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Interglacial Climates

Studies of the duration and stability of previous interglacials provide insight into recent climate trends and the future of our current interglacial.  Studies of the last interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 5; MIS 5) and an interglacial ~400,000 years ago (MIS 11) are especially relevant because they were both relatively warm, yet characterized by different orbital geometries.  The orbital geometry of MIS 11 was most like the current interglacial, and many consider it the best analogue of the Holocene.

Our work suggests that peak warmth of last interglacial was shorter than previously thought and demonstrate a close association between modest ice rafting, cooling, and deep ocean circulation even during the peak of the interglacial and in the earliest stages of ice growth.

Latest Publications

  • Evans, H.K., Hall, I.R., Bianchi, G.G.  & Oppo, D.W. Intermediate Water links to Deep Western Boundary Current variability in the subtropical NW Atlantic during Marine Isotope Stages 5 and 4, Paleoceanography, 22, PA3209, doi:10.1029/2006PA001409, 2007.
  • Oppo, D. W., J. F. McManus, J. L. Cullen, Evolution and demise of the Last Interglacial warmth in the North Atlantic, Quaternary Science Reviews, 10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.07.006; 2006. pdf

Related Publications

  • Sprovieri, R., E. Di Stefano, A. Incarbona and D. W. Oppo, Suborbital climate variability during marine isotope stage 5 in the Mediterranean basin: evidence from planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossil relative abundance fluctuations, Quaternary Science Reviews. 25 2332-2342, 2006.
  • de Abreu,  L., F. Abrantes, N. J. Shackleton, P. C. Tzedakis, J. F. McManus, D. W. Oppo, and  M. A. Hall,  Ocean climate variability in the Eastern North Atlantic during interglacial MIS 11:  A partial analogue to the Holocene?, Paleoceanography, 20, PA3009, doi:10.1029/2004PA001091, 2005.
  • Jackson, M., N. Oskarsson, R. G. Trønnes, J. F. McManus, D. W. Oppo, K. Grönvold, S. R. Hart, J. P. Sachs, Holocene loess deposition in Iceland: Evidence for millenial-scale atmosphere-ocean coupling in the North Atlantic, Geology, 33, 509-512; doi: 10.1130/G21489.1, 2005.
  • Draut, A. E., Raymo, M. E., McManus, J. F., Oppo, D. W. Climate stability during the Pliocene warm, Paleoceanography, 18, doi:10.1029/2003PA000889, 2003.
  • Huesser, L. and D. Oppo, Millennial- and orbital-scale climate variability in southeastern United States and in the subtropical Atlantic during Marine Isotope Stage 5: evidence from pollen and isotopes in ODP Site 1059, Earth and Planet. Sci. Letts.,  214, 283-290, 2003.
  • Oppo, D. W., J. F. McManus, and J. L. Cullen, Deepwater variability in the Holocene Epoch, Nature 422, 277-278, 2003.
  • Rasmusssen, T. L, D. W. Oppo, E. Thompson, S. J. Lehman, Deep sea records from the southeast Labrador Sea: Ocean circulation changes and ice-rafting events during the last 160,000 years, Paleoceanography, 18, doi:10.1029/2001PA000736, 2003.
  • McManus, J. F., D. W. Oppo, J. L. Cullen, and S. L. Healey, Marine Isotope Stage 11 (MIS 11): Analog for Holocene and future climate? In "Geophysical Monograph 137, Earth's Climate and Orbital Eccentricity: The Marine Isotope Stage 11 Question." (A. Droxler, R. Poore, L. Burckle, and L. Osterman, Eds.), pp. 69-85. AGU, 2003.
  • McManus, J.F., Oppo, D.W., Keigwin, L.D. and Cullen, J.L..  Prolonged interglacial warmth in the North Atlantic and the onset of the last Pleistocene ice age. Quaternary Research, 58, 17-21, 2002.
  • Oppo, D. W., L. D. Keigwin, J. F. McManus, and J. L. Cullen, Evidence for millennial scale variability during Marine Isotope Stage 5 and Termination II, Paleoceanography, 16, 280-292, 2001.
  • McManus, J. F., D. W. Oppo, J. L. Cullen, 0.5 Million years of millennial-scale climate variability in the North Atlantic, Science, 283, 971-975, 1999.
  • Raymo, M. E., K. Ganley, S. Carter, D. W. Oppo, and J. McManus, High latitude climate instability in the Early Pleistocene, Nature, 392, 699-702, 1998.
  • Oppo, D. W., J. F. McManus, and J. L. Cullen, Abrupt Climate Events 500,000 - 340,000 years ago: Evidence From subpolar North Atlantic sediments, Science, 279, 1335-1338, 1998.
  • Oppo, D. W., M. Horowitz, S.J. Lehman, Marine core evidence for reduced deep water production during Termination II followed by a relatively stable substage 5e (Eemian), Paleoceanography, 12, 51-63, 1997.

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Related Links

Evolution and demise of the Last Interglacial warmth in the subpolar North Atlantic