Regional Synthesis of Mediterranean Atmospheric Circulation During the Last Glacial Maximum
Abstract
Atmospheric circulation leaves few direct traces in the geological record, making reconstructions of this crucial element of the climate system inherently difficult. We produced a regional Mediterranean synthesis of paleo-proxy data from the sea surface to alpine altitudes. This provides a detailed observational context for change in the three-dimensional structure of atmospheric circulation between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼23,000 to 19,000 years ago) and the present. The synthesis reveals evidence for frequent cold polar air incursions, topographically channeled into the northwestern Mediterranean. Anomalously steep vertical temperature gradients in the central Mediterranean imply local convective precipitation. We find the LGM patterns to be analogous, though amplified, to previously reconstructed phases of enhanced meridional winter circulation during the Maunder Minimum (the Little Ice Age).
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We gratefully acknowledge funding by the German Science Foundation (DFG project KU1298/7) and the UK Natural Environment Research Council's thematic program Quantifying the Earth System (QUEST).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Science
Volume 321 • Issue 5894 • 5 September 2008
Pages: 1338 - 1340
History
Received: 11 March 2008
Accepted: 21 July 2008
Copyright
American Association for the Advancement of Science.
