Routing of meltwater from the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the Younger Dryas cold episode

Broecker, Wallace S.; Kennett, James P.; Flower, B. P.; Teller, James T.; Trumbore, S.E.; Bonani, Georges; Wölfli, W.

doi:10.1038/341318a0

Cited by 559 publications

(351 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…4b). Broecker et al (1989) proposed a significant reduction in flow down the Mississippi River during the YD to explain this lack of a meltwater signal in Orca Basin sediment core records. Although a redirection of meltwater flow away from the Gulf of Mexico could explain these data, we note that the Orca Basin is located 300 km southwest of the modern Mississippi River Delta, and modern salinity over the Orca Basin is insensitive to riverine outflow.…”

Section: Materials and Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Oxygen isotope analyses of marine sedimentary records proximal to LIS meltwater outflow offer the most direct evidence of the isotopic evolution of the LIS, and help to constrain the location and timing of routing of meltwater (e.g., Aharon, 2003Aharon, , 2006Broecker et al, 1989;Carlson, 2009;Carlson et al, 2007;Flower et al, 2004;Hill et al, 2006;Hoffman et al, 2012;Keigwin et al, 1991;Williams et al, 2012). However, mixing models of meltwater contributions to the ocean typically assume a constant d 18 O w value for the LIS (À25 or À35‰; Aharon, 2006;Carlson, 2009;Carlson et al, 2007;Hill et al, 2006;Obbink et al, 2010), and do not attempt to incorporate the complex spatial heterogeneity in d 18 O w observed in modern continental ice sheets (Masson-Delmotte et al, 2008;Vinther et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Oxygen isotope geochemistry of Laurentide ice-sheet meltwater across Termination I

Vetter

Spero

Eggins

et al. 2017

Quaternary Science Reviews

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a b s t r a c tWe present a new method that quantifies the oxygen isotope geochemistry of Laurentide ice-sheet (LIS) meltwater across the last deglaciation, and reconstruct decadal-scale variations in the d 18 O of LIS meltwater entering the Gulf of Mexico between~18 and 11 ka. We employ a technique that combines laser ablation ICP-MS (LA-ICP-MS) and oxygen isotope analyses on individual shells of the planktic values of Mississippi River discharge from discrete core intervals range from À22‰ to À38‰ VSMOW. These values suggest a dynamic melting history of different parts of the LIS, with potential contributions to Mississippi River outflow from both the low-elevation, southern margin of the LIS and high-elevation, high-latitude domes in the LIS interior that were transported to the ablation zone. Prior to~15.5 ka, the d 18 O water value of the Mississippi River was similar to that of regional precipitation or low-latitude LIS meltwater, but the Ba concentration in the Mississippi basin was affected by changes in weathering within the watershed, complicating Ba-salinity relationships in the Gulf of Mexico. After 13 ka, our data suggest Mississippi River outflow did not influence surface salinity above our Gulf of Mexico Orca Basin core site. Rather, we hypothesize that open ocean conditions prevailed as sea level rose and the paleoshoreline at the southern edge of North America retreated northward.

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Section: Materials and Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxygen isotope geochemistry of Laurentide ice-sheet meltwater across Termination I

Vetter

Spero

Eggins

et al. 2017

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…Rooth 1982;Broecker et al, 1989), palaeoceanographers have been searching marine sediment records for evidence of freshwater discharge events that might complement terrestrial records (Section 2.5). Their detection is, however, complicated by several factors, most notably marine sediment processes, the proximity of core sites to ice sheet margins (and their associated glacial lakes), and the proxies used to infer hydrologic changes (mainly in salinity and temperature) (de Vernal and Hillaire-Marcel 2006).…”

Section: Detection Of Glacial Lake Outburst Events In Near-shore Marimentioning

confidence: 99%

On the reconstruction of palaeo-ice sheets: Recent advances and future challenges

Stokes

Tarasov

Blomdin

et al. 2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…[4] Earlier work emphasized the routing of continental runoff over floods as a cause of abrupt climate change [Rooth, 1982;Broecker et al, 1989;Teller, 1990]. More recent work, however, has emphasized the role of floods in triggering abrupt climate change Clarke et al, 2003;Teller and Leverington, 2004;Teller et al, 2005;Donnelly et al, 2005;Lowell et al, 2005;LeGrande et al, 2006].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of floods versus routing events on the thermohaline circulation

Meißner

Clark

2006

Geophysical Research Letters

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[1] The last deglaciation was interrupted by three major cooling events, the Younger Dryas, the Preboreal Oscillation and the 8.2-ka cold event. As the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated, different outlets from Lake Agassiz became available causing the proglacial lake to drain to a new level in a rather short timescale (flood) and divert continental runoff over hundreds of years (routing). Here we use an Earth System Model to investigate the impact of floods (short term, high amplitude) versus routing events (long term, low amplitude) on the thermohaline circulation and the resulting climate change. We show that the initial outbursts of freshwater are not strong enough to influence large-scale climate and can therefore not be the cause of millennial-scale climate variability. However, routing events have the potential of weakening the thermohaline circulation and therefore causing a cool event in the Northern Hemisphere.

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Routing of meltwater from the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the Younger Dryas cold episode

Cited by 559 publications

References 15 publications

Oxygen isotope geochemistry of Laurentide ice-sheet meltwater across Termination I

Oxygen isotope geochemistry of Laurentide ice-sheet meltwater across Termination I

On the reconstruction of palaeo-ice sheets: Recent advances and future challenges

Impact of floods versus routing events on the thermohaline circulation

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