Publication Abstracts

Roberts et al. 2009

Roberts, C.D., A.N. LeGrande, and A.K. Tripati, 2009: Climate sensitivity to Arctic seaway restriction during the early Paleogene. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 286, 576-585, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.07.026.

The opening and closing of ocean gateways affects the global distribution of heat, salt, and moisture, potentially driving climatic change on regional to global scales. Between 65 and 45 million years ago (Ma), during the early Paleogene, exchange between the Arctic and global oceans occurred through two narrow and shallow seaways, the Greenland-Norway seaway and the Turgai Strait. Sediments from the Arctic Ocean suggest that, during this interval, the surface ocean was warm, brackish, and episodically enabled the freshwater fern Azolla to bloom. The precise mechanisms responsible for the development of these conditions in the Paleogene Arctic remain uncertain. Here we show results from an isotope-enabled, atmosphere-ocean general circulation model, which indicate that Northern Hemisphere climate would have been very sensitive to the degree of oceanic exchange through the Arctic seaways. We also present modelled estimates of seawater and calcite δ18O for the Paleogene. By restricting these seaways, we simulate freshening of the surface Arctic Ocean to ∼ 6 psu and warming of sea-surface temperatures by 2°C in the North Atlantic and 5-10°C in the Labrador Sea. Our results may help explain the occurrence of low-salinity tolerant taxa in the Arctic Ocean during the Eocene and provide a mechanism for enhanced warmth in the north western Atlantic. We propose that the formation of a volcanic land-bridge between Greenland and Europe could have caused increased ocean convection and warming of intermediate waters in the Atlantic. If true, this result is consistent with the theory that bathymetry changes may have caused thermal destabilisation of methane clathrates and supports a tectonic trigger hypothesis for the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM).

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BibTeX Citation

@article{ro00010g,
  author={Roberts, C. D. and LeGrande, A. N. and Tripati, A. K.},
  title={Climate sensitivity to Arctic seaway restriction during the early Paleogene},
  year={2009},
  journal={Earth and Planetary Science Letters},
  volume={286},
  pages={576--585},
  doi={10.1016/j.epsl.2009.07.026},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - ro00010g
AU  - Roberts, C. D.
AU  - LeGrande, A. N.
AU  - Tripati, A. K.
PY  - 2009
TI  - Climate sensitivity to Arctic seaway restriction during the early Paleogene
JA  - Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.
JO  - Earth and Planetary Science Letters
VL  - 286
SP  - 576
EP  - 585
DO  - 10.1016/j.epsl.2009.07.026
ER  -

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