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Regionally coherent Little Ice Age cooling in the Atlantic Warm Pool
Author(s) -
Richey Julie N.,
Poore Richard Z.,
Flower Benjamin P.,
Quinn Terrence M.,
Hollander David J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2009gl040445
Subject(s) - proxy (statistics) , climatology , little ice age , geology , ice core , oceanography , sea surface temperature , climate change , machine learning , computer science
We present 2 new decadal‐resolution foraminiferal Mg/Ca‐SST records covering the past 6–8 centuries from the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM). These records provide evidence for a Little Ice Age (LIA) cooling of 2°C, consistent with a published Mg/Ca record from Pigmy Basin. Comparison of these 3 records with existing SST proxy records from the GOM‐Caribbean region show that the magnitude of LIA cooling in the Atlantic Warm Pool (AWP) was significantly larger than the mean hemispheric cooling of <1°C. We propose that a reduction in the intensity and spatial extent of the AWP during the LIA, combined with associated changes in atmospheric circulation may account for the regional SST patterns observed in the GOM‐Caribbean region during the LIA.