Fall 2020: Climate Dynamics of the Last Deglaciation : 12.708: Advanced Seminar in Paleoceanography : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

This fall we will discuss ocean and atmospheric circulation changes since the Last Glacial Period (~21,000 yrs ago to present) and associated impacts on global climate. We will take a broad perspective covering the Atlantic, Indo-Pacific, and Southern Oceans, and investigate how both sediment/coral proxies and ocean/climate models can provide insight into the climate dynamics of this period. We will begin the course at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and work our way forward towards the Holocene, touching on several key climatic intervals such as Heinrich Event 1, the Bolling-Allerod warming, and Younger Dryas cooling, along the way. If time allows, we will take a look at the climate of the Common Era, and in particular the Little Ice Age.

Course Structure

Each week, we will read and discuss 1-2 papers in a small group setting. One student will present the assigned paper(s) and direct the discussion, but all students are expected to actively participate. Before class, students will submit 2-4 questions to the presenter to facilitate a productive discussion that will be accessible regardless of the variable background of each student in the course. Twice a semester there are "Float Weeks", for which the students may select to revisit a topic from a previous week or to explore a new topic altogether (within the purview of the course theme). There will also be two brief writing assignments.

Evaluation

(i) 30%, participation in class. Students are expected to ask questions and contribute thoughts and opinions. Complexity of these contributions is unimportant; students should feel comfortable asking clarification or background questions on topics with which they may be less familiar. Because class size is typically small, class participation is an important component of learning in this course. Any absences must be discussed with the instructors.

(ii) 40%, quality of the oral presentations. Presentations will require more in-depth exploration of the week's topic than just the required reading. The student should include general background information to explain the context behind the paper, a brief description of the approach taken in the paper, the findings of the paper, and the broader implications of these findings. Along the way the presentation may answer or pose some of the other students' questions submitted before class. Note: while many figures in the papers are likely to be relevant to the discussion, the inclusion of all figures is not required, and the figures do not need to be shown in their publication order. Feedback on presentation slides will be given by the instructors before class.

(iii) 30%, writing. A short writing assignment (1-2 pages) will be assigned at the mid-term and at the end of the semester. The objectives of these writing assignments are to synthesize the previous weeks' discussion within the context of the overall course theme and to evaluate how scientific questions and approaches evolve over time.

Reading assignments, namely published journal articles, will be distributed online before each class.

No textbook is required. However, some students may find additional paleoceanographic/paleoclimatological background material beneficial for their understanding of certain weekly readings. Relevant textbooks are included below, and they may be accessed through the MIT and/or WHOI-MBL library systems, at the students' discretion.

Hillaire-Marcel, C., & De Vernal, A. Proxies in Late Cenozic Paleoceanography. Elsevier Science Ltd, 2007
Vallis G., Climate and the Oceans, Princeton Primers in Climate, Princeton University Press, 2012
Bender M., Paleoclimate, Princeton Primers in Climate, Princeton University Press, 2013
Bradley R., Paleoclimatology – Reconstructing Climates of the Quaternary, 3^rd edition, Academic Press, 2015

Instructors

Some of the topics we will cover

September 8, 2:30-4:00 pm (remote learning)

Muglia, J. and Schmittner, A., 2015. Glacial Atlantic overturning increased by wind stress in climate models, Geophysical Research Letters

Howe, J.N., Piotrowski, A.M., Noble, T.L., Mulitza, S., Chiessi, C.M. and Bayon, G., 2016. North Atlantic deep water production during the Last Glacial Maximum. Nature communications

Otto‐Bliesner, B.L., Hewitt, C.D., Marchitto, T.M., Brady, E., Abe‐Ouchi, A., Crucifix, M., Murakami, S. and Weber, S.L., 2007. Last Glacial Maximum ocean thermohaline circulation: PMIP2 model intercomparisons and data constraints. Geophysical Research Letters

Masa Kageyama et al. The PMIP4-CMIP6 Last Glacial Maximum experiments: preliminary results and comparison with the PMIP3-CMIP5 simulations, Climate of the Past (in-review)

Lynch-Stieglitz J, Adkins JF, Curry WB, Dokken T, Hall IR, Herguera JC, Hirschi JJ, Ivanova EV, Kissel C, Marchal O, Marchitto TM. 2007, Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the Last Glacial Maximum. Science

McManus, J.F., Francois, R., Gherardi, J.M., Keigwin, L.D. and Brown-Leger, S., 2004. Collapse and rapid resumption of Atlantic meridional circulation linked to deglacial climate changes. Nature

Sept 15th, 2:30-4pm (remote learning)

Marzocchi, A. and Jansen, M.F., 2017. Connecting Antarctic sea ice to deep‐ocean circulation in modern and glacial climate simulations. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(12), pp.6286-6295. PDF

Skinner, L.C., Primeau, F., Freeman, E., De La Fuente, M., Goodwin, P.A., Gottschalk, J., Huang, E., McCave, I.N., Noble, T.L. and Scrivner, A.E., 2017. Radiocarbon constraints on the glacial ocean circulation and its impact on atmospheric CO2, Nat. Commun., 8, 16010. PDF

Nadeau, L., R. Ferrari, and M. F. Jansen, 2019: Antarctic Sea Ice Control on the Depth of North Atlantic Deep Water. J. Climate, 32, 2537–2551, PDF

Matsumoto, K., 2007. Radiocarbon‐based circulation age of the world oceans. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 112(C9). PDF

Sept 22nd, 2:30-4pm (remote learning)

Barker, S., Chen, J., Gong, X., Jonkers, L., Knorr, G. and Thornalley, D., 2015. Icebergs not the trigger for North Atlantic cold events. Nature, 520(7547), pp.333-336. PDF

Bassis, J.N., Petersen, S.V. and Mac Cathles, L., 2017. Heinrich events triggered by ocean forcing and modulated by isostatic adjustment. Nature, 542(7641), pp.332-334. PDF

Paillard, D. and Labeyriet, L., 1994. Role of the thermohaline circulation in the abrupt warming after Heinrich events. Nature, 372(6502), pp.162-164. PDF

Hemming, S.R., 2004. Heinrich events: Massive late Pleistocene detritus layers of the North Atlantic and their global climate imprint. Reviews of Geophysics, 42(1). PDF

Sept 29th, 2:30-4pm (Remote learning)

Okazaki, Y., Timmermann, A., Menviel, L., Harada, N., Abe-Ouchi, A., Chikamoto, M.O., Mouchet, A. and Asahi, H., 2010. Deepwater formation in the North Pacific during the last glacial termination. Science, 329(5988), pp.200-204. PDF

Jaccard, S.L. and Galbraith, E.D., 2013. Direct ventilation of the North Pacific did not reach the deep ocean during the last deglaciation. Geophysical Research Letters, 40(1), pp.199-203. PDF

Gong, X., Lembke-Jene, L., Lohmann, G., Knorr, G., Tiedemann, R., Zou, J.J. and Shi, X.F., 2019. Enhanced North Pacific deep-ocean stratification by stronger intermediate water formation during Heinrich Stadial 1. Nature communications, 10(1), pp.1-8. PDF

Oct 6th, 2:30-4pm (remote learning)

Deschamps, P., Durand, N., Bard, E., Hamelin, B., Camoin, G., Thomas, A.L., Henderson, G.M., Okuno, J.I. and Yokoyama, Y., 2012. Ice-sheet collapse and sea-level rise at the Bølling warming 14,600 years ago. Nature, 483(7391), pp.559-564. PDF

Ivanovic, R.F., Gregoire, L.J., Wickert, A.D. and Burke, A., 2018. Climatic effect of Antarctic meltwater overwhelmed by concurrent Northern hemispheric melt. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(11), pp.5681-5689. PDF

Clark, P.U., Mitrovica, J.X., Milne, G.A. and Tamisiea, M.E., 2002. Sea-level fingerprinting as a direct test for the source of global meltwater pulse IA. Science, 295(5564), pp.2438-2441. PDF

Oct 13 - No Class, Indigenous Peoples' Day

We will not be meeting on Tuesday Oct 13. We will reconvene on Oct 20 with the Bolling Allerod, Part II.

In the meantime, the mid-term writing assignment is due on Friday Oct 16 at noon. Full information is provided in the attached PDF.

Oct 20th, 2:30-4pm (remote learning)

Galbraith, E.D., Jaccard, S.L., Pedersen, T.F., Sigman, D.M., Haug, G.H., Cook, M., Southon, J.R. and Francois, R., 2007. Carbon dioxide release from the North Pacific abyss during the last deglaciation. Nature, 449(7164), pp.890-893. PDF

Weber, M.E., Clark, P.U., Kuhn, G., Timmermann, A., Sprenk, D., Gladstone, R., Zhang, X., Lohmann, G., Menviel, L., Chikamoto, M.O. and Friedrich, T., 2014. Millennial-scale variability in Antarctic ice-sheet discharge during the last deglaciation. Nature, 510(7503), pp.134-138. PDF

Oct 27th, 2:30-4pm (remote learning)

Zhu, J., Liu, Z., Brady, E., Otto‐Bliesner, B., Zhang, J., Noone, D., Tomas, R., Nusbaumer, J., Wong, T., Jahn, A. and Tabor, C., 2017. Reduced ENSO variability at the LGM revealed by an isotope‐enabled Earth system model. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(13), pp.6984-6992. PDF

Koutavas, A. and Joanides, S., 2012. El Niño–Southern oscillation extrema in the holocene and last glacial maximum. Paleoceanography, 27(4). PDF

Lu, Z., Liu, Z., Zhu, J. and Cobb, K.M., 2018. A review of paleo El Niño-southern oscillation. Atmosphere, 9(4), p.130. PDF

Nov 3rd, 2:30-4pm (remote learning)

Renssen, H., Mairesse, A., Goosse, H., Mathiot, P., Heiri, O., Roche, D.M., Nisancioglu, K.H. and Valdes, P.J., 2015. Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period. Nature Geoscience, 8(12), pp.946-949. PDF

Keigwin, L.D., Klotsko, S., Zhao, N., Reilly, B., Giosan, L. and Driscoll, N.W., 2018. Deglacial floods in the Beaufort Sea preceded Younger Dryas cooling. Nature Geoscience, 11(8), pp.599-604. PDF

Broecker, W.S., Kennett, J.P., Flower, B.P., Teller, J.T., Trumbore, S., Bonani, G. and Wolfli, W., 1989. Routing of meltwater from the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the Younger Dryas cold episode. Nature, 341(6240), pp.318-321. PDF

Broecker, W.S., 2006. Was the Younger Dryas triggered by a flood?. Science, 312(5777), pp.1146-1148. PDF

Nov 10: 2:30-4pm (remote learning)

Baldini, J.U., Brown, R.J. and Mawdsley, N., 2018. Evaluating the link between the sulphur-rich Laacher See volcanic eruption and the Younger Dryas climate anomaly. Climate of the past., 14(7), pp.969-990. PDF

Firestone, R.B., West, A., Kennett, J.P., Becker, L., Bunch, T.E., Revay, Z.S., Schultz, P.H., Belgya, T., Kennett, D.J., Erlandson, J.M. and Dickenson, O.J., 2007. Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago that contributed to the megafaunal extinctions and the Younger Dryas cooling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(41), pp.16016-16021. PDF

Cheng, H., Zhang, H., Spötl, C., Baker, J., Sinha, A., Li, H., Bartolomé, M., Moreno, A., Kathayat, G., Zhao, J. and Dong, X., 2020. Timing and structure of the Younger Dryas event and its underlying climate dynamics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(38), pp.23408-23417. PDF

Nov 17: 2:30-4pm (remote learning)

Morrill, C., LeGrande, A.N., Renssen, H., Bakker, P. and Otto-Bliesner, B.L., 2013. Model sensitivity to North Atlantic freshwater forcing at 8.2 ka. Climate of the Past, 9(2), pp.955-968. PDF

Lippold, J., Pöppelmeier, F., Süfke, F., Gutjahr, M., Goepfert, T.J., Blaser, P., Friedrich, O., Link, J.M., Wacker, L., Rheinberger, S. and Jaccard, S.L., 2019. Constraining the variability of the atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the holocene. Geophysical Research Letters, 46(20), pp.11338-11346. PDF

Alley, R.B., Mayewski, P.A., Sowers, T., Stuiver, M., Taylor, K.C. and Clark, P.U., 1997. Holocene climatic instability: A prominent, widespread event 8200 yr ago. Geology, 25(6), pp.483-486. PDF

Alley, R.B. and Ágústsdóttir, A.M., 2005. The 8k event: cause and consequences of a major Holocene abrupt climate change. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24(10-11), pp.1123-1149. PDF

Clarke, G., Leverington, D., Teller, J. and Dyke, A., 2003. Superlakes, megafloods, and abrupt climate change. Science, 301(5635), pp.922-923. PDF

Dec 1st: 2:30-4pm (remote learning)

Miller, G.H., Geirsdóttir, Á., Zhong, Y., Larsen, D.J., Otto‐Bliesner, B.L., Holland, M.M., Bailey, D.A., Refsnider, K.A., Lehman, S.J., Southon, J.R. and Anderson, C., 2012. Abrupt onset of the Little Ice Age triggered by volcanism and sustained by sea‐ice/ocean feedbacks. Geophysical Research Letters, 39(2). PDF

Gebbie, G. and Huybers, P., 2019. The little ice age and 20th-century deep Pacific cooling. Science, 363(6422), pp.70-74. PDF

Mann, M.E., 2002. Little ice age. Encyclopedia of global environmental change, 1, pp.504-509. PDF

Robock, A., 1979. The" Little Ice Age": Northern hemisphere average observations and model calculations. Science, 206(4425), pp.1402-1404. PDF

Dec 8th: 2:30-4pm (remote learning)

Required reading assignments:

Song, Q., Vecchi, G.A. and Rosati, A.J., 2007. The role of the Indonesian Throughflow in the Indo–Pacific climate variability in the GFDL Coupled Climate Model. Journal of Climate, 20(11), pp.2434-2451. PDF

Hendrizan, M., Kuhnt, W. and Holbourn, A., 2017. Variability of Indonesian Throughflow and Borneo runoff during the last 14 kyr. Paleoceanography, 32(10), pp.1054-1069. PDF

DiNezio, P.N., Tierney, J.E., Otto-Bliesner, B.L., Timmermann, A., Bhattacharya, T., Rosenbloom, N. and Brady, E., 2018. Glacial changes in tropical climate amplified by the Indian Ocean. Science advances, 4(12), p.eaat9658. PDF

Additional Reading

Sprintall, J., Gordon, A.L., Koch-Larrouy, A., Lee, T., Potemra, J.T., Pujiana, K. and Wijffels, S.E., 2014. The Indonesian seas and their role in the coupled ocean–climate system. Nature Geoscience, 7(7), pp.487-492. PDF

Fall 2020: Climate Dynamics of the Last Deglaciation

Course Outline