Western U.S. lake expansions during Heinrich stadials linked to Pacific Hadley circulation
Name
eaav0118.full.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.19 MB
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Unknown
Checksum (MD5)
68f5888e33516d5ec99b5716862b539f
Author(s)
Mcgee, David
Moreno Chamarro, Eduardo
Marshall, John
Galbraith, ED
Date Issued
2018
Journal
Science Advances
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved. Lake and cave records show that winter precipitation in the southwestern United States increased substantially during millennial-scale periods of Northern Hemisphere winter cooling known as Heinrich stadials. However, previous work has not produced a clear picture of the atmospheric circulation changes driving these precipitation increases. Here, we combine data with model simulations to show that maximum winter precipitation anomalies were related to an intensified subtropical jet and a deepened, southeastward-shifted Aleutian Low, which together increased atmospheric river–like transport of subtropical moisture into the western United States. The jet and Aleutian Low changes are tied to the southward displacement of the intertropical convergence zone and the accompanying intensification of the Hadley circulation in the central Pacific. These results refine our understanding of atmospheric changes accompanying Heinrich stadials and highlight the need for accurate representations of tropical-extratropical teleconnections in simulations of past and future precipitation changes in the region.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1126/SCIADV.AAV0118
