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Holocene Climate Variability on Centennial-to-Millennial Time Scales: 1. Climate Records from the North-Atlantic Realm

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Climate Development and History of the North Atlantic Realm

Abstract

Holocene oxygen isotope data from the GISP2 ice core reveal temperature oscillations in Greenland with a periodicity of ~900 y, which can be correlated to climate perturbations in northern and central Europe. We suggest that the 900-y climate fluctuations are generated within the climate system, and are probably triggered by negative salinity anomalies in the North Atlantic. A simple template is used to show that two such triggering events centered at ~8.3 and 4.7 ky BP are required to explain temporal evolution of 900-y climate cycles between ~3.5–8.5 ky BP as sequence of damped oscillations. Although pacing of the 900-y cycles by changes in the Earth’s orbit cannot be ruled out, we regard this scenario as unlikely. We show that the existing paleoceanographic evidence for ~1400–1500-y climate oscillations during the Holocene is questionable. Instead we suggest that deep-sea records from the North Atlantic may be reconciled with 900-y climate oscillations during this period.

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Author notes

  1. André Paul

    Present address: Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Postfach 33 04 40, D-28334, Bremen, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kiel, Institute for Geosciences, Universität Kiel, Olshausenstr. 40, D-24118, Kiel, Germany

    Michael Schulz

  2. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, 9500 Gilman Drive, CA, 92093-0244, USA

    André Paul

Authors
  1. Michael Schulz
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  2. André Paul
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fachbereich Geowissenschaften, Universität Bremen, Klagenfurter Straße 2, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Gerold Wefer

  2. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Geological Research Division, University of California, 92093-0215, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Wolfgang H. Berger

  3. Niedersächsisches Institut für historische Küstenforschung, Viktoriastraße 26/28, 26483, Wilhelmshaven, Germany

    Karl-Ernst Behre

  4. University of Bergen, Department of Geology, Allégaten 41, 5007, Bergen, Norway

    Eystein Jansen

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© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Schulz, M., Paul, A. (2002). Holocene Climate Variability on Centennial-to-Millennial Time Scales: 1. Climate Records from the North-Atlantic Realm. In: Wefer, G., Berger, W.H., Behre, KE., Jansen, E. (eds) Climate Development and History of the North Atlantic Realm. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04965-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04965-5_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-07744-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04965-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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