An Oceanic Cold Reversal During the Last Deglaciation

Science, Vol. 293, p. 2074-2077, 2001 

B. Stenni
Department of Geological, Environmental and Marine Sciences, University of Trieste Trieste, Italy.
V. Masson-Delmotte, J. Jouzel
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique/CNRS 1572)/Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, L'Orme des Merisiers, Bâtiment 709, CEA Saclay 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cédes, France.
S. Johnsen 
Departement of Geophysics, The Niels Bohr Institute of Astronomy, Physics and Geophysics, University of Copenhagen.
A. Longinelli, E. Selmo
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
E. Monnin, R. Röthlisberger
Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

ABSTRACT.
A detailed deuterium excess profile measured along the Dome C EPICA (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica) core reveals the timing and strength of the sea surface temperature changes at the source regions for Dome C precipitation. We infer that an Oceanic Cold Reversal took place in the southern Indian Ocean, 800 years after the Antarctic Cold Reversal. The temperature gradient between the oceanic moisture source and Antarctica is similar to the Dome C sodium profile during the deglaciation, illustrating the strong link between this gradient and the strength of the atmospheric circulation.