Towards understanding the role of atmospheric CO2 changes in the 100 kyr glacial-interglacial cycles

Details Towards understanding the role of atmospheric CO2 changes in the 100 kyr glacial-interglacial cycles Towards understanding the role of atmospheric CO2 changes in the 100 kyr glacial-interglacial cycles

Apr 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003eaeja.....5193p&link_type=abstract

EGS - AGU - EUG Joint Assembly, Abstracts from the meeting held in Nice, France, 6 - 11 April 2003, abstract #5193

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Glacial-interglacial changes represents the most dramatic climatic variability observed during the recent Earth history. The ultimate causes of this cyclicity is related to the Earth orbital variations, but many features of the glacial cycles are poorly understood. Threshold phenomena between multiple climatic states are certainly providing usefull insight in some paradoxes of the Milankovitch theory, in particular the 100 kyr cyclicity. Here, we suggest a physical mechanism which links climate and CO2 glacial-interglacial changes, while explaining many features of glaciations. Indeed, recent results have shown that the glacial deep-ocean bottom waters had an unsuspected large density. This has obviously profound implications on the glacial oceanic circulation and also consequently on glacial-interglacial atmospheric CO2 difference. The role of the Southern Ocean and of the Antarctic ice sheet becomes crucial within this new scheme. In contrast to the classical Milankovitch theory, the Southern Hemisphere can therefore have a fundamental dynamical role in the succession of glacial and interglacial episodes. This new scenario is not only physically consistent, but also explains very well the observed succession and amplitude of glaciations over the last million years. This new mechanism may thus provide the "missing piece" to complete the puzzle of an astronomical theory of Quaternary climates.

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