Evidence for a Northern Hemispheric trigger of the 100,000-y glacial cyclicity

Significance Causes of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) from 41- to 100-ky interglacial–glacial cyclicity are debated because it occurred without changes in solar forcing, thus indicating internal climatic drivers. This study reconstructs the deep Atlantic Ocean water-mass structure through the MPT using neodymium isotopes and distinguishes Northern and Southern Hemisphere precursors. North Atlantic results document changes in glacial erosion/weathering preceding the cyclicity shift, including a major erosional episode just before a global ocean circulation weakening between ∽950–860 ka. The findings indicate changes in Northern Hemispheric ice sheets prior to that weakening were central in shaping the cyclicity shift and the post-MPT glacial climate, whereby removal of weathered material exposed crystalline bedrock, resulting in increased bedrock–ice friction that facilitated larger ice sheets. The causes of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, the shift from ∼41-ky to 100-ky interglacial–glacial cycles and more intense ice ages, remain intensely debated, as this fundamental change occurred between ∼1,250 and 650 ka without substantial changes in astronomical climate forcings. Recent studies disagree about the relative importance of events and processes in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, as well as whether the shift occurred gradually over several interglacial–glacial cycles or abruptly at ∼900 ka. We address these issues using a north-to-south reconstruction of the Atlantic arm of the global meridional overturning ocean circulation, a primary means for distributing heat around the globe, using neodymium (Nd) isotopes. Results reveal a period of intense erosion affecting the cratonic shields surrounding the North Atlantic between Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 27 and 25 (∼980 and 950 ka), reflected by unusually low Nd isotope ratios in deep North Atlantic seawater. This episode preceded a major ocean circulation weakening between MIS 25 and 21 (950 and 860 ka) that coincided with the first ∼100-ky-long interglacial–glacial onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation at around 2.4 to 2.8 Ma. The data point to a Northern Hemisphere–sourced initiation for the transition, possibly induced through regolith loss and increased exposure of the crystalline bedrock, which would lead to increased friction, enabling larger ice sheets that are characteristic of the 100-ky interglacial–glacial cycles.

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