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Evidence of 550-year and 1000-year cyclicities in North Atlantic circulation patterns during the Holocene

Godwin Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3SA, UK; School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

Nicholas J. Shackleton

Godwin Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3SA, UK

Sedimentological colour data obtained from North Atlantic deep-sea sediment core NEAP15K pro vide a continuous climate record for the last 11500 yr with a mean sampling interval of <15 yr. Variations in sediment lightness, a proxy for changes in North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) circulation, are characterized by high-frequency fluctuations with periodicities equivalent to 550 and 1000 yr, as well as a <1600-yr cyclicity comparable to that reported in other studies of Holocene climate. Cross-spectral analysis suggests that the 550-yr and 1000-yr cyclical variations in NADW circulation were coherent with fluctuations in atmospheric con ditions over Greenland, where both these periodicities have been identified previously in the Holocene GISP2 d¹⁸O record (Stuiver et al., 1995). A similar statistical comparison provides evidence that high-frequency (550-yr) variability in NADW circulation patterns may have been linked to short-term variations in atmospheric ¹⁴C values during the Holocene. In general, NADW production was lower and 14C levels were higher when colder climatic conditions prevailed. These results imply that the pattern of NADW production has been a significant factor affecting centennial-to millennial-scale Holocene climate variability in the North Atlantic region.

Key Words: North Atlantic • thermohaline circulation • Holocene • climate variability • palaeoceanography

The Holocene, Vol. 10, No. 3, 287-291 (2000)
DOI: 10.1191/095968300671253196


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