IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v12y2021i1d10.1038_s41467-021-26658-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gateway-driven weakening of ocean gyres leads to Southern Ocean cooling

Author

Listed:
  • Isabel Sauermilch

    (University of Tasmania
    Utrecht University)

  • Joanne M. Whittaker

    (University of Tasmania)

  • Andreas Klocker

    (University of Tasmania
    University of Tasmania)

  • David R. Munday

    (British Antarctic Survey)

  • Katharina Hochmuth

    (Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research
    University of Leicester)

  • Peter K. Bijl

    (Utrecht University)

  • Joseph H. LaCasce

    (University of Oslo)

Abstract

Declining atmospheric CO2 concentrations are considered the primary driver for the Cenozoic Greenhouse-Icehouse transition, ~34 million years ago. A role for tectonically opening Southern Ocean gateways, initiating the onset of a thermally isolating Antarctic Circumpolar Current, has been disputed as ocean models have not reproduced expected heat transport to the Antarctic coast. Here we use high-resolution ocean simulations with detailed paleobathymetry to demonstrate that tectonics did play a fundamental role in reorganising Southern Ocean circulation patterns and heat transport, consistent with available proxy data. When at least one gateway (Tasmanian or Drake) is shallow (300 m), gyres transport warm waters towards Antarctica. When the second gateway subsides below 300 m, these gyres weaken and cause a dramatic cooling (average of 2–4 °C, up to 5 °C) of Antarctic surface waters whilst the ACC remains weak. Our results demonstrate that tectonic changes are crucial for Southern Ocean climate change and should be carefully considered in constraining long-term climate sensitivity to CO2.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabel Sauermilch & Joanne M. Whittaker & Andreas Klocker & David R. Munday & Katharina Hochmuth & Peter K. Bijl & Joseph H. LaCasce, 2021. "Gateway-driven weakening of ocean gyres leads to Southern Ocean cooling," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-26658-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26658-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26658-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-021-26658-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. A. Goldner & N. Herold & M. Huber, 2014. "Antarctic glaciation caused ocean circulation changes at the Eocene–Oligocene transition," Nature, Nature, vol. 511(7511), pages 574-577, July.
    2. Robert M. DeConto & David Pollard, 2003. "Rapid Cenozoic glaciation of Antarctica induced by declining atmospheric CO2," Nature, Nature, vol. 421(6920), pages 245-249, January.
    3. Paul N. Pearson & Gavin L. Foster & Bridget S. Wade, 2009. "Atmospheric carbon dioxide through the Eocene–Oligocene climate transition," Nature, Nature, vol. 461(7267), pages 1110-1113, October.
    4. David K. Hutchinson & Helen K. Coxall & Matt OʹRegan & Johan Nilsson & Rodrigo Caballero & Agatha M. de Boer, 2019. "Arctic closure as a trigger for Atlantic overturning at the Eocene-Oligocene Transition," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Eleni Anagnostou & Eleanor H. John & Kirsty M. Edgar & Gavin L. Foster & Andy Ridgwell & Gordon N. Inglis & Richard D. Pancost & Daniel J. Lunt & Paul N. Pearson, 2016. "Changing atmospheric CO2 concentration was the primary driver of early Cenozoic climate," Nature, Nature, vol. 533(7603), pages 380-384, May.
    6. Howie D. Scher & Joanne M. Whittaker & Simon E. Williams & Jennifer C. Latimer & Wendy E. C. Kordesch & Margaret L. Delaney, 2015. "Onset of Antarctic Circumpolar Current 30 million years ago as Tasmanian Gateway aligned with westerlies," Nature, Nature, vol. 523(7562), pages 580-583, July.
    7. Margot J. Cramwinckel & Matthew Huber & Ilja J. Kocken & Claudia Agnini & Peter K. Bijl & Steven M. Bohaty & Joost Frieling & Aaron Goldner & Frederik J. Hilgen & Elizabeth L. Kip & Francien Peterse &, 2018. "Synchronous tropical and polar temperature evolution in the Eocene," Nature, Nature, vol. 559(7714), pages 382-386, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Katharina Hochmuth & Joanne M. Whittaker & Isabel Sauermilch & Andreas Klocker & Karsten Gohl & Joseph H. LaCasce, 2022. "Southern Ocean biogenic blooms freezing-in Oligocene colder climates," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Stewart S. R. Jamieson & Neil Ross & Guy J. G. Paxman & Fiona J. Clubb & Duncan A. Young & Shuai Yan & Jamin Greenbaum & Donald D. Blankenship & Martin J. Siegert, 2023. "An ancient river landscape preserved beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Adriana Dutkiewicz & Slah Boulila & R. Dietmar Müller, 2024. "Deep-sea hiatus record reveals orbital pacing by 2.4 Myr eccentricity grand cycles," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katharina Hochmuth & Joanne M. Whittaker & Isabel Sauermilch & Andreas Klocker & Karsten Gohl & Joseph H. LaCasce, 2022. "Southern Ocean biogenic blooms freezing-in Oligocene colder climates," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Marcelo A. De Lira Mota & Tom Dunkley Jones & Nursufiah Sulaiman & Kirsty M. Edgar & Tatsuhiko Yamaguchi & Melanie J. Leng & Markus Adloff & Sarah E. Greene & Richard Norris & Bridget Warren & Grace D, 2023. "Multi-proxy evidence for sea level fall at the onset of the Eocene-Oligocene transition," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Zhengquan Yao & Xuefa Shi & Zhengtang Guo & Xinzhou Li & B. Nagender Nath & Christian Betzler & Hui Zhang & Sebastian Lindhorst & Pavan Miriyala, 2023. "Weakening of the South Asian summer monsoon linked to interhemispheric ice-sheet growth since 12 Ma," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Katherine A. Crichton & Jamie D. Wilson & Andy Ridgwell & Flavia Boscolo-Galazzo & Eleanor H. John & Bridget S. Wade & Paul N. Pearson, 2023. "What the geological past can tell us about the future of the ocean’s twilight zone," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    5. Campbell, Daniel E., 2016. "Emergy baseline for the Earth: A historical review of the science and a new calculation," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 339(C), pages 96-125.
    6. Iestyn D. Barr & Matteo Spagnolo & Brice R. Rea & Robert G. Bingham & Rachel P. Oien & Kathryn Adamson & Jeremy C. Ely & Donal J. Mullan & Ramón Pellitero & Matt D. Tomkins, 2022. "60 million years of glaciation in the Transantarctic Mountains," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-7, December.
    7. Kaushal Gianchandani & Sagi Maor & Ori Adam & Alexander Farnsworth & Hezi Gildor & Daniel J. Lunt & Nathan Paldor, 2023. "Effects of paleogeographic changes and CO2 variability on northern mid-latitudinal temperature gradients in the Cretaceous," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-7, December.
    8. Xiaojie Fan & Yongchao Lu & Jingyu Zhang & Shiqiang Wu & Liang Zhang & Xiaojuan Du & Qinyu Cui & Hao Wang, 2022. "Lithofacies Characteristics, Depositional Environment and Sequence Stratigraphic Framework in the Saline Lacustrine Basin-A Case Study of the Eocene Low Member of Xingouzui Formation, Jianghan Basin, ," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-17, August.
    9. Xiaoqing Liu & Matthew Huber & Gavin L. Foster & Andrew Dessler & Yi Ge Zhang, 2022. "Persistent high latitude amplification of the Pacific Ocean over the past 10 million years," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-26658-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.