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Evaluating the link between the sulphur-rich Laacher See volcanic eruption and the Younger Dryas climate anomaly

Baldini, James U.L.; Brown, Richard J.; Mawdsley, Natasha

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Authors

Natasha Mawdsley



Abstract

The Younger Dryas is considered the archetypal millennial-scale climate change event, and identifying its cause is fundamental for thoroughly understanding climate systematics during deglaciations. However, the mechanisms responsible for its initiation remain elusive, and both of the most researched triggers (a meltwater pulse or a bolide impact) are controversial. Here, we consider the problem from a different perspective and explore a hypothesis that Younger Dryas climate shifts were catalysed by the unusually sulfur-rich 12.880±0.040kaBP eruption of the Laacher See volcano (Germany). We use the most recent chronology for the GISP2 ice core ion dataset from the Greenland ice sheet to identify a large volcanic sulfur spike coincident with both the Laacher See eruption and the onset of Younger Dryas-related cooling in Greenland (i.e. the most recent abrupt Greenland millennial-scale cooling event, the Greenland Stadial 1, GS-1). Previously published lake sediment and stalagmite records confirm that the eruption's timing was indistinguishable from the onset of cooling across the North Atlantic but that it preceded westerly wind repositioning over central Europe by  ∼ 200 years. We suggest that the initial short-lived volcanic sulfate aerosol cooling was amplified by ocean circulation shifts and/or sea ice expansion, gradually cooling the North Atlantic region and incrementally shifting the midlatitude westerlies to the south. The aerosol-related cooling probably only lasted 1–3 years, and the majority of Younger Dryas-related cooling may have been due to the sea-ice–ocean circulation positive feedback, which was particularly effective during the intermediate ice volume conditions characteristic of  ∼ 13kaBP. We conclude that the large and sulfur-rich Laacher See eruption should be considered a viable trigger for the Younger Dryas. However, future studies should prioritise climate modelling of high-latitude volcanism during deglacial boundary conditions in order to test the hypothesis proposed here.

Citation

Baldini, J. U., Brown, R. J., & Mawdsley, N. (2018). Evaluating the link between the sulphur-rich Laacher See volcanic eruption and the Younger Dryas climate anomaly. Climate of the Past, 14(7), 969-990. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-969-2018

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 13, 2018
Online Publication Date Jul 4, 2018
Publication Date Jul 4, 2018
Deposit Date Jun 13, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Climate of the Past
Print ISSN 1814-9324
Electronic ISSN 1814-9332
Publisher European Geosciences Union
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 14
Issue 7
Pages 969-990
DOI https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-969-2018

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Copyright Statement
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.






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