Publication Date:
2022-10-26
Description:
© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Gu, S., Liu, Z., Oppo, D. W., Lynch-Stieglitz, J., Jahn, A., Zhang, J., & Wu, L. Assessing the potential capability of reconstructing glacial Atlantic water masses and AMOC using multiple proxies in CESM. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 541, (2020): 11629, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116294.
Description:
Reconstructing the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is essential for understanding glacial-interglacial climate change and the carbon cycle. However, despite many previous studies, uncertainties remain regarding the glacial water mass distributions in the Atlantic and the AMOC intensity. Here we use an isotope enabled ocean model with multiple geotracers (δ 13 C,E Νd,231 Pa/ 230Th,δ 18 Ο and Δ 14 C) and idealized water tracers to study the potential constraints on LGM ocean circulation from multiple proxies. Our model suggests that the glacial Atlantic water mass distribution can be accurately constrained by the air-sea gas exchange signature of water masses (δ13 C AS), but E Nd might overestimate the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) percentage in the deep Atlantic probably because of the boundary source of Nd. A sensitivity experiment with an AMOC of similar geometry but much weaker strength suggests that the correct AMOC geometry is more important than the AMOC strength for simulating the observed glacial δ13 C AS and E Nd and distributions. The kinematic tracer 231Pa/230Th is sensitive to AMOC intensity, but the interpretation might be complicated by the AMOC geometry and AABW transport changes during the LGM. δ 18 Ο in the benthic foraminifera (δ 18 Οc) from the Florida Straits provides a consistent measure of the upper ocean boundary current in the model, which potentially provides an unambiguous method to reconstruct glacial AMOC intensity. Finally, we propose that the moderate difference between AMOC intensity at LGM and PD, if any, is caused by the competition of the responses to CO2 forcing and continental ice sheet forcing.
Description:
We thank two anonymous reviewers for their useful and constructive comments. We also thank Editor Dr Laura F. Robinson for handling the manuscript. This work is supported by National Science Foundation of China No. 41630527, US National Science Foundation (NSF) P2C2 projects (1401778, 1401802, and 1566432). We would like to acknowledge the high-performance computing support from Yellowstone (ark:/85065/d7wd3xhc) and Cheyenne (doi:10.5065/D6RX99HX) provided by NCAR's Computational and Information Systems Laboratory, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and from Center for High Performance Computing and System Simulation, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao). Data used to produce the results in this study can be obtained from HPSS at CISL: /home/sgu28/CTRACE_decadal or by contacting the authors.
Keywords:
Last Glacial Maximum
;
AMOC
;
Water mass
;
Multi-proxy
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
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