Fig. 5: Schematic of the bipolar ‘ventilation seesaw’ concept. | Communications Earth & Environment

Fig. 5: Schematic of the bipolar ‘ventilation seesaw’ concept.

From: Southern Ocean convection amplified past Antarctic warming and atmospheric CO2 rise during Heinrich Stadial 4

Fig. 5

An alternating dominance of buoyancy (and heat) loss from the North Atlantic (right) and Southern Ocean (left), balances buoyancy and heat input at low latitudes, for a Greenland-interstadial, and b Greenland-stadial conditions. Enhanced air–sea exchange associated with water-mass conversion in the Southern Ocean enhances heat- and carbon loss from the southern abyssal cell, and increases its oxygen and radiocarbon content (note that the northern cell will typically remain warmer and better ventilated than the abyssal southern cell). Red arrows at the ocean surface indicate buoyancy fluxes of different approximate magnitudes. Weakened overturning cells are indicated by dashed continuous arrows; strengthened cells by heavy solid continuous arrows.

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