Abrupt change of Antarctic moisture origin at the end of Termination II

Abrupt change of Antarctic moisture origin at the end of Termination II [1]

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The deuterium excess of polar ice cores documents past changes in evaporation conditions and moisture origin. New data obtained from the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome C East Antarctic ice core provide new insights on the sequence of events involved in Termination II, the transition between the penultimate glacial and interglacial periods. This termination is marked by a north–south seesaw behavior, with first a slow methane concentration rise associated with a strong Antarctic temperature warming and a slow deuterium excess rise. This first step is followed by an abrupt north Atlantic warming, an abrupt resumption of the East Asian summer monsoon, a sharp methane rise, and a CO2 overshoot, which coincide within dating uncertainties with the end of Antarctic optimum. Here, we show that this second phase is marked by a very sharp Dome C centennial deuterium excess rise, revealing abrupt reorganization of atmospheric circulation in the southern Indian Ocean sector.

Publication Date:

06/07/2010

Author(s): V. Masson-Delmotte [2], B. Stenni [3], T. Blunier & et al [4]

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [5]

Vol:

107

Issue:

pp:

12091

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