Near-Synchronous Interhemispheric Termination of the Last Glacial Maximum in Mid-Latitudes

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 312; no. 5779; pp. 1510 - 1513
• Main Authors: Schaefer, Joerg M, Denton, George H, Barrell, David J.A, Ivy-Ochs, Susan, Kubik, Peter W, Andersen, Bjorn G, Phillips, Fred M, Lowell, Thomas V, Schlüchter, Christian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 09.06.2006; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Alpine glaciers; Carbon dioxide; Climate change; Continental glaciers; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Glacial lakes; Glacial retreat; Glaciers; Global warming; Ice; Ice cores; Marine; Marine and continental quaternary; Moraines; Outlet glaciers; Summer; Surficial geology; Temperature; Valley glaciers; Winter; New Zealand; Antarctica; North Atlantic; New Zealand Southern Alps; South Island; Antarctic region; AN, North Atlantic; glaciers; Australasia; Atlantic Ocean; ice; upper Quaternary; greenhouse gas; drill cores; climate modification; sea ice; paleoatmosphere; temperature; Be-10; polar regions; Cenozoic; moraines; carbon dioxide; stable isotopes; Quaternary; climate warming; drilling; glaciation; ice sheets; exposure age; Phanerozoic; shrinkage; seasonal variations
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1122872

Isotopic records from polar ice cores imply globally asynchronous warming at the end of the last glaciation. However, ¹⁰Be exposure dates show that large-scale retreat of mid-latitude Last Glacial Maximum glaciers commenced at about the same time in both hemispheres. The timing of retreat is consistent with the onset of temperature and atmospheric CO₂ increases in Antarctic ice cores. We suggest that a global trend of rising summer temperatures at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum was obscured in North Atlantic regions by hypercold winters associated with unusually extensive winter sea ice.