Moist and warm conditions in Eurasia during the last glacial of the Middle Pleistocene Transition
Abstract The end of the Middle Pleistocene Transition (MPT, ~ 800-670 thousand years before present, ka) was characterised by the emergence of large glacial ice-sheets associated with anomalously warm North Atlantic sea surface temperatures enhancing moisture production. Still, the direction and int...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38337-4 |
| _version_ | 1797827450869121024 |
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| author | María Fernanda Sánchez Goñi Thomas Extier Josué M. Polanco-Martínez Coralie Zorzi Teresa Rodrigues André Bahr |
| author_facet | María Fernanda Sánchez Goñi Thomas Extier Josué M. Polanco-Martínez Coralie Zorzi Teresa Rodrigues André Bahr |
| author_sort | María Fernanda Sánchez Goñi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The end of the Middle Pleistocene Transition (MPT, ~ 800-670 thousand years before present, ka) was characterised by the emergence of large glacial ice-sheets associated with anomalously warm North Atlantic sea surface temperatures enhancing moisture production. Still, the direction and intensity of moisture transport across Eurasia towards potential ice-sheets is poorly constrained. To reconstruct late MPT moisture production and dispersal, we combine records of upper ocean temperature and pollen-based Mediterranean forest cover, a tracer of westerlies and precipitation, from a subtropical drill-core collected off South-West Iberia, with records of East Asia summer monsoon (EASM) strength and West Pacific surface temperatures, and model simulations. Here we show that south-western European winter precipitation and EASM strength reached high levels during the Marine Isotope Stage 18 glacial. This anomalous situation was caused by nearly-continuous moisture supply from both oceans and its transport to higher latitudes through the westerlies, likely fuelling the accelerated expansion of northern hemisphere ice-sheets during the late MPT. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T12:48:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8be3c7f81d264e05b661f26b6062d0d3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T12:48:31Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-8be3c7f81d264e05b661f26b6062d0d32023-05-14T11:22:16ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232023-05-0114111010.1038/s41467-023-38337-4Moist and warm conditions in Eurasia during the last glacial of the Middle Pleistocene TransitionMaría Fernanda Sánchez Goñi0Thomas Extier1Josué M. Polanco-Martínez2Coralie Zorzi3Teresa Rodrigues4André Bahr5Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE, PSL University)Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Bordeaux INP, EPOC, UMR 5805Unit of Excellence GECOS, IME, University of SalamancaUniv. Bordeaux, CNRS, Bordeaux INP, EPOC, UMR 5805Divisão de Geologia e Georecursos Marinhos, Instituto Português do Mar e da AtmosferaInstitute of Earth Sciences, Heidelberg UniversityAbstract The end of the Middle Pleistocene Transition (MPT, ~ 800-670 thousand years before present, ka) was characterised by the emergence of large glacial ice-sheets associated with anomalously warm North Atlantic sea surface temperatures enhancing moisture production. Still, the direction and intensity of moisture transport across Eurasia towards potential ice-sheets is poorly constrained. To reconstruct late MPT moisture production and dispersal, we combine records of upper ocean temperature and pollen-based Mediterranean forest cover, a tracer of westerlies and precipitation, from a subtropical drill-core collected off South-West Iberia, with records of East Asia summer monsoon (EASM) strength and West Pacific surface temperatures, and model simulations. Here we show that south-western European winter precipitation and EASM strength reached high levels during the Marine Isotope Stage 18 glacial. This anomalous situation was caused by nearly-continuous moisture supply from both oceans and its transport to higher latitudes through the westerlies, likely fuelling the accelerated expansion of northern hemisphere ice-sheets during the late MPT.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38337-4 |
| spellingShingle | María Fernanda Sánchez Goñi Thomas Extier Josué M. Polanco-Martínez Coralie Zorzi Teresa Rodrigues André Bahr Moist and warm conditions in Eurasia during the last glacial of the Middle Pleistocene Transition Nature Communications |
| title | Moist and warm conditions in Eurasia during the last glacial of the Middle Pleistocene Transition |
| title_full | Moist and warm conditions in Eurasia during the last glacial of the Middle Pleistocene Transition |
| title_fullStr | Moist and warm conditions in Eurasia during the last glacial of the Middle Pleistocene Transition |
| title_full_unstemmed | Moist and warm conditions in Eurasia during the last glacial of the Middle Pleistocene Transition |
| title_short | Moist and warm conditions in Eurasia during the last glacial of the Middle Pleistocene Transition |
| title_sort | moist and warm conditions in eurasia during the last glacial of the middle pleistocene transition |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38337-4 |
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