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Last Interglacial and Early Glacial Circulation in the Northern North Atlantic Ocean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Karen-Luise Knudsen*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Aarhus, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Aarhus, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
Peter Kristensen
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Aarhus, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
*
1To whom correspondence should be addressed. [email protected].

Abstract

Studies of marine records from the northwestern European shelf and the northern North Atlantic suggest that last interglacial environments were less stable in this area than in the mid-latitude Atlantic. The influx of Atlantic water masses to the northern North Atlantic was generally higher, and the meridional temperature gradient was steeper, during the last interglaciation than during the Holocene. Strong north–south sea-surface-temperature gradients during the early Weichselian indicate a generally low influx of Atlantic water to the northern North Atlantic, even during interstades.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
University of Washington

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