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Does the El Niño–Southern Oscillation control the interhemispheric radiocarbon offset?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Chris S.M. Turney  and
Jonathan G. Palmer
Chris S.M. Turney*
Affiliation:
GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Jonathan G. Palmer
Affiliation:
Gondwana Tree Ring Laboratory, P.O. Box 14, Little River, Banks Peninsula, Canterbury 8162, New Zealand
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: +61 2 4221 4250. E-mail address:turney@uow.edu.au (C.S.M. Turney).
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Abstract

Since the 1970s it has been recognised that Southern Hemisphere samples have a lower radiocarbon content than contemporaneous material in the Northern Hemisphere. This interhemispheric radiocarbon offset has traditionally been considered to be the result of a greater surface area in the southern ocean and high-latitude deepwater formation. This is despite the fact that the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is known to play a significant role in controlling the interannual variability of atmospheric carbon dioxide by changing the flux of ‘old’ CO2 from the tropical Pacific. Here we demonstrate that over the past millennium, the Southern Hemisphere radiocarbon offset is characterised by a pervasive 80-yr cycle with a step shift in mean values coinciding with the transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age. The observed changes suggest an ENSO-like role in influencing the interhemispheric radiocarbon difference, most probably modulated by the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation, and supports a tropical role in forcing centennial-scale global climate change.

Keywords

ENSOInterdecadal Pacific OscillationLittle Ice AgeMedieval Warm PeriodPacific Decadal OscillationTree-rings
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 67 , Issue 1 , January 2007 , pp. 174 - 180
Copyright
University of Washington

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