Identification

Title

Abrupt regime shifts in the North Atlantic atmospheric circulation over the last deglaciation

Abstract

We analyze modeling results of the North Atlantic atmospheric winter circulation from a transient climate simulation over the last 21,000 years. In agreement with previous studies, we find that the midlatitude jet stream assumes a strong, stable, and zonal disposition so long as the North American ice sheets remain in their continent-wide Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) configuration. However, when the Laurentide ice sheet (LIS) and Cordilleran ice sheet separate (similar to 14,000 years ago), the jet stream abruptly changes to a tilted circulation regime, similar to modern. The proposed explanation is that the dominant stationary wave source in the North Atlantic sector changes from the LIS to the Cordilleran mountain range during the saddle collapse. As long as the LIS dominates, the circulation retains the zonal LGM state characterized by prevalent stationary wave reflection in the subtropical North Atlantic. When the Cordillera takes over, the circulation acquires its modern disposition with a weak and meridionally tilted jet stream and storm track.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7xk8j1g

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2017-08-12T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact