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Last century warming over the Canadian Atlantic shelves linked to weak Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
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  • Benoit Thibodeau,
  • Christelle Not,
  • Jiang Zhu,
  • Andreas Schmittner,
  • David Noone,
  • Clay Tabor,
  • Jiaxu Zhang,
  • Zhengyu Liu
Benoit Thibodeau
The University of Hong Kong, The University of Hong Kong

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Christelle Not
The University of Hong Kong, The University of Hong Kong
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Jiang Zhu
University of Michigan, University of Michigan
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Andreas Schmittner
Oregon State University, Oregon State University, Oregon State University, Oregon State University
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David Noone
Oregon State University, Oregon State University, Oregon State University, Oregon State University
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Clay Tabor
University of Connecticut, University of Connecticut
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Jiaxu Zhang
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Zhengyu Liu
The Ohio State University, The Ohio State University
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Abstract

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is a key component of the global climate system. Many models predict a weakening or even a collapse of the AMOC under future climate change. Recent studies suggested a 20th century weakening of the AMOC of unprecedented amplitude ( 15%) over the last millennium. Here, we present δ18O of benthic foraminifera in a sediment core from the Laurentian Channel and demonstrate that the δ18O trend is linked to the strength of the AMOC. In this 100-year record, the AMOC signal decrease steadily to reach its minimum value in the late 1970’s. The weakest AMOC signal is constant until 2000. We present a longer δ18O record of 1,500 years and highlight the uniqueness of these high δ18O values over that period. Moreover, the long record is also characterized by statistically heavier δ18O during the Little Ice age suggesting a relatively weak AMOC.
28 Nov 2018Published in Geophysical Research Letters volume 45 issue 22 on pages 12,376-12,385. 10.1029/2018GL080083