We have compiled 37 ice, marine and terrestrial palaeoclimate records covering the last 800 000 years in order to assess the pattern of glacial and interglacial strength, and termination amplitude. Records were selected based on their length, completeness and resolution, and their age models were updated, where required, by alignment to the LR04 benthic δ¹⁸O stack. The resulting compilation allows comparison of individual glacial to interglacial transitions with confidence, but the level of synchronisation is inadequate for discussion of temporal phasing. The comparison of interglacials and glacials concentrates on the peaks immediately before and after terminations; particularly strong and weak glacials and interglacials have been identified. This confirms that strong interglacials are confined to the last 450 ka, and that this is a globally robust pattern; however weak interglacials (i.e. marine isotope stage 7) can still occur in this later period. Strong glacial periods are also concentrated in the recent half of the records, although marine isotope stage 16 is strong in many δ¹⁸O records. Strong interglacials, particularly in the marine isotopic records, tend to follow strong glacials, suggesting that we should not expect interglacial strength to be strongly influenced by the instantaneous astronomical forcing. Many interglacials have a complex structure, with multiple peaks and troughs whose origin needs to be understood. However this compilation emphasises the under-representation of terrestrial environments and highlights the need for long palaeoclimate records from these areas. The main result of this work is the compiled datasets and maps of interglacial strength which provide a target for modelling studies and for conceptual understanding

We have compiled 37 ice, marine and terrestrial palaeoclimate records covering the last 800 000 years in order to assess the pattern of glacial and interglacial strength, and termination amplitude. Records were selected based on their length, completeness and resolution, and their age models were updated, where required, by alignment to the LR04 benthic δ¹⁸O stack. The resulting compilation allows comparison of individual glacial to interglacial transitions with confidence, but the level of synchronisation is inadequate for discussion of temporal phasing. The comparison of interglacials and glacials concentrates on the peaks immediately before and after terminations; particularly strong and weak glacials and interglacials have been identified. This confirms that strong interglacials are confined to the last 450 ka, and that this is a globally robust pattern; however weak interglacials (i.e. marine isotope stage 7) can still occur in this later period. Strong glacial periods are also concentrated in the recent half of the records, although marine isotope stage 16 is strong in many δ¹⁸O records. Strong glacials show some tendency to be followed by strong interglacials, suggesting that we should not expect interglacial strength to be strongly influenced by the instantaneous orbital forcing. Many interglacials have a complex structure, with multiple peaks and troughs whose origin needs to be understood. However this compilation emphasises the under-representation of terrestrial environments and highlights the need for long palaeoclimate records from these areas. The main result of this work is the compiled datasets and maps of interglacial strength which provide a target for modelling studies and for conceptual understanding

Abstract. Ice core evidence indicates that even though atmospheric CO 2 concentrations did not exceed ∼300 ppm at any point during the last 800 000 years, East Antarctica was at least ∼3-4 • C warmer than preindustrial (CO 2 ∼280 ppm) in each of the last four interglacials. During the previous three interglacials, this anomalous warming was short lived (∼3000 years) and apparently occurred before the completion of Northern Hemisphere deglaciation. Hereafter, we refer to these periods as "Warmer than Present Transients" (WPTs). We present a series of experiments to investigate the impact of deglacial meltwater on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and Antarctic temperature. It is well known that a slowed AMOC would increase southern sea surface temperature (SST) through the bipolar seesaw and observational data suggests that the AMOC remained weak throughout the terminations preceding WPTs, strengthening rapidly at a time which coincides closely with peak Antarctic temperature. We present two 800 kyr transient simulations using the Intermediate Complexity model GENIE-1 which demonstrate that meltwater forcing generates transient southern warming that is consistent with the timing of WPTs, but is not sufficient (in this single parameterisation) to reproduce the magnitude of observed warmth. In order to investigate model and boundary condition uncertainty, we present three ensembles of transient GENIE-1 simulations across

[1] Recent developments in ice melter systems and continuous flow analysis (CFA) techniques now allow higher-resolution ice core analysis. Here, we present a new method to aid interpretation of high-resolution ice core stable water isotope records. Using a set of simple isotopic recording and postdepositional assumptions, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts' 40 year reanalysis time series of temperature and precipitation are converted to "virtual core" depth series across the Antarctic Peninsula, helping us to understand what information can be gleaned from the CFA high-resolution observations. Virtual core temperatures are transferred onto time using three different depth-age transfer assumptions: (1) a perfect depth-age model, (2) a depth-age model constructed from single or dual annual photochemical tie points, and (3) a cross-dated depth-age model. Comparing the sampled temperatures on the various depth-age models with the original time series allows quantification of the effect of ice core sample resolution and dating. We show that accurate annual layer count depth-age models should allow some subseasonal temperature anomalies to be recovered using a sample resolution of around 40 mm, or 10-20 samples per year. Seasonal temperature anomalies may be recovered using sample lengths closer to 60 mm, or about 7-14 samples per year. These results tend to confirm the value of current CFA ice core sampling strategies and indicate that it should be possible to recover about a third of subannual (but not synoptic) temperature anomaly information from annually "layer-counted" peninsula ice cores.

Abstract. Ice core evidence indicates that even though atmospheric CO2 concentrations did not exceed ~300 ppm at any point during the last 800 000 years, East Antarctica was at least ~3–4 °C warmer than pre-industrial (CO2 ~280 ppm) in each of the last four interglacials. During the previous three interglacials, this anomalous warming was short lived (~3 000 years) and apparently occurred before the completion of Northern Hemisphere deglaciation. Hereafter, we refer to these periods as "Warmer than Present Transients" (WPTs). We here present transient 800 kyr simulations using the intermediate complexity model GENIE-1 which suggest that WPTs could be explained as a consequence of the meltwater-forced slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) during glacial terminations. It is well known that a slowed AMOC would increase southern Sea Surface Temperature (SST) through the bipolar seesaw. Observational data supports this hypothesis, suggesting that the AMOC remained weak throughout the terminations preceding WPTs, strengthening rapidly at a time which coincides closely with peak Antarctic temperature. In order to investigate model and boundary condition uncertainty, we additionally present three ensembles of transient GENIE-1 simulations across Termination II (135 000 to 124 000 BP) and three snapshot HadCM3 simulations at 130 000 Before Present (BP). These simulations together reproduce both the timing and magnitude of WPTs, and point to the potential importance of an albedo feedback associated with West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) retreat.