EGU2020-20325
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20325
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

A dynamic giant: changes in North Pacific circulation, biogeochemistry, and CO2 over the last ice age

James Rae1, William Gray2, Louisa Bradtmiller3, Andrea Burke1, Holger Gebhardt4, Michael Sarnthein5, and David Thornalley6
James Rae et al.
  • 1Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland (jwbr@st-andrews.ac.uk)
  • 2Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE/IPSL), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
  • 3Department of Environmental Studies, Macalester College, Saint Paul, USA
  • 4Department of Palaeontology & Stratigraphy, Geological Survey of Austria, Vienna, Austria
  • 5Institut für Geowissenschaften, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
  • 6Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK

The North Pacific has been thought of as a sleeping giant in Earth’s climate system.  Despite being a major reservoir of heat, nutrients, and carbon, the lack of deep water formation in this region today limits the exchange of these properties.  Here, using a variety of new and published sediment core data, alongside Earth system modeling, we provide evidence that the North Pacific giant is in fact a dynamic player in Earth’s climate system, with active PMOC during the LGM and deep water formation during HS1.  We also demonstrate a persistent Atlantic-Pacific seesaw in deep water formation during rapid climate change events, and discuss the impact of these changes on regional climate and global CO2.

How to cite: Rae, J., Gray, W., Bradtmiller, L., Burke, A., Gebhardt, H., Sarnthein, M., and Thornalley, D.: A dynamic giant: changes in North Pacific circulation, biogeochemistry, and CO2 over the last ice age , EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-20325, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20325, 2020