Andean drought and glacial retreat tied to Greenland warming during the last glacial period

Arielle Woods; Donald T. Rodbell; Mark B. Abbott; Robert G. Hatfield; Christine Y. Chen; Sophie B. Lehmann; David McGee; Nicholas C. Weidhaas; Pedro M. Tapia; Blas L. Valero-Garcés; Mark B. Bush; Joseph S. Stoner

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19000-8

Andean drought and glacial retreat tied to Greenland warming during the last glacial period

Arielle Woods, Donald T. Rodbell, Mark B. Abbott, Robert G. Hatfield, Christine Y. Chen, Sophie B. Lehmann, David McGee, Nicholas C. Weidhaas, Pedro M. Tapia, Blas L. Valero-Garcés, Mark B. Bush, Joseph S. Stoner

Continental Scientific Drilling Facility

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15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Abrupt warming events recorded in Greenland ice cores known as Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) interstadials are linked to changes in tropical circulation during the last glacial cycle. Corresponding variations in South American summer monsoon (SASM) strength are documented, most commonly, in isotopic records from speleothems, but less is known about how these changes affected precipitation and Andean glacier mass balance. Here we present a sediment record spanning the last ~50 ka from Lake Junín (Peru) in the tropical Andes that has sufficient chronologic precision to document abrupt climatic events on a centennial-millennial time scale. DO events involved the near-complete disappearance of glaciers below 4700 masl in the eastern Andean cordillera and major reductions in the level of Peru’s second largest lake. Our results reveal the magnitude of the hydroclimatic disruptions in the highest reaches of the Amazon Basin that were caused by a weakening of the SASM during abrupt arctic warming. Accentuated warming in the Arctic could lead to significant reductions in the precipitation-evaporation balance of the southern tropical Andes with deleterious effects on this densely populated region of South America.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	5135
Journal	Nature communications
Volume	11
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19000-8
State	Published - Oct 12 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We recognize the late G.O. Seltzer for his seminal work on the Junín Plain. We are grateful to Lake Junín Drilling Project members for their contributions to fieldwork and data collection, the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) for financial and logistical support, and DOSECC Exploration Services and Geotec Peru for drilling expertise. We thank LacCore for access to facilities, core curation, XRF analyses, and data management. This research was supported by grant 02–2012 from the ICDP and awards EAR-1404113 (Abbott), EAR-1402076 (Rodbell), EAR-1400903 (Stoner), EAR-1404414 (McGee), and EAR-1402054 (Bush) from the U.S. National Science Foundation Paleo Perspectives on Climate Change Program.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).

Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

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title = "Andean drought and glacial retreat tied to Greenland warming during the last glacial period",

abstract = "Abrupt warming events recorded in Greenland ice cores known as Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) interstadials are linked to changes in tropical circulation during the last glacial cycle. Corresponding variations in South American summer monsoon (SASM) strength are documented, most commonly, in isotopic records from speleothems, but less is known about how these changes affected precipitation and Andean glacier mass balance. Here we present a sediment record spanning the last ~50 ka from Lake Jun{\'i}n (Peru) in the tropical Andes that has sufficient chronologic precision to document abrupt climatic events on a centennial-millennial time scale. DO events involved the near-complete disappearance of glaciers below 4700 masl in the eastern Andean cordillera and major reductions in the level of Peru{\textquoteright}s second largest lake. Our results reveal the magnitude of the hydroclimatic disruptions in the highest reaches of the Amazon Basin that were caused by a weakening of the SASM during abrupt arctic warming. Accentuated warming in the Arctic could lead to significant reductions in the precipitation-evaporation balance of the southern tropical Andes with deleterious effects on this densely populated region of South America.",

author = "Arielle Woods and Rodbell, {Donald T.} and Abbott, {Mark B.} and Hatfield, {Robert G.} and Chen, {Christine Y.} and Lehmann, {Sophie B.} and David McGee and Weidhaas, {Nicholas C.} and Tapia, {Pedro M.} and Valero-Garc{\'e}s, {Blas L.} and Bush, {Mark B.} and Stoner, {Joseph S.}",

note = "Funding Information: We recognize the late G.O. Seltzer for his seminal work on the Jun{\'i}n Plain. We are grateful to Lake Jun{\'i}n Drilling Project members for their contributions to fieldwork and data collection, the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) for financial and logistical support, and DOSECC Exploration Services and Geotec Peru for drilling expertise. We thank LacCore for access to facilities, core curation, XRF analyses, and data management. This research was supported by grant 02–2012 from the ICDP and awards EAR-1404113 (Abbott), EAR-1402076 (Rodbell), EAR-1400903 (Stoner), EAR-1404414 (McGee), and EAR-1402054 (Bush) from the U.S. National Science Foundation Paleo Perspectives on Climate Change Program. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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doi = "10.1038/s41467-020-19000-8",

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AU - Rodbell, Donald T.

AU - Abbott, Mark B.

AU - Hatfield, Robert G.

AU - Chen, Christine Y.

AU - Lehmann, Sophie B.

AU - McGee, David

AU - Weidhaas, Nicholas C.

AU - Tapia, Pedro M.

AU - Valero-Garcés, Blas L.

AU - Bush, Mark B.

AU - Stoner, Joseph S.

N1 - Funding Information: We recognize the late G.O. Seltzer for his seminal work on the Junín Plain. We are grateful to Lake Junín Drilling Project members for their contributions to fieldwork and data collection, the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) for financial and logistical support, and DOSECC Exploration Services and Geotec Peru for drilling expertise. We thank LacCore for access to facilities, core curation, XRF analyses, and data management. This research was supported by grant 02–2012 from the ICDP and awards EAR-1404113 (Abbott), EAR-1402076 (Rodbell), EAR-1400903 (Stoner), EAR-1404414 (McGee), and EAR-1402054 (Bush) from the U.S. National Science Foundation Paleo Perspectives on Climate Change Program. Publisher Copyright: © 2020, The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2020/10/12

Y1 - 2020/10/12

N2 - Abrupt warming events recorded in Greenland ice cores known as Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) interstadials are linked to changes in tropical circulation during the last glacial cycle. Corresponding variations in South American summer monsoon (SASM) strength are documented, most commonly, in isotopic records from speleothems, but less is known about how these changes affected precipitation and Andean glacier mass balance. Here we present a sediment record spanning the last ~50 ka from Lake Junín (Peru) in the tropical Andes that has sufficient chronologic precision to document abrupt climatic events on a centennial-millennial time scale. DO events involved the near-complete disappearance of glaciers below 4700 masl in the eastern Andean cordillera and major reductions in the level of Peru’s second largest lake. Our results reveal the magnitude of the hydroclimatic disruptions in the highest reaches of the Amazon Basin that were caused by a weakening of the SASM during abrupt arctic warming. Accentuated warming in the Arctic could lead to significant reductions in the precipitation-evaporation balance of the southern tropical Andes with deleterious effects on this densely populated region of South America.

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ER -

Andean drought and glacial retreat tied to Greenland warming during the last glacial period

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Continental Scientific Drilling Facility tags

PubMed: MeSH publication types

UN SDGs

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