Palaeoceanography and Palaeoclimate Group
Changes in the East Greenland Current and Deep Western Boundary Current
Contact: Professor Eelco Rohling
In a NERC-RAPID funded project, we are investigating the recent and past (last glacial cycle) changes in the East Greenland Current (EGC) and Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC), with emphasis on records from the region off the southern tip of Greenland. These current systems transport fresh water out of the Arctic (EGC), and for the deep limb of the thermohaline circulation (DWBC). Hydrographic data and sediment cores are being investigated, most of which were recovered during RV Discovery Cruise D298 in September 2005 (photos). An overview paper appeared in Nature (Rohling and Palike, 2005). One of the tied PhD students' papers (Stanford et al., Paleoceanography 2006) has been highlighted for interest in the Editor's Choice rubric of Science (26 January, 2007).
Figure 1: Choppy seas during Cruise D298
Left: Figure 2: Sediment coring during Cruise D298. Right: Figure 3: Water sampling during Cruise D298
Selected references
Hunter, S.E., Wilkinson, D., Stow, D.A.V., Bacon, S., Rohling, E.J., Stanford, J.D., Kenyon, N.H. and Akhmetzhanov, A. (2007) The Eirik Drift: A longterm barometer of North Atlantic Deep water flux south of Cape Farewell, Greenland. In, Viana, A. and Rebesco, M. (eds.) Economic and Paleoceanographic significance of contourite deposits. London, UK, Geological Society of London, 245-264. (Geological Society Special Publication 276).Rohling, E.J., Mayewski, P.A., Abu-Zied, R.H., Casford, J.S.L. and Hayes, A. (2002) Holocene atmosphere-ocean interactions: records from Greenland and the Aegean Sea. Climate Dynamics, 18, (7), 587-593. (doi:10.1007/s00382-001-0194-8)
Rohling, E.J. and Palike, H. (2005) Centennial-scale climate cooling with a sudden cold event around 8,200 years ago. Nature, 434, (7036), 975-979. (doi:10.1038/nature03421)
Stanford, J.D., Rohling, E.J., Hunter, S.H., Roberts, A.P., Rasmussen, S.O., Bard, E., McManus, J. and Fairbanks, R.G. (2006) Timing of meltwater pulse 1a and climate responses to meltwater injections.Paleoceanography, 21, (4), PA4103. (doi:10.1029/2006PA001340)
