Protracted ocean circulation slowdown drove exceptional ice-sheet melting during ice age termination IV
Journal
Nature Communications
Journal Volume
17
Journal Issue
1
ISSN
2041-1723
Date Issued
2026-06-16
Author(s)
Hu, Hsun-Ming
Marino, Gianluca
Sánchez Goñi, María Fernanda
Rohling, Eelco
Rodrigues, Teresa
Pérez-Mejías, Carlos
Ren, Qiuping
Jiang, Xiuyang
Michel, Véronique
Valensi, Patricia
Starnini, Elisabetta
Zunino, Marta
Salonen, J. Sakari
Hsieh, Chieh-Ju
Tan, Liangcheng
Chaigneau, Baptiste
Chevalier, Maud
Abstract
Glacial terminations stand out for their high rates of sea-level rise, particularly during meltwater pulses. Termination IV (T-IV; ~340,000 years before present) is a prominent example, with sea level rising at up to ~5 m per century. Due to sparse absolute age constraints on marine records, the causes for the high rates of sea-level rise at T-IV remain elusive. In this work, we provide a speleothem chronology from northern Italy, which we transpose to North Atlantic marine records. We infer that the high T-IV sea-level rise rate likely relates to a feedback whereby protracted meltwater release caused enhanced ocean heat storage, followed by heat release upon circulation recovery, driving additional ice-sheet collapse. This analysis highlights the critical role of oceanic feedbacks in driving exceptional rates of sea-level rise during terminations.
Subjects
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean (North)
chronology
ice sheet
marine record
melting
meltwater
oceanic circulation
Pleistocene
sea level change
speleothem
age
article
controlled study
ice age
Italy
melting point
ocean circulation
sea level
sea level rise
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Type
journal article