Skip to main content
Log in

Paleoclimatic variability at frequencies ranging from 1 cycle per 10 000 years to 1 cycle per 1000 years: Evidence for nonlinear behaviour of the climate system

  • Published:
Climatic Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The paleoclimatic variability at frequencies ranging from 10−4 cycle per year (cpy) to 10−3 cpy is investigated using a set of three deep-sea cores from the Indian Ocean. Three frequency bands of high paleoclimatic variability are first defined using upper and lower limits of the significant spectral power concentrations: the bands are centered around the spectral maxima located at 10.3, 4.7, and 2.5 kyr. The localisation of spectral lines is then refined by high-resolution spectral analysis.

Some of the resulting lines have frequencies which are close to those previously detected in other paleoclimatic records, including the precessional peak at 19 kyr. Additional lines are also in good correspondence with the response of a nonlinear climatic oscillator forced by insolation variations, including peaks at 13 kyr, 10.4 kyr and 9.4 kyr. This correspondence suggests orbital forcing. Moreover for the Indian Ocean which is influenced by the monsoon circulation, it is plausible that the precessional contribution of the forcing interact strongly with the precipitation-temperature feedback used in the model, thus emphasizing the nonlinearity of the response.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Benoist, J. P., Glangeaud, F., Martin, N., Lacoume, J. L., Lorius, C., and Ait Oulahman: 1982, ‘Study of Climatic Series by Time-Frequency Analysis’, in Proceedings of the ICASSP82, IEEE Press, New York, pp. 1902–1905.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, A.: 1977, ‘Support for the Astronomical Theory of Climatic Change’, Nature 269, 44–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, A.: 1978, ‘Long-Term Variations of Daily Insolation and Quaternary Climatic Changes’, J. Atmos. Sci. 35, 2362–2367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, A. and Pestiaux, P.: 1984, ‘Accuracy and Stability of the Quaternary Terrestrial Insolation’, in A. Berger, J. Imbrie, J. Hays, G. Kukla, B. Saltzman (eds.), Milankovitch and Climate, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland, pp. 83–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, W. and Heath, G. R.: 1968, ‘Vertical Mixing in Pelagic Sediments’, J. Mar. Research 26, 135–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya, K., Ghil, M., and Vulis, I. L.: 1982, ‘Internal Variability of an Energy-Balance Model with Delayed Albedo Effects’, J. Atmos. Sci. 390, 1747–1773.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackman, R. B. and Tukey, J. W.: 1958, The Measurement of Power Spectra from the Point of View of Communications Engineering, Dover, New-York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broecker, W. S., Gerard, R., Ewing, M., and Heezen, B. C.: 1960, ‘Natural Radiocarbon in the Atlantic Ocean’, J. Geophys. Research 65, 2903–2931.

    Google Scholar 

  • CLIMAP: 1976, ‘The Surface of the Ice-Age Earth’, Science 191, 1131–1137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalfes, H. N., Schneider, S. H., and Thompson, S. L.: 1984, ‘Effects of Bioturbation on Climatic Spectra Inferred from Deep Sea Cores’, in A. Berger, J. Imbrie, J. Hays, G. Kukla, B. Saltzman (eds.), Milankovitch and Climate, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland, pp. 481–492.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dansgaard, W., Johnsen, S. J., Clausen, H. B., Dahl-Jensen, D., Gundestrup, N., Hammer, C. H., and Oescheger, H.: 1984, ‘North Atlantic Oscillations Revealed by Deep Greenland Ice Cores, Monogr. 29, 288–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denton, G. and Karlen, W.: 1973, ‘Holocene Climatic Variations - Their Pattern and Possible Cause’, Quaternary Research 3, 155–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duplessy, J. C.: 1978, ‘Isotope Studies’, in J. Gribbin (ed.), Climatic Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 46–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duplessy, J. C., Moyes, J., and Pujol, C.: 1980, ‘Deep Water Formation in the North Atlantic Ocean During the Last Ice Age’, Nature 286, 479–482.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duplessy, J. C., Blanc, P. L., and Be, A. W. H.: 1981, ‘Oxygen-18 Enrichment of Planktonic Foraminifera due to Gametonic Calcification Below the Euphoric Zone’, Science 213, 1247–1250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duplessy, J. C.: 1982, ‘Glacial to Interglacial Contrast in the Northern Indian Ocean’, Nature 295, 494–498.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duplessy, J. C.: 1983, Oxygen and Carbon Isotopes in Benthic Foraminifera: Deep Water Circulation Changes During the Last Interglacial and the Effect of Temperature on the Oxygen Isotope Record, IAMAP Symposium ACGP-1 I.U.G.G. XVIII General Assembly-Hamburg.

  • Duplessy, J. C., Arnold, M., Maurice, P., Bard, E., Duprat, J., and Moyes, J.: 1986, ‘Direct Dating of the Oxygen-Isotope Record of the Last Deglaciation by 14C Accelerator Mass Spectrometry’, Nature 320, 350–352.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghil, M.: 1985, ‘Theoretical Climate Dynamics: An Introduction’, in M. Ghil, R. Benzi and G. Parisi (eds.), Turbulence and Predictability in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics and Climate Dynamics, North-Holland, Amsterdam, New York, pp. 347–402.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghil, M. and Le Treut, H.: 1981, ‘A Climate Model with Cryodynamics and Geodynamics’, J. Geophys. Res. 86, 5262–5270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goreau, T. J.: 1980, ‘Frequency Sensitivity of the Deep-Sea Climatic Record’, Nature 287, 620–622.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guinasso, J. N. L. and Schink, D. R.: 1975, ‘Quantitative Estimates of Biological Mixing Rates of Abyssal Sediments’, J. Geophys. Res. 80, 3032–3043.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hannan, E. J.: 1958, Time Series Analysis, John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hays, J. D., Imbrie, J., and Shackleton, N. J.: 1976, ‘Variations in the Earth's Orbit: Pacemaker of the Ice Ages’, Science 194, 1121–1132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hecht, A. D.: 1973, ‘A Model for Determining Pleistocene Paleotemperatures from Planktonic Foraminiferal Assemblages’, Micropaleontology 19, 68–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helmholtz, H. L. F.: 1885, On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music, 2nd English ed. (1885) reprinted Dover, New-York, 1954.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imbrie, J. and Kipp, N. G.: 1971, ‘A New Micropaleontological Method for Quantitative Paleoclimatology: Application to a Late Pleistocene Caribbean Core’, in K. K. Turekian, (ed.), The Late Cenozoic Glacial Ages, Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, pp. 71–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imbrie, J., Hays, J. D., Martinson, D. G., McIntyre, A., Mix, A. C., Morley, J. J., Pisias, N. G., Prell, W. L., and Shackleton, N. J.: 1984, ‘The Orbital Theory of Pleistocene Climate: Support from a Revised Chronology of the Marine 18O Record’, in A. Berger, J. Imbrie, J. Hays, G. Kukla, and B. Saltzmann (eds.), Milankovitch and Climate, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland, pp. 269–305.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, G. M.: 1969, ‘General Considerations in the Analysis of Spectra’, Technometrics 3, 133–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Källen, E., Crafoord, C., and Ghil, M.: 1979, ‘Free Oscillations in a Climate Model with Ice-Sheet Dynamics’, J. Atmos. Sci. 36, 2292–2303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinchin, A. Y.: 1964, Continued Fractions, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koksma, J. F.: 1936, Diophantische Approximationen, Verlag, Berlin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ku, T. L., Bischoff, J. L., and Boersma, A.: 1972, ‘Age Studies of Mid-Atlantic Ridge Sediments near 42° N and 20° N’, Deep-Sea Research 19, 233–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kukla, G.: 1978, ‘The Classical European Glacial Stages: Correlation with Deep-Sea Sediments’, Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences 6, 57–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutzbach, J. E.: 1981, ‘Monsoon Climate of the Early Holocene: Climatic Experiment Using the Earth's Orbital Parameters for 9000 yrs ago’, Science 214, 59–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Labeyrie, L. D., Pichon, J. J., Labracherie, M., Ippolito, P., Duprat, J., and Duplessy, J. Cl.: 1986, ‘Melting History of Antarctica During the Past 60 000 yrs.’ Nature 322, 701–706.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Treut, H. and Ghil, M.: 1983, ‘Orbital Forcing, Climatic Interactions and Glaciation Cycles’, J. Geophys. Res. 88, 5167–5190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Treut, H., Portès, J., Jouzel, J., and Ghil, M.: 1986, ‘Isotopic Modeling of Climatic Oscillations: Implications for Ice-Core Chronology’, J. Geophys. Res. (to be submitted).

  • Lorius, C., Jouzel, J., Ritz, C., Merlivat, L., Barkov, N. I., Korotkevitsch, Y. S., and Kotlyakov, V. M.: 1985, ‘A 150 000-year Climatic Record from Antarctic Ice’, Nature 316, 591–596.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marple, L.: 1980, ‘A New Autoregressive Spectrum Analysis Algorithm’, IEEE Trans. on ASSP 28, 441–454.

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre, A., Ruddiman, W. F., and Jantzen, R.: 1972, ‘Southward Penetrations of the North Atlantic Polar Front: Faunal and Floral Evidence of Large-Scale Surface Water Mass Movements over the Last 225 000 yrs’, Deep-Sea Research 19, 61–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minorsky, N.: 1962, Nonlinear Oscillations. D. van Nostrand Inc., Princeton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Molfino, B., Heusser, L. H., and Woillard, G. M.: 1984, ‘Frequency Components of a Grande Pile Pollen Record: Evidence of Precessional Orbital Forcing’, in A. Berger, J. Imbrie, J. Hays, G. Kukla, and B. Saltzman (eds.), Milankovitch and Climate, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland, pp. 391–404.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morley, J. M. and Hays, J. D.: 1981, ‘Towards a High Resolution, Global, Deep-Sea Chronology for the Last 750 000 yrs’. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 53, 279–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicolis, C.: 1984, ‘A Plausible Model for the Synchroneity or the Phase Shift Between Climatic Transitions’, Geophys. Res. Let., 11, No. 6, 587–590.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parzen, E.: 1961, ‘Mathematical Considerations in the Estimation of Spectra’, Technometrics 3, 167–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pestiaux, P.: 1982, The Basic Geological Chronology, Scientific Report 1982/1, Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pestiaux, P. and Berger, A.: 1984a, ‘Impacts of Deep-Sea Processes on Paleoclimatic Spectra’, in A. Berger, J. Imbrie, J. Hays, G. Kukla, and B. Saltzman (eds.), Milankovitch and Climate, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland, pp. 493–510.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pestiaux, P. and Berger, A.: 1984b, ‘An Optimal Approach to the Spectral Characteristics of Deep-Sea Climatic Records’, in A. Berger, J. Imbrie, J. Hays, G. Kukla, and B. Saltzman (eds.), Milankovitch and Climate, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland, pp. 417–445.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pisias, N. G., Dauphin, J. P., and Sancetta, C.: 1973, ‘Spectral Analysis of Late Pleistocene-Holocene Sediments’, Quaternary Research 3, 3–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Písías, N. G. and Moore, J. T. C.: 1981, ‘The Evolution of Pleistocene Climate: A Time Series Approach’, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 52, 450–458.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pisias, N. G.: 1983, ‘Geologic Time Series from Deep-Sea Sediments: Time Scales and Distortion by Bioturbation’, Marine Geology 51, 99–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prell, W. L., Hutson, W. H., Williams, D. F., Bé, A. W. H., Geitzenauer, K., and Molfino, B.: 1980, ‘Surface Circulation of the Indian Ocean During the Last Glacial Maximum, Approximately 18 000 yr B.P.’, Quaternary Research 14, 309–336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royer, J. F., Deque, M., and Pestiaux, P.: 1983, ‘Orbital Forcing of the Inception of the Laurentide Ice Sheet?’ Nature 304, 43–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sancetta, C., Imbrie, J., and Kipp, N. G.: 1973, ‘Climatic Record of the Past 130 000 yrs in North Atlantic Deep-Sea Core V23–82: Correlation with Terrestrial Record’, Quaternary Research 3, 110–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schnitker, D.: 1982, ‘Climatic Variability and Deep Ocean Circulation: Evidence from the North Atlantic’. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 40, 213–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Campo, E., Duplessy, J. C., and Rossignol-Strick, M.: 1982, ‘Climatic Conditions Deduced from a 150 kyr Oxygen Isotope - Pollen Record from the Arabian Sea, Nature 296, 56–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wirtky: 1973, ‘Physical Oceanography of the Indian Ocean’, in B. Zeitschel (ed.), The Biology of the Indian Ocean, Springer, New York, pp. 18–36.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pestiaux, P., Van Der Mersch, I., Berger, A. et al. Paleoclimatic variability at frequencies ranging from 1 cycle per 10 000 years to 1 cycle per 1000 years: Evidence for nonlinear behaviour of the climate system. Climatic Change 12, 9–37 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00140262

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00140262

Keywords

Navigation