Synchronous subsurface ocean warming in western boundary regions of both hemispheres during Heinrich Stadial 1
4 affiliations
- 1School of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine
- 2Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University
- 3Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona
- 4Ocean Sciences Department, University of California-Santa Cruz
Abstract
Determining whether both hemispheres warmed synchronously during the last deglaciation is important for identifying mechanisms for ice-age terminations. Here, we show that intermediate waters in the southwestern Pacific Ocean warmed simultaneously with some of the upper ocean waters in the Atlantic during Heinrich Stadial 1. In both regions, proxy records from benthic foraminifera show warming to interglacial temperatures beginning ~18,000 years ago and concluding by ~15,000 years ago. Our observations require a mechanism capable of producing rapid warming in these nearly antipodal ocean basins. We propose that some of the oceanic warming signal co-registered between these sites can be explained by a shift of the Southern Hemisphere Westerly Winds, which increased the temperature of intermediate water masses produced in the Southern Ocean. Taken together with results from Earth-system modeling experiments, we suggest that the Southern Hemisphere climate system played a role in regulating interhemispheric oceanic heat transport at millennial timescales.
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BibTeX
@article{stirpe2026synchronous,
title = {{Synchronous subsurface ocean warming in western boundary regions of both hemispheres during Heinrich Stadial 1}},
author = {Cassandre R. Stirpe and Katherine A. Allen and Elisabeth L. Sikes and Joellen L. Russell and Aaron E. Putnam and Thomas P. Guilderson},
journal = {Communications Earth \& Environment},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s43247-026-03587-9},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03587-9},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Synchronous subsurface ocean warming in western boundary regions of both hemispheres during Heinrich Stadial 1
AU - Cassandre R. Stirpe
AU - Katherine A. Allen
AU - Elisabeth L. Sikes
AU - Joellen L. Russell
AU - Aaron E. Putnam
AU - Thomas P. Guilderson
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Communications Earth & Environment
DO - 10.1038/s43247-026-03587-9
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03587-9
AB - Determining whether both hemispheres warmed synchronously during the last deglaciation is important for identifying mechanisms for ice-age terminations. Here, we show that intermediate waters in the southwestern Pacific Ocean warmed simultaneously with some of the upper ocean waters in the Atlantic during Heinrich Stadial 1. In both regions, proxy records from benthic foraminifera show warming to interglacial temperatures beginning ~18,000 years ago and concluding by ~15,000 years ago. Our observations require a mechanism capable of producing rapid warming in these nearly antipodal ocean basins. We propose that some of the oceanic warming signal co-registered between these sites can be explained by a shift of the Southern Hemisphere Westerly Winds, which increased the temperature of intermediate water masses produced in the Southern Ocean. Taken together with results from Earth-system modeling experiments, we suggest that the Southern Hemisphere climate system played a role in regulating interhemispheric oceanic heat transport at millennial timescales.
SN - 2662-4435
ER -