Subtropical freshwater event at the onset of Younger Dryas

The Younger Dryas (YD) (12.79-11.6 ka BP) cold spell during the last deglaciation is associated with a major breakdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), the details of which are still controversial. Catastrophic events like a bolide impact or a major outflow of meltwater stored in the proglacial Lake Agassiz, which led to the capping of North Atlantic deep water convection sites, have been suggested to trigger the AMOC shutdown. However the geomorphological evidence for such a meltwater flood is not in agreement with the timing of the YD. Also, the YD was postulated to be part of a deglacial sequence of events generally characteristic of glacial terminations involving the displacement of major climatic zones and oceanographic fronts. We present detailed paleoceanographic records from sediment cores MD08-3180/ GEOFAR KF16 (38°N; 31.13°W, 3050 m w.d.) retrieved immediately east of the Mid Atlantic ridge south of the Azores Islands. At present, this site is located at the northern rim of the Azores Current, which delineates the subtropical gyre, recirculating warm waters of the North Atlantic Current. Due to its position at the boundary between temperate North East Atlantic waters and subtropical gyre waters, the site is ideally suited to trace past changes in the alternating influence of both water masses. Parallel stable-oxygen isotope records of surface water dwelling foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber w. (habitat depth 0-25m) and Globigerina bulloides (habitat depth 0-300m) may document the structure of surface waters. Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) were derived from the UK'37 index and from planktonic foraminifera (PF) assemblages using transfer functions. d18Ow-ice and Sea Surface Salinities were estimated using the d18O G.ruber w. record corrected for SST and changes in global ice volume. The d18O records of G.ruber w. and G.bulloides diverge between 13.4 ka and 12.95 ka BP. d18Ow data show a gradual increase in the freshening of surface waters by up to 1.5 psu between 13.6 and 12.95 ka BP immediately prior to the onset of YD. A drop in SST by 2°C (UK'37 ) of up to 7°C (PF) between 13.4 and 12.95 ka BP reflects a coeval surface water cooling and/or slight southward shift of the subtropical gyre. Our new evidence suggests a cold freshwater incursion that started to influence the subtropical North Atlantic already 600 yrs before the actual onset of YD, thus might be a part of the forcings that triggered the YD.