A potential feedback loop underlying glacial-interglacial cycles
Name
382_2021_Article_5724.pdf
Size
2.04 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
740b19f379dd38265874f4e64536e5e3
Author(s)
Weinans, Els
Omta, Anne W
van Voorn, George A K
van Nes, Egbert H
Date Issued
March 18, 2021
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Abstract
The sawtooth-patterned glacial-interglacial cycles in the Earth’s atmospheric temperature are a well-known, though poorly understood phenomenon. Pinpointing the relevant mechanisms behind these cycles will not only provide insights into past climate dynamics, but also help predict possible future responses of the Earth system to changing CO
$$_2$$
2
levels. Previous work on this phenomenon suggests that the most important underlying mechanisms are interactions between marine biological production, ocean circulation, temperature and dust. So far, interaction directions (i.e., what causes what) have remained elusive. In this paper, we apply Convergent Cross-Mapping (CCM) to analyze paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic records to elucidate which mechanisms proposed in the literature play an important role in glacial-interglacial cycles, and to test the directionality of interactions. We find causal links between ocean ventilation, biological productivity, benthic
$$\delta ^{18}$$
δ
18
O and dust, consistent with some but not all of the mechanisms proposed in the literature. Most importantly, we find evidence for a potential feedback loop from ocean ventilation to biological productivity to climate back to ocean ventilation. Here, we propose the hypothesis that this feedback loop of connected mechanisms could be the main driver for the glacial-interglacial cycles.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05724-w
