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Science 9 June 2006:
Vol. 312. no. 5779, pp. 1510 - 1513
DOI: 10.1126/science.1122872
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Reports

Near-Synchronous Interhemispheric Termination of the Last Glacial Maximum in Mid-Latitudes

Joerg M. Schaefer,1* George H. Denton,2 David J. A. Barrell,3 Susan Ivy-Ochs,4,5 Peter W. Kubik,6 Bjorn G. Andersen,7 Fred M. Phillips,8 Thomas V. Lowell,9 Christian Schlüchter10

Isotopic records from polar ice cores imply globally asynchronous warming at the end of the last glaciation. However, 10Be exposure dates show that large-scale retreat of mid-latitude Last Glacial Maximum glaciers commenced at about the same time in both hemispheres. The timing of retreat is consistent with the onset of temperature and atmospheric CO2 increases in Antarctic ice cores. We suggest that a global trend of rising summer temperatures at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum was obscured in North Atlantic regions by hypercold winters associated with unusually extensive winter sea ice.

1 Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO), Palisades, NY 10964, USA.
2 Department of Earth Sciences and Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA.
3 GNS Science, Dunedin, New Zealand.
4 Institute of Particle Physics, Eidgenössiche Technische Hochschule (ETH) Hoenggerberg, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
5 Geographisches Institut, Universität Zürich-Irchel, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
6 Paul Scherrer Institute, c/o Institute of Particle Physics, ETH-Hoenggerberg, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
7 University of Oslo, 0316 Oslo, Norway.
8 New Mexico Tech, Soccorro, NM 87801, USA.
9 University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA.
10 UniversitätBern, Geologisches Institut, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: schaefer{at}ldeo.columbia.edu

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