Prof. Edouard Bard
In contrast with the last few millennia that are characterized by a rather stable climate, the period between 21000 and 6000 years before present experienced a complete reorganization of all climate compartments, e.g. atmosphere, ice sheets and ocean, lakes and rivers. It is only recently that paleotemperature records covering the last deglaciation have become available at a global scale, including tropical sites that are very remote from the main center of variation linked to the melting of former ice-sheets on each side of the North-Atlantic basin. In addition, the dating of these records is now sufficiently accurate and precise to allow meaningful compilation and comparisons with model simulations performed in a transient mode.
These works allow to estimate the phase relationships between causes (insolation and the greenhouse effect) and the responses, often abrupt, of the various components of the climate system such as the atmosphere, oceans and ice sheets. To illustrate this growing research field, I will show some of our recent work on deglacial sea level based on tropical corals and then go on to consider the associated changes in selected records from the marine environment. The aim will be to illustrate the complex linkage between sea-level rise, paleoclimatic changes and the reactivation of rivers during the last deglaciation.
Event Information: Date, Time: 01/12/2014, 17:30 h – 19:00 h
