The synchronization of palaeoclimatic events in the North Atlantic region during Greenland Stadial 3 (ca 27.5 to 23.3 kyr b2k)

Two high resolution marine sediment cores located 83 km apart in the NE Atlantic have been studied: MD95-2006 (Barra Fan; 57 degrees 01.82 N. 10 degrees 03.48 W; 2120 m water depth) and MD04-2822 (Rockall Trough; 56 degrees 50.54 N, 11 degrees 22.96 W; 2344 m water depth). The records are anchored to the NGRIP ice core stratigraphy and GICCO5 chronology by the presence of geochemically characterized Fugloyarbanki tephra and further tested by radiocarbon age control. Replicated sea surface temperature (SST) records show evidence for an abrupt and short-lived warming within Greenland Stadial (GS)-3, to which we tentatively assign an age of ca 25.6-24.8 kyr GICCO5 b2k. Based on these and another marine palaeoclimate record (LINK17) from the Faroe-Shetland Channel. we propose a new three-fold event stratigraphy for GS-3 within the North East Atlantic region. The recognition of this warming event within GS-3 in NE Atlantic SST records demonstrates that such events may not readily be identified within the coldest stadials of the Greenland ice cores, highlights the need for carefully constructed event stratigraphies (independently tested by the use of tephra isochrones and radiocarbon) and illustrates pervasive millennial-scale climate variability of the North Atlantic region (Dansgaard-Oeschger (D/O) events) is deeply embedded in the dynamics of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.