Mid-Holocene Strengthening of the Bering Strait Inflow to the Arctic and its Linkage With the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre Circulation
Abstract
The Bering Strait inflow (BSI) is an important element of the Arctic Ocean circulation system. We report records of the chlorite/illite ratios in three sediment cores from the northern Chukchi Sea providing insights into the long-term dynamics of the BSI during the Holocene. The BSI approximation by the chlorite/illite record, despite a considerable geographic variability, consistently shows intensified flow from the Bering Sea to the Arctic during the middle Holocene, which is attributed primarily to the effect of higher atmospheric pressure over the Aleutian Basin. The intensified BSI was associated with decrease in sea-ice concentrations and increase in marine production, as indicated by biomarker concentrations, suggesting a major influence of the BSI on sea-ice and biological conditions in the Chukchi Sea. Multi-century to millennial fluctuations, presumably controlled by solar activity, were also identified. This middle Holocene strengthening of the BSI was coeval with intense subpolar gyre circulation in the North Atlantic. We propose that the BSI is linked with the North Atlantic circulation via an atmospheric teleconnection between the Aleutian and Icelandic Lows.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AGUFMPP54A..06Y
- Keywords:
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- 1105 Quaternary geochronology;
- GEOCHRONOLOGY;
- 9315 Arctic region;
- GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION;
- 1616 Climate variability;
- GLOBAL CHANGE;
- 3002 Continental shelf and slope processes;
- MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS