Abstract
We combine our previous ice-sheet and climate models to address abrupt
climate changes pertaining to Heinrich (H) and Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO)
cycles as well as last deglaciation punctuated by Younger Dryas (YD). We
posit their common origin in the calving of the ice sheet but
differentiate thermal triggers by geothermal-heat/surface-melt in
calving inland/marginal ice, the respective sources of H/DO-cycles. The
thermal switches would produce step-like freshwater fluxes to endow
abruptness to the resulting climate signals characterized by millennial
timescale due to the internal ice dynamics. For an eddying ocean, its
response to the freshwater perturbation entails millennial adjustment to
maximum entropy production, which would cause sudden post-H warming
followed by gradual cooling to form the H-cycles, and the above-freezing
warmth (hence surface-melt) would calve the marginal ice to generate
DO-cycles anchored on the cooling trend to form the Bond cycle. Since
there is already ablation of the Holocene icecap, there would be
self-sustained DO-cycles, which thus retain the same pacing as their
glacial counterparts to resolve this seeming puzzle. This millennial
pacing also transcends the deglaciation to account for its observed
sequence although the occurrence of YD requires a boost of the
freshwater flux by the rerouted continental meltwater. It is seen that
by differentiating thermal triggers of the ice calving and incorporating
MEP adjustment of the ocean, the theory has provided an integrated
account of the genesis of the abrupt climate changes and their deduced
anatomies bear strong resemblance to the observed ones, in support of
the theory.