Seasonally ice free glacial nordic seas without deep water ventilation

Abstract

ABSTRACTAt present the Nordic Seas are a key region of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) formation. Two alternative scenarios have been suggested by some authors for the Last Glacial Maximum: (i) the Nordic Seas were permanently covered by sea ice, preventing the formation of NADW, or (ii) that they were seasonally free of ice and that deep water formation did occur. A modified scenario is presented here based on parallel ocean circulation modelling results from the GFDL primitive equation model and a planetary geostrophic model. It is suggested that the glacial Nordic Seas were at least seasonally ice free, but it is observed that there was never deep water formation from the surface; rather it occurred only in the North Atlantic south of 40°–50°N. North of 40°N, the weaker LGM northward flowing thermohaline conveyor is subducted below a reverse conveyor which occurred to a depth of over 1000 m. Various modelling experiments presented here indicate that the reversed conveyor was primarily caused by the colder conditions of the glacial North Atlantic that led to far stronger zonality of glacial analogue of the North Atlantic Current.