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Poleward displacement of the Southern Hemisphere Westerlies in response to Early Holocene warming

Perren, Bianca B.; Kaiser, Jérôme; Arz, Helge W.; Dellwig, Olaf; Hodgson, Dominic A.; Lamy, Frank

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Authors

Bianca B. Perren

Jérôme Kaiser

Helge W. Arz

Olaf Dellwig

Dominic A. Hodgson

Frank Lamy



Abstract

Recent intensification of the Southern Hemisphere Westerlies has resulted in important changes to ocean circulation, Antarctic ice shelf stability and precipitation regimes in the continents abutting the Southern Ocean. Efforts to resolve the natural behaviour of the Westerlies over sub-millennial to millennial-timescales are critical to anticipating future changes with continued 21st Century warming. Here we present an ~11,000 year diatom-inferred sea salt aerosol and multiproxy geochemical record preserved in lake sediments from Cape Horn (56°S) which documents warm conditions and stronger-than-present Westerlies in the Early Holocene (10 000–7500 calibrated years before present) at this site. Combined with other regional records, we demonstrate that the Westerlies were poleward of their current position during the Early Holocene. This poleward migration of the Southern Hemisphere Westerlies in response to peak Holocene warmth provides an analogue for future warming and greater impacts on the southern high latitudes and global climate in the coming decades.

Citation

Perren, B. B., Kaiser, J., Arz, H. W., Dellwig, O., Hodgson, D. A., & Lamy, F. (2025). Poleward displacement of the Southern Hemisphere Westerlies in response to Early Holocene warming. Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1), Article 164. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02129-z

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 13, 2025
Online Publication Date Feb 28, 2025
Publication Date 2025
Deposit Date Mar 10, 2025
Publicly Available Date Mar 10, 2025
Journal Communications Earth & Environment
Electronic ISSN 2662-4435
Publisher Nature Research
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 6
Issue 1
Article Number 164
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02129-z
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3560277

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