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Evolution of Staircase Structures in Diffusive Convection
Published on: September 5, 2018
Synchroneity of tropical and high-latitude Atlantic temperatures over the last glacial termination
David W Lea1, Dorothy K Pak, Larry C Peterson
1Department of Geological Sciences and Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA. lea@geol.ucsb.edu
Abstract:
A high-resolution western tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) record from the Cariaco Basin on the northern Venezuelan shelf, based on Mg/Ca values in surface-dwelling planktonic foraminifera, reveals that changes in SST over the last glacial termination are synchronous, within +/-30 to +/-90 years, with the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 air temperature proxy record and atmospheric methane record. The most prominent deglacial event in the Cariaco record occurred during the Younger Dryas time interval, when SSTs dropped by 3 degrees to 4 degrees C. A rapid southward shift in the atmospheric intertropical convergence zone could account for the synchroneity of tropical temperature, atmospheric methane, and high-latitude changes during the Younger Dryas.
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