Changes in El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions during the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1) chronozone revealed by New Zealand tree-rings

The warming trend at the end of the last glacial was disrupted by rapid cooling clearly identified in Greenland (Greenland Stadial 1 or GS-1) and Europe (Younger Dryas Stadial or YD). This reversal to glacial-like conditions is one of the best known examples of abrupt change but the exact timing and...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Palmer, J, Turney, C, Cook, E, Fenwick, P, Thomas, Z, Helle, G, Jones, R, Clement, A, Hogg, A, Southon, J, Ramsey, C, Staff, R, Muscheler, R, Corrège, T, Hua, Q
Format: Journal article
Published: Elsevier 2016
_version_ 1797069023240781824
author Palmer, J
Turney, C
Cook, E
Fenwick, P
Thomas, Z
Helle, G
Jones, R
Clement, A
Hogg, A
Southon, J
Ramsey, C
Staff, R
Muscheler, R
Corrège, T
Hua, Q
author_facet Palmer, J
Turney, C
Cook, E
Fenwick, P
Thomas, Z
Helle, G
Jones, R
Clement, A
Hogg, A
Southon, J
Ramsey, C
Staff, R
Muscheler, R
Corrège, T
Hua, Q
author_sort Palmer, J
collection OXFORD
description The warming trend at the end of the last glacial was disrupted by rapid cooling clearly identified in Greenland (Greenland Stadial 1 or GS-1) and Europe (Younger Dryas Stadial or YD). This reversal to glacial-like conditions is one of the best known examples of abrupt change but the exact timing and global spatial extent remains uncertain. Whilst the wider Atlantic region has a network of high-resolution proxy records spanning GS-1, the Pacific Ocean suffers from a scarcity of sub-decadally resolved sequences. Here we report the results from an investigation into a tree-ring chronology from northern New Zealand aimed at addressing the paucity of data. The conifer tree species kauri (Agathis australis) is known from contemporary studies to be sensitive to regional climate changes. An analysis of a ‘historic’ 452-year kauri chronology confirms a tropical-Pacific teleconnection via the El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO). We then focus our study to a 1010-year subfossil kauri chronology that has been precisely dated by comprehensive radiocarbon dating and contains a striking ring-width downturn between ~12,500 to 12,380 cal BP within GS-1. Wavelet analysis shows a marked increase in ENSO-like periodicities occurring after the downturn event. Comparison to low- and mid-latitude Pacific records suggests a coherency in the changes to ENSO and Southern Hemisphere westerly airflow during this period. The drivers for this climate event remain unclear but may be related to solar changes that subsequently led to establishment and/or increased expression of ENSO across the mid-latitudes of the Pacific, seemingly independent of the Atlantic and polar regions.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T22:18:28Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:5436a9bf-fd0c-4cdc-a519-b70071aed15b
institution University of Oxford
last_indexed 2024-03-06T22:18:28Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Elsevier
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:5436a9bf-fd0c-4cdc-a519-b70071aed15b2022-03-26T16:36:30ZChanges in El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions during the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1) chronozone revealed by New Zealand tree-ringsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:5436a9bf-fd0c-4cdc-a519-b70071aed15bSymplectic Elements at OxfordElsevier2016Palmer, JTurney, CCook, EFenwick, PThomas, ZHelle, GJones, RClement, AHogg, ASouthon, JRamsey, CStaff, RMuscheler, RCorrège, THua, QThe warming trend at the end of the last glacial was disrupted by rapid cooling clearly identified in Greenland (Greenland Stadial 1 or GS-1) and Europe (Younger Dryas Stadial or YD). This reversal to glacial-like conditions is one of the best known examples of abrupt change but the exact timing and global spatial extent remains uncertain. Whilst the wider Atlantic region has a network of high-resolution proxy records spanning GS-1, the Pacific Ocean suffers from a scarcity of sub-decadally resolved sequences. Here we report the results from an investigation into a tree-ring chronology from northern New Zealand aimed at addressing the paucity of data. The conifer tree species kauri (Agathis australis) is known from contemporary studies to be sensitive to regional climate changes. An analysis of a ‘historic’ 452-year kauri chronology confirms a tropical-Pacific teleconnection via the El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO). We then focus our study to a 1010-year subfossil kauri chronology that has been precisely dated by comprehensive radiocarbon dating and contains a striking ring-width downturn between ~12,500 to 12,380 cal BP within GS-1. Wavelet analysis shows a marked increase in ENSO-like periodicities occurring after the downturn event. Comparison to low- and mid-latitude Pacific records suggests a coherency in the changes to ENSO and Southern Hemisphere westerly airflow during this period. The drivers for this climate event remain unclear but may be related to solar changes that subsequently led to establishment and/or increased expression of ENSO across the mid-latitudes of the Pacific, seemingly independent of the Atlantic and polar regions.
spellingShingle Palmer, J
Turney, C
Cook, E
Fenwick, P
Thomas, Z
Helle, G
Jones, R
Clement, A
Hogg, A
Southon, J
Ramsey, C
Staff, R
Muscheler, R
Corrège, T
Hua, Q
Changes in El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions during the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1) chronozone revealed by New Zealand tree-rings
title Changes in El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions during the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1) chronozone revealed by New Zealand tree-rings
title_full Changes in El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions during the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1) chronozone revealed by New Zealand tree-rings
title_fullStr Changes in El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions during the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1) chronozone revealed by New Zealand tree-rings
title_full_unstemmed Changes in El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions during the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1) chronozone revealed by New Zealand tree-rings
title_short Changes in El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions during the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1) chronozone revealed by New Zealand tree-rings
title_sort changes in el nino southern oscillation enso conditions during the greenland stadial 1 gs 1 chronozone revealed by new zealand tree rings
work_keys_str_mv AT palmerj changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT turneyc changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT cooke changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT fenwickp changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT thomasz changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT helleg changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT jonesr changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT clementa changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT hogga changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT southonj changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT ramseyc changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT staffr changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT muschelerr changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT correget changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings
AT huaq changesinelninosouthernoscillationensoconditionsduringthegreenlandstadial1gs1chronozonerevealedbynewzealandtreerings