Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 27 February 1998:
Vol. 279. no. 5355, pp. 1335 - 1338
DOI: 10.1126/science.279.5355.1335
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Abrupt Climate Events 500,000 to 340,000 Years Ago: Evidence from Subpolar North Atlantic Sediments

D. W. Oppo, J. F. McManus, J. L. Cullen

Subpolar North Atlantic proxy records document millennial-scale climate variations 500,000 to 340,000 years ago. The cycles have an approximately constant pacing that is similar to that documented for the last glacial cycle. These findings suggest that such climate variations are inherent to the late Pleistocene, regardless of glacial state. Sea surface temperature during the warm peak of Marine Isotope Stage 11 (MIS 11) varied by 0.5° to 1°C, less than the 4° to 4.5°C estimated during times of ice growth and the 3°C estimated for glacial maxima. Coherent deep ocean circulation changes were associated with glacial oscillations in sea surface temperature.

D. W. Oppo and J. F. McManus, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
J. L. Cullen, Department of Geological Sciences, Salem State College, Salem, MA 01970, USA.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Sea-level reversal during Termination II.
M. Siddall, E. Bard, E. J. Rohling, and C. Hemleben (2006)
Geology 34, 817-820
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Stable Carbon Cycle-Climate Relationship During the Late Pleistocene.
U. Siegenthaler, T. F. Stocker, E. Monnin, D. Luthi, J. Schwander, B. Stauffer, D. Raynaud, J.-M. Barnola, H. Fischer, V. Masson-Delmotte, et al. (2005)
Science 310, 1313-1317
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Atmospheric Methane and Nitrous Oxide of the Late Pleistocene from Antarctic Ice Cores.
R. Spahni, J. Chappellaz, T. F. Stocker, L. Loulergue, G. Hausammann, K. Kawamura, J. Fluckiger, J. Schwander, D. Raynaud, V. Masson-Delmotte, et al. (2005)
Science 310, 1317-1321
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Interplay between tectonics and glacio-eustasy: Pleistocene succession of the Crotone basin, Calabria (southern Italy).
F. Massari, D. Rio, M. Sgavetti, G. Prosser, A. D'Alessandro, A. Asioli, L. Capraro, E. Fornaciari, and F. Tateo (2002)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 114, 1183-1209
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Are observed changes in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere really dangerous?.
C. R. de Freitas (2002)
Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology 50, 297-327
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Widespread evidence of 1500 yr climate variability in North America during the past 14 000 yr.
A. E. Viau, K. Gajewski, P. Fines, D. E. Atkinson, and M. C. Sawada (2002)
Geology 30, 455-458
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Millennial-scale changes in North Atlantic Deep Water circulation during marine isotope stages 11 and 12: Linkage to Antarctic climate.
M.S. Poli, R.C. Thunell, and D. Rio (2000)
Geology 28, 807-810
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Middle Pleistocene sea-surface temperature change in the southwest Pacific Ocean on orbital and suborbital time scales.
A. L. King and W. R. Howard (2000)
Geology 28, 659-662
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sudden climate transitions during the Quaternary.
J. Adams, M. Maslin, and E. Thomas (1999)
Progress in Physical Geography 23, 1-36
   Abstract »    PDF »
A 0.5-Million-Year Record of Millennial-Scale Climate Variability in the North Atlantic.
J. F. McManus, D. W. Oppo, and J. L. Cullen (1999)
Science 283, 971-975
   Abstract »    Full Text »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)