Onset of Mediterranean outflow into the North Atlantic | - CCMAR -

Journal Article

TítuloOnset of Mediterranean outflow into the North Atlantic
Publication TypeJournal Article
AuthorsHernandez-Molina, FJ, Stow, DAV, Alvarez-Zarikian, CA, Acton, G, Bahr, A, Balestra, B, Ducassou, E, Flood, R, Flores, J-A, Furota, S, Grunert, P, Hodell, D, Jimenez-Espejo, F, Kim, JK, Krissek, L, Kuroda, J, Li, B, Llave, E, Lofi, J, Lourens, L, Miller, M, Nanayama, F, Nishida, N, Richter, C, Roque, C, Pereira, H, Goni, MFSanchez, Sierro, FJ, Singh, AD, Sloss, C, Takashimizu, Y, Tzanova, A, Voelker, AHL, Williams, T, Xuan, C
Year of Publication2014
JournalScience
Volume344
Questão6189
Date Published06/2015
Pagination1244 - 1250
ISSN0036-8075
Palavras-chaveIODP; Exp. 339; Mediterranean Outflow
Abstract

Sediments cored along the southwestern Iberian margin during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 339 provide constraints on Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) circulation patterns from the Pliocene epoch to the present day. After the Strait of Gibraltar opened (5.33 million years ago), a limited volume of MOW entered the Atlantic. Depositional hiatuses indicate erosion by bottom currents related to higher volumes of MOW circulating into the North Atlantic, beginning in the late Pliocene. The hiatuses coincide with regional tectonic events and changes in global thermohaline circulation (THC). This suggests that MOW influenced Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), THC, and climatic shifts by contributing a component of warm, saline water to northern latitudes while in turn being influenced by plate tectonics.

URLhttp://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.1251306
DOI10.1126/science.1251306
Short TitleScience