Younger Dryas Caused by Ice Dam Collapse?

**baywax** · Nov17-09, 01:21 AM

This is a story that just came out today (Nov. 16, 2009):

Here's the story:

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-p...tml?id=2228018

Here's the paper:

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=20683217

Of course, its all Canada's fault again.

**willem2** · Nov17-09, 03:01 AM

The newspaper story is about a different paper. The paper you linked to has another author, and it is about the rapid end of the younger dryas after the collapse of an icedam in the Bering straight and not in Saskatoon, Canadaa.

**baywax** · Nov17-09, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by willem2

The newspaper story is about a different paper. The paper you linked to has another author, and it is about the rapid end of the younger dryas after the collapse of an icedam in the Bering straight and not in Saskatoon, Canadaa.

Oops

All I've got for you is this quote from the "Ottawa Citizen"

"The findings, presented at the recent BOREAS climate conference in Finland, are highlighted in the latest issue of New Scientist."

No link as of yet.

**Andre** · Nov18-09, 03:48 AM

It's always amazing to see how a major oceanic event is explained with local mechanims like changes in drainage of melting ice sheets. Also interesting that both the start and the end of the event are explained by a similar event

If you can stop and restart gulfstreams with that, could explain the features in the North Atlantic like the Cariaco basin, but it's pretty hard to maintain that with similar events in the Pacific, like the Santa Barbara basin of California. Due to the big lag in the world wide oceanic conveyor belt, it's a bit awkward to expect near simultanous reaction due to a local event in the North Atlantic.

Also mind that the isotopic behavior of the Greenland ice sheet during the Dansgaard Oeschger events (dD, d18O and d - deuterium excess) are practically identical with the Younger Dryas (Masson-Delmotte et al 2005). Would this suggest that all these events are caused by a ice dam breach, due to the melting of major ice sheets, every few thousand years?

I think that the claim of solving the cause of the Younger Dryas with that kind of geologic pinpricks is a bit too bold.

**baywax** · Nov18-09, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by Andre

It's always amazing to see how a major oceanic event is explained with local mechanims like changes in drainage of melting ice sheets. Also interesting that both the start and the end of the event are explained by a similar event

If you can stop and restart gulfstreams with that, could explain the features in the North Atlantic like the Cariaco basin, but it's pretty hard to maintain that with similar events in the Pacific, like the Santa Barbara basin of California. Due to the big lag in the world wide oceanic conveyor belt, it's a bit awkward to expect near simultanous reaction due to a local event in the North Atlantic.

Also mind that the isotopic behavior of the Greenland ice sheet during the Dansgaard Oeschger events (dD, d18O and d - deuterium excess) are practically identical with the Younger Dryas (Masson-Delmotte et al 2005). Would this suggest that all these events are caused by a ice dam breach, due to the melting of major ice sheets, every few thousand years?

I think that the claim of solving the cause of the Younger Dryas with that kind of geologic pinpricks is a bit too bold.

That's why I asked Andre! I remember discussing this idea quite a while ago in this section... something about the Columbia Ice fields melting and effecting the the Gulf Stream off of what is now New York. Your assessment was similar in that it seemed to little an influence to effect such a large system. Ever onward! Thank you!