea level ~ 40 m below present). Some 14.5 ± 2.8 kyr after this early subtropical onset, peak interglacial conditions were reached globally, with sea level 6–13 m above present, despite weak insolation forcing. We attribute this remarkably intense climate response to an exceptionally long (~15 kyr) episode of intense poleward heat flux transport prior to the MIS 11c optimum.

Abstract

International audience

Sustained North Atlantic warming drove anomalously intense MIS 11c interglacial

Description

Abstract

Additional details