North Atlantic Ice‐Rafting, Ocean and Atmospheric Circulation During the Holocene: Insights From Western Mediterranean Speleothems

Author

Y. Ait Brahim
J. A. Wassenburg
L. Sha
F. W. Cruz

Files

Publication Date

2019

Volume Number

46

Issue Number

13

Abstract

In this study, we present a Holocene rainfall index based on three high-resolution speleothem records from the Western Mediterranean, a region under the influence of the westerly winds belt modulated by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). On centennial to millennial timescales, we show that the North Atlantic ice-rafting events were likely associated with negative NAO-like conditions during the Early Holocene and the Late Holocene. However, our data reveal that this is not clearly the case for the mid-Holocene ice-rafting events, during which we also show evidence of positive NAO-like patterns from other paleo-oceanographic and paleo-atmospheric data. Hence, contradictory mechanisms involving prolonged periods of both north and south shifts of the westerly winds belt (resembling positive and negative NAO-like patterns) might at least partially trigger or amplify the ice-rafting events and the slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.

Document Type

Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082405

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Brahim, Y. Ait; Wassenburg, J. A.; Sha, L.; and Cruz, F. W., "North Atlantic Ice‐Rafting, Ocean and Atmospheric Circulation During the Holocene: Insights From Western Mediterranean Speleothems" (2019). KIP Articles. 7214.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/7214