A new mechanism for Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles

S. V. Petersen, D. P. Schrag, Peter U Clark

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

    52 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We present a new hypothesis to explain the millennial-scale temperature variability recorded in ice cores known as Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) cycles. We propose that an ice shelf acted in concert with sea ice to set the slow and fast timescales of the DO cycle, respectively. The abrupt warming at the onset of a cycle is caused by the rapid retreat of sea ice after the collapse of an ice shelf. The gradual cooling during the subsequent interstadial phase is determined by the timescale of ice-shelf regrowth. Once the ice shelf reaches a critical size, sea ice expands, driving the climate rapidly back into stadial conditions. The stadial phase ends when warm subsurface waters penetrate beneath the ice shelf and cause it to collapse. This hypothesis explains the full shape of the DO cycle, the duration of the different phases, and the transitions between them and is supported by proxy records in the North Atlantic and Nordic Seas.
    LanguageEnglish
    JournalPaleoceanography
    Volume28
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2013

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    Dansgaard-Oeschger cycle
    ice shelf
    sea ice
    timescale
    interstadial
    regrowth
    ice core
    warming
    cooling
    climate

    Cite this

    Petersen, S. V. ; Schrag, D. P. ; Clark, Peter U. / A new mechanism for Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles. In: Paleoceanography. 2013 ; Vol. 28, No. 1.
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    abstract = "We present a new hypothesis to explain the millennial-scale temperature variability recorded in ice cores known as Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) cycles. We propose that an ice shelf acted in concert with sea ice to set the slow and fast timescales of the DO cycle, respectively. The abrupt warming at the onset of a cycle is caused by the rapid retreat of sea ice after the collapse of an ice shelf. The gradual cooling during the subsequent interstadial phase is determined by the timescale of ice-shelf regrowth. Once the ice shelf reaches a critical size, sea ice expands, driving the climate rapidly back into stadial conditions. The stadial phase ends when warm subsurface waters penetrate beneath the ice shelf and cause it to collapse. This hypothesis explains the full shape of the DO cycle, the duration of the different phases, and the transitions between them and is supported by proxy records in the North Atlantic and Nordic Seas.",
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    Petersen, SV, Schrag, DP & Clark, PU 2013, 'A new mechanism for Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles', Paleoceanography, vol. 28, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.1029/2012PA002364

    A new mechanism for Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles. / Petersen, S. V.; Schrag, D. P.; Clark, Peter U.

    In: Paleoceanography, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2013.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

    TY - JOUR

    T1 - A new mechanism for Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles

    AU - Petersen, S. V.

    AU - Schrag, D. P.

    AU - Clark, Peter U

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    N2 - We present a new hypothesis to explain the millennial-scale temperature variability recorded in ice cores known as Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) cycles. We propose that an ice shelf acted in concert with sea ice to set the slow and fast timescales of the DO cycle, respectively. The abrupt warming at the onset of a cycle is caused by the rapid retreat of sea ice after the collapse of an ice shelf. The gradual cooling during the subsequent interstadial phase is determined by the timescale of ice-shelf regrowth. Once the ice shelf reaches a critical size, sea ice expands, driving the climate rapidly back into stadial conditions. The stadial phase ends when warm subsurface waters penetrate beneath the ice shelf and cause it to collapse. This hypothesis explains the full shape of the DO cycle, the duration of the different phases, and the transitions between them and is supported by proxy records in the North Atlantic and Nordic Seas.

    AB - We present a new hypothesis to explain the millennial-scale temperature variability recorded in ice cores known as Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) cycles. We propose that an ice shelf acted in concert with sea ice to set the slow and fast timescales of the DO cycle, respectively. The abrupt warming at the onset of a cycle is caused by the rapid retreat of sea ice after the collapse of an ice shelf. The gradual cooling during the subsequent interstadial phase is determined by the timescale of ice-shelf regrowth. Once the ice shelf reaches a critical size, sea ice expands, driving the climate rapidly back into stadial conditions. The stadial phase ends when warm subsurface waters penetrate beneath the ice shelf and cause it to collapse. This hypothesis explains the full shape of the DO cycle, the duration of the different phases, and the transitions between them and is supported by proxy records in the North Atlantic and Nordic Seas.

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    DO - 10.1029/2012PA002364

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    Petersen SV, Schrag DP, Clark PU. A new mechanism for Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles. Paleoceanography. 2013;28(1). https://doi.org/10.1029/2012PA002364

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