Subtropical versus subpolar freshwater routing: The pathways of icebergs and meltwater in the North Atlantic during deglaciation

Abstract:

Marine sediment records reveal episodes of increased ice rafted debris (IRD) to the subpolar N. Atlantic (40N-50N) during deglaciation that are linked to the calving of enormous numbers of icebergs from the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets. There is considerable interest, and uncertainty, as to whether meltwater from these icebergs freshened the ocean sufficiently to weaken the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Very recently, hundreds of iceberg scours have been observed along the east coast of the United States as far south as Florida. The iceberg scours are oriented SSW along the coast and are observed in water depths up to several hundred meters deep, indicating that massive (up to 300m thick) icebergs once drifted along the east coast of N. America into the subtropics during deglaciation. A newly developed iceberg model (MITberg) is coupled to an eddy-permitting ocean model to show that icebergs are carried south to Florida by coastally-confined meltwater currents caused by the sudden release of large volumes of meltwater from Hudson Bay and/or Gulf of St. Lawrence. When meltwater fluxes exceed 2.5Sv simulated icebergs drift as far south as Miami, Florida, and thousands are carried into the center of the subtropical gyre by narrow meltwater filaments and instabilities along the boundary current. When the meltwater flood ends, icebergs can no longer drift into the subtropics, and quickly become confined to the subpolar gyre where the majority of IRD is found. Our results indicate that icebergs and meltwater from the north did not always directly freshening the subpolar gyre, but were periodically transported south of the main subpolar deep water formation regions that regulate AMOC strength and climate. Dating the observed iceberg scours will tell us exactly how active and persistent this coastally-confined meltwater pathway was during deglaciation and help us unravel why there is not always a clear relationship between increased high latitude freshwater forcing and climate cooling.