Rates of thermohaline recovery from freshwater pulses in modern, Last Glacial Maximum, and greenhouse warming climates

Abstract

Recovery rates of the thermohaline circulation after a freshwater pulse in the North Atlantic vary considerably depending on the background climate, as demonstrated in the Community Climate System Model. The recovery is slowest in a Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) climate, fastest in a modern climate, and intermediate between the two in a greenhouse warming (4XCO2) climate. Previously proposed mechanisms to explain thermohaline circulation stability involving altered horizontal freshwater transport in the North Atlantic are consistent with relative recovery rates in the modern and 4XCO2 climates, but fail to explain the slow LGM recovery. Instead, sea ice expansion inhibits deep‐water formation after freshening in the LGM climate by reducing heat loss to the atmosphere and providing additional surface freshwater. In addition, anomalous vertical freshwater transport across ∼1 km depth after freshening is most effective at weakening the stratification in the modern case but is negligible in the LGM case.