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Article
Article Type:
Research Article

The Role of Oceanic Heat Transport and Wind Stress Forcing in Abrupt Millennial-Scale Climate Transitions

Olivier Arzel Climate Change Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

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Alain Colin de Verdière Laboratoire de Physique des Océans, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France

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Matthew H. England Climate Change Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

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Print Publication:
01 May 2010
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JCLI3227.1
Page(s):
2233–2256
Restricted access

Abstract

The last glacial period was punctuated by rapid climate shifts, known as Dansgaard–Oeschger events, with strong imprint in the North Atlantic sector suggesting that they were linked with the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Here an idealized single-hemisphere three-dimensional ocean–atmosphere–sea ice coupled model is used to explore the possible origin of the instability driving these abrupt events and to provide a plausible explanation for the relative stability of the Holocene. Focusing on the physics of noise-free millennial oscillations under steady external (solar) forcing, it was shown that cold climates become unstable, that is, exhibit abrupt millennial-scale transitions, for significantly lower freshwater fluxes than warm climates, in agreement with previous studies making use of zonally averaged coupled models. This fundamental difference is a direct consequence of the weaker stratification of the glacial ocean, mainly caused by upper-ocean cooling. Using a two-hemisphere configuration of a coupled climate model of intermediate complexity, it is shown that this result is robust to the added presence of a bottom water mass of southern origin. The analysis reveals that under particular conditions, a pronounced interdecadal variability develops during warm interstadials. While the nature of the instability driving the millennial oscillations is identical to that found in ocean models under mixed boundary conditions, these interstadial–interdecadal oscillations share the same characteristics as those previously found in ocean models forced by fixed surface fluxes. The wind stress forcing is shown to profoundly affect both the properties and bifurcation structure of thermohaline millennial oscillations across a wide range of variation of freshwater forcing. In particular, it is shown that the wind stress forcing favors the maintenance of thermally direct meridional overturning circulations during the cold stadial phases of Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles.

Corresponding author address: Olivier Arzel, Climate Change Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Sydney, Australia. Email: o.arzel@unsw.edu.au

Abstract

The last glacial period was punctuated by rapid climate shifts, known as Dansgaard–Oeschger events, with strong imprint in the North Atlantic sector suggesting that they were linked with the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Here an idealized single-hemisphere three-dimensional ocean–atmosphere–sea ice coupled model is used to explore the possible origin of the instability driving these abrupt events and to provide a plausible explanation for the relative stability of the Holocene. Focusing on the physics of noise-free millennial oscillations under steady external (solar) forcing, it was shown that cold climates become unstable, that is, exhibit abrupt millennial-scale transitions, for significantly lower freshwater fluxes than warm climates, in agreement with previous studies making use of zonally averaged coupled models. This fundamental difference is a direct consequence of the weaker stratification of the glacial ocean, mainly caused by upper-ocean cooling. Using a two-hemisphere configuration of a coupled climate model of intermediate complexity, it is shown that this result is robust to the added presence of a bottom water mass of southern origin. The analysis reveals that under particular conditions, a pronounced interdecadal variability develops during warm interstadials. While the nature of the instability driving the millennial oscillations is identical to that found in ocean models under mixed boundary conditions, these interstadial–interdecadal oscillations share the same characteristics as those previously found in ocean models forced by fixed surface fluxes. The wind stress forcing is shown to profoundly affect both the properties and bifurcation structure of thermohaline millennial oscillations across a wide range of variation of freshwater forcing. In particular, it is shown that the wind stress forcing favors the maintenance of thermally direct meridional overturning circulations during the cold stadial phases of Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles.

Corresponding author address: Olivier Arzel, Climate Change Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Sydney, Australia. Email: o.arzel@unsw.edu.au

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