Structure and origin of Holocene cold events

Wanner, Heinz; Solomina, Olga; Grosjean, Martin; Ritz, Stefan P.; Jetel, Markéta (2011). Structure and origin of Holocene cold events. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30(21-22), pp. 3109-3123. Oxford: Pergamon 10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.07.010

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The present interglacial, the Holocene, spans the period of the last 11,700 years. It has sustained the growth and development of modern society. The millennial-scale decreasing solar insolation in the Northern Hemisphere summer lead to Northern Hemisphere cooling, a southern shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and a weakening of the Northern Hemisphere summer monsoon systems. On the multidecadal to multicentury-scale, periods of more stable and warmer climate were interrupted by several cold relapses, at least in the Northern Hemisphere extra-tropical area. Based on carefully selected 10,000-year-long time series of temperature and humidity/precipitation, as well as reconstructions of glacier advances, the spatiotemporal pattern of six cold relapses during the last 10,000 years was analysed and presented in form of a Holocene Climate Atlas (HOCLAT; see http://www.oeschger.unibe.ch/research/projects/holocene_atlas/). A clear cyclicity was not found, and the spatiotemporal variability of temperature and humidity/precipitation during the six specific cold events (8200, 6300, 4700, 2700, 1550 and 550 years BP) was very high. Different dynamical processes such as meltwater flux into the North Atlantic, low solar activity, explosive volcanic eruptions, and fluctuations of the thermohaline circulation likely played a major role. In addition, internal dynamics in the North Atlantic and Pacific area (including their complex interaction) were likely involved.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography > Physical Geography > Unit Paleolimnology
08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Climate and Environmental Physics
10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)
08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography

UniBE Contributor:

Wanner, Heinz, Grosjean, Martin, Ritz, Stefan

Subjects:

500 Science > 550 Earth sciences & geology
900 History > 910 Geography & travel

ISSN:

0277-3791

Publisher:

Pergamon

Language:

English

Submitter:

Factscience Import

Date Deposited:

04 Oct 2013 14:25

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:07

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.07.010

Web of Science ID:

000295663500018

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/9153

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/9153 (FactScience: 214834)

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