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Glacial greenhouse-gas fluctuations controlled by ocean circulation changes

Author

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  • Andreas Schmittner

    (College of Oceanic & Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA)

  • Eric D. Galbraith

    (Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA)

Abstract

Atlantic oscillations Abrupt changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation have often been invoked to explain the physical characteristics of Dansgaard–Oeschger climate oscillations, a series of rapid climate fluctuations that punctuated the last glacial period. Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles are associated with fluctuations of the greenhouse gases CO2 and N2O, recorded in Antarctic and Greenland ice cores. This greenhouse gas variability has been variously attributed to a multiplicity of marine physical processes, biological processes and changes within the terrestrial biosphere. Andreas Schmittner and Eric Galbraith present simulations with a coupled model of glacial climate and biogeochemical cycles that suggest a rather simpler scenario. They find that changes in the distributions of nutrients and dissolved oxygen in the global ocean, resulting from changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, have the potential to explain most of the observed millennial-scale variability.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Schmittner & Eric D. Galbraith, 2008. "Glacial greenhouse-gas fluctuations controlled by ocean circulation changes," Nature, Nature, vol. 456(7220), pages 373-376, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:456:y:2008:i:7220:d:10.1038_nature07531
    DOI: 10.1038/nature07531
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