Deglacial surface circulation changes in the northeastern Atlantic: Temperature and salinity records off NW Scotland on a century scale

Sea surface temperature and salinity estimates reconstructed from a core collected on the Barra Fan, northwest Scotland (56 degrees 43 ' N, 09 degrees 19 ' W; water depth 1320 m) deglacial period that are very similar to those observed in the delta(18)O records from Greenland ice cores. These records indicate that the transport of heat and salt toward the Nordic Seas was highest during the Belling period. This ''superconveyor'' weakened after the Boiling, probably as a consequence of increased meltwater flux reducing the oceanic salt content, as suggested by the Barbados sea-level record. Evidence for a phase of ice rafting during the Allerod is presented for the first time from this latitude in the northeast Atlantic. The Younger Dryas stadial, resolved here at a century/decadal scale, is characterized by very rapid oscillations in temperature and salinity, indicating that warm, relatively saline waters repeatedly displaced cool polar waters at this latitude. These observations attest to the inherent instability of the deglacial climate system.