"Synchronization of North Pacific and Greenland climates preceded abrupt deglacial warming," by S.K. Praetorius & A.C. Mix, Science 345 (2014); doi: 10.1126/science.1252000

Science, 345(6195) (25 July 2014) 444-448; doi: 10.1126/science.1252000

Synchronization of North Pacific and Greenland climates preceded abrupt deglacial warming  

Summer K. Praetorius* and Alan C. Mix

College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, U.S.A.

Abstract

Some proposed mechanisms for transmission of major climate change events between the North Pacific and North Atlantic predict opposing patterns of variations; others suggest synchronization. Resolving this conflict has implications for regulation of poleward heat transport and global climate change. New multidecadal-resolution foraminiferal oxygen isotope records from the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) reveal sudden shifts between intervals of synchroneity and asynchroneity with the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) δ¹⁸O record over the past 18,000 years. Synchronization of these regions occurred 15,500 to 11,000 years ago, just prior to and throughout the most abrupt climate transitions of the last 20,000 years, suggesting that dynamic coupling of North Pacific and North Atlantic climates may lead to critical transitions in Earth’s climate system.

*Correspondence: spraetor@coas.oregonstate.edu

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/345/6195/444.abstract