The Gulf Stream moved northward at the end of the Little Ice Age
The Gulf Stream moved northward at the end of the Little Ice Age
The Gulf Stream forms part of the upper-ocean limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, playing an essential role in redistributing heat northward and greatly influencing regional climates in the North Atlantic. Understanding Gulf Stream path and strength variability on pre-instrumental timescales is vital to contextualise its proposed present-day weakening and to better appreciate its sensitivity to external forcing. Here we present a 564 year-long monthly resolved terrestrial palaeo-oceanographic temperature record derived from a Bermudan stalagmite, spanning 1449 to 2013 in the Common Era. Our reconstruction suggests that the Gulf Stream migrated northward as the Little Ice Age abated, after a combination of reduced Gulf Stream transport, enhanced Labrador Current and Deep Western Boundary Current transport, and an extended negative North Atlantic Oscillation phase likely forced its path southward.
Forman, Edward C.G.
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Baldini, James U.L.
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Jamieson, Robert A.
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Lechleitner, Franziska A.
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Walczak, Izabela W.
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Nita, Dan C.
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Smith, Struan R.
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Richards, David A.
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Baldini, Lisa M.
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McIntyre, Cameron
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Muller, Wolfgang
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Peters, Andrew J.
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14 July 2025
Forman, Edward C.G.
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Baldini, James U.L.
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Jamieson, Robert A.
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Lechleitner, Franziska A.
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Walczak, Izabela W.
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Nita, Dan C.
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Smith, Struan R.
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Richards, David A.
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Baldini, Lisa M.
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McIntyre, Cameron
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Muller, Wolfgang
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Peters, Andrew J.
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Forman, Edward C.G., Baldini, James U.L., Jamieson, Robert A., Lechleitner, Franziska A., Walczak, Izabela W., Nita, Dan C., Smith, Struan R., Richards, David A., Baldini, Lisa M., McIntyre, Cameron, Muller, Wolfgang and Peters, Andrew J.
(2025)
The Gulf Stream moved northward at the end of the Little Ice Age.
Communications Earth & Environment, 6 (1), [552].
(doi:10.1038/s43247-025-02446-3).
Abstract
The Gulf Stream forms part of the upper-ocean limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, playing an essential role in redistributing heat northward and greatly influencing regional climates in the North Atlantic. Understanding Gulf Stream path and strength variability on pre-instrumental timescales is vital to contextualise its proposed present-day weakening and to better appreciate its sensitivity to external forcing. Here we present a 564 year-long monthly resolved terrestrial palaeo-oceanographic temperature record derived from a Bermudan stalagmite, spanning 1449 to 2013 in the Common Era. Our reconstruction suggests that the Gulf Stream migrated northward as the Little Ice Age abated, after a combination of reduced Gulf Stream transport, enhanced Labrador Current and Deep Western Boundary Current transport, and an extended negative North Atlantic Oscillation phase likely forced its path southward.
Text
s43247-025-02446-3
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Accepted/In Press date: 4 June 2025
Published date: 14 July 2025
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Local EPrints ID: 503302
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/503302
PURE UUID: d7dc60b7-8193-4143-ad98-325723c3d5fd
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Date deposited: 29 Jul 2025 16:31
Last modified: 22 Aug 2025 02:46
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Contributors
Author:
Edward C.G. Forman
Author:
James U.L. Baldini
Author:
Robert A. Jamieson
Author:
Franziska A. Lechleitner
Author:
Izabela W. Walczak
Author:
Dan C. Nita
Author:
Struan R. Smith
Author:
David A. Richards
Author:
Lisa M. Baldini
Author:
Cameron McIntyre
Author:
Wolfgang Muller
Author:
Andrew J. Peters
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