NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Aharon 2003 Gulf of Mexico Deglacial Stable Isotope Data

North American freshwater runoff records have been used to support the case that climate flickers were caused by shutdowns of the ocean thermohaline circulation (THC) resulting from reversals of meltwater discharges. Inconsistencies in the documentation of these meltwater switches, however, continue to fuel the debate on the cause/s of the oscillatory nature of the deglacial climate. New oxygen and carbon isotope records from the northern Gulf of Mexico depict in exceptional detail the succession of meltwater floods and pauses through the southern routing during the interval 16 to 8.9 ka (14C years BP; ka, kiloannum). The records underscore the bimodal role played by the Gulf of Mexico as a destination of meltwater discharges from the receding Laurentide Ice Sheet. The evidence indicates that the Gulf of Mexico acted as the principal source of superfloods at 13.4, 12.6, and 11.9 ka that reached the North Atlantic and contributed significantly to density stratification, disruption of ocean ventilation, and cold reversals. Gulf of Mexico lapsed into a “relief valve” position in post-Younger Dryas time, when meltwater discharges were rerouted south at 9.9, 9.7, 9.4, and 9.1 ka, thus temporarily interrupting North Atlantic-bound freshwater discharges from Lake Agassiz. The history of meltwater events in the Gulf of Mexico contradicts the model that meltwater flow via the eastern outlets into the North Atlantic disrupted the ocean THC, causing cooling, while diversions to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River enhanced THC and warming.