North Atlantic variability and its links to European climate over the last 3000 years

Moffa-Sánchez, Paola and Hall, Ian R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6960-1419 2017. North Atlantic variability and its links to European climate over the last 3000 years. Nature Communications 8 , 1726. 10.1038/s41467-017-01884-8

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The subpolar North Atlantic is a key location for the Earth’s climate system. In the Labrador Sea, intense winter air–sea heat exchange drives the formation of deep waters and the surface circulation of warm waters around the subpolar gyre. This process therefore has the ability to modulate the oceanic northward heat transport. Recent studies reveal decadal variability in the formation of Labrador Sea Water. Yet, crucially, its longer-term history and links with European climate remain limited. Here we present new decadally resolved marine proxy reconstructions, which suggest weakened Labrador Sea Water formation and gyre strength with similar timing to the centennial cold periods recorded in terrestrial climate archives and historical records over the last 3000 years. These new data support that subpolar North Atlantic circulation changes, likely forced by increased southward flow of Arctic waters, contributed to modulating the climate of Europe with important societal impacts as revealed in European history.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Additional Information:	This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license
Publisher:	Nature Research
ISSN:	2041-1723
Funders:	NERC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	29 November 2017
Date of Acceptance:	23 October 2017
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 02:16
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/107127

Citation Data

Cited 38 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item