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Content archived on 2024-04-30

Variability of the glacial and interglacial climates and abrupt climatic changes

Objective


To document the variability of the glacial and interglacial climates and determine the major mechanisms responsible for this variability.


Precise 14C AMS dating, isotopic, geochemical, sedimentological, sediment magnetism and micropaleontological
data will be generated in a series of deep North Atlantic sediment cores. This data set will provide a detailed
reconstruction of the oceanic record of major examples of abrupt climatic changes, typical of the variability of
the glacial and interglacial climates.
The glacial examples to be investigated are two of the massive iceberg discharges, leading to major perturbations
in the oceanic salt budget, which occurred during the last glaciation. Another case to be investigated is the
succession of climatic events which occurred during the last interglacial. This study will address the issue of
the stability of interglacial climates and the impact of the early cooling of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea (that
weree recently discovered) on the oceanic and atmospheric circulation.
To interpret the obtained reconstructions, several numerical experiments will be performed using 3-D general
circulation models of the atmosphere and the ocean, run first in a forced mode and then fully coupled. These
experiments, together with those performed with simpler models, should allow a better understanding of the
feedbacks internal to the climate system (including the behaviour of the ocean and the CO2 cycle) and which
are responsible for rapid transition from one climatic state to another. In addition, transient experiments will
be conducted with 2-D coupled models of the climate system, helping to identify the role and potential
importance of specific physical processes and components of the climate system for climatic changes.
The data generated within the project will constitute a unique data base providing detailed reconstructions of
temperature, salinity, and circulation of the North Atlantic Ocean and model simulations of the climate system
during the last interglaciation and during the glaciation (before, during and after the iceberg discharge). As they
may be used later by other scientists involved in paleoclimate reconstruction or modelling, they will be deposited
in several European and international data bases open to public.

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Funding Scheme

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CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinator

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
EU contribution
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Address
Avenue de la Terrasse
91198 Gif-sur-Yvette
France

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Total cost

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Participants (7)

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