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Southern Hemisphere westerlies as a driver of the early deglacial atmospheric CO2 rise

Author

Listed:
  • L. Menviel

    (University of New South Wales
    Macquarie University)

  • P. Spence

    (University of New South Wales)

  • J. Yu

    (The Australian National University)

  • M. A. Chamberlain

    (CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere)

  • R. J. Matear

    (CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere)

  • K. J. Meissner

    (University of New South Wales)

  • M. H. England

    (University of New South Wales)

Abstract

The early part of the last deglaciation is characterised by a ~40 ppm atmospheric CO2 rise occurring in two abrupt phases. The underlying mechanisms driving these increases remain a subject of intense debate. Here, we successfully reproduce changes in CO2, δ13C and Δ14C as recorded by paleo-records during Heinrich stadial 1 (HS1). We show that HS1 CO2 increase can be explained by enhanced Southern Ocean upwelling of carbon-rich Pacific deep and intermediate waters, resulting from intensified Southern Ocean convection and Southern Hemisphere (SH) westerlies. While enhanced Antarctic Bottom Water formation leads to a millennial CO2 outgassing, intensified SH westerlies induce a multi-decadal atmospheric CO2 rise. A strengthening of SH westerlies in a global eddy-permitting ocean model further supports a multi-decadal CO2 outgassing from the Southern Ocean. Our results highlight the crucial role of SH westerlies in the global climate and carbon cycle system with important implications for future climate projections.

Suggested Citation

  • L. Menviel & P. Spence & J. Yu & M. A. Chamberlain & R. J. Matear & K. J. Meissner & M. H. England, 2018. "Southern Hemisphere westerlies as a driver of the early deglacial atmospheric CO2 rise," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-04876-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04876-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Gagan Mandal & Jia-Yuh Yu & Shih-Yu Lee, 2022. "The Roles of Orbital and Meltwater Climate Forcings on the Southern Ocean Dynamics during the Last Deglaciation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-17, March.
    2. Yuhao Dai & Jimin Yu & Haojia Ren & Xuan Ji, 2022. "Deglacial Subantarctic CO2 outgassing driven by a weakened solubility pump," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Gagan Mandal & Shih-Yu Lee & Jia-Yuh Yu, 2021. "The Roles of Wind and Sea Ice in Driving the Deglacial Change in the Southern Ocean Upwelling: A Modeling Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, January.
    4. Shinya Iwasaki & Lester Lembke-Jene & Kana Nagashima & Helge W. Arz & Naomi Harada & Katsunori Kimoto & Frank Lamy, 2022. "Evidence for late-glacial oceanic carbon redistribution and discharge from the Pacific Southern Ocean," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Zhengquan Yao & Xuefa Shi & Qiuzhen Yin & Samuel Jaccard & Yanguang Liu & Zhengtang Guo & Sergey A. Gorbarenko & Kunshan Wang & Tianyu Chen & Zhipeng Wu & Qingyun Nan & Jianjun Zou & Hongmin Wang & Ji, 2024. "Ice sheet and precession controlled subarctic Pacific productivity and upwelling over the last 550,000 years," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.

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