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Synchronous bipolar retreat of mid-latitude ice masses during Heinrich Stadials

Nature Geoscience (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

Millennial-scale climate variability in polar ice cores exhibits interhemispheric temperature asynchronicity during the last glacial period, approximately 70,000 to 15,000 years ago. This bipolar seesaw pattern is most pronounced during Heinrich Stadials, which correspond to recurring severe cooling episodes in the North Atlantic region following a weakening of the Atlantic overturning circulation. However, mid-latitude ice sheets and glaciers displayed similar fluctuations in both hemispheres during the most recent Heinrich Stadials, complicating our understanding of interhemispheric teleconnections. Here we provide a continuous millennial-scale record of New Zealand glacier fluctuations over the last glacial period, through the analysis of glaciogenic sediments deposited offshore South Island. We find that millennial-scale glacial retreats in New Zealand occurred during Heinrich Stadials, coinciding with a southerly shift of the South Pacific Subtropical Front inferred from planktic foraminiferal assemblages, and were probably—if not very probably—synchronous (within 1–2 kyr) with enhanced meltwater and iceberg production from the North American and European ice sheets. These findings demonstrate that global retreat of mid-latitude ice masses is a persistent feature of Heinrich Stadials, possibly driven by global energy gain and sustained in the Southern Hemisphere by heat accumulation resulting from the weak Atlantic overturning circulation.

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Fig. 1: Location of the study area.
Fig. 2: Fluctuations of Fiordland glaciers and the STF from TAN1106-28 proxy records.
Fig. 3: Pacific glacier fluctuations and interhemispheric seesaw.
Fig. 4: Timing comparison of ice retreat between Fiordland and Alaska for HSs 1–6.
Fig. 5: Interhemispheric glacier fluctuations relative to HSs.

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Data availability

The datasets generated as part of this study (including chronological, foraminiferal, mineralogical and geochemical analyses performed on TAN1106-28) are available via the SEANOE repository at https://doi.org/10.17882/104634.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by INSU-LEFE/CNRS (MAOREE project) and Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-24-CE01-6090) grants to S.T. The TAN1106-28 core was collected during the R/V Tangaroa TAN1106 Solander Trough voyage. We acknowledge Captain D. Monks, the crew and the scientists on this voyage, led by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and funded by the New Zealand government. We also thank ARTEMIS (Saclay, France) and AWI-MICADAS (Bremerhaven, Germany) facilities for radiocarbon analyses; G. Denton, A. Putnam (University of Maine, USA), E. Capron (Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement, France) and M. Palin (University of Otago, New Zealand) for stimulating discussions at various stages of this work; G. Bayon and A. Trinquier (IFREMER, France) for assistance on MC-ICP-MS measurements; F. Dewilde (IUEM, France) for isotope-ratio mass spectrometer analyses; P. Gadd (ANSTO, Australia) for XRF core scanner measurements; and Y. Bichot, M. Pitel-Roudaut and N. Tanguy (IFREMER, France) for mapping.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geo-Ocean, Univ Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, UMR6538, Plouzane, France

    Samuel Toucanne, Natalia Vázquez Riveiros, Guillaume Soulet, Amandine Migeon, Angelique Roubi, Sandrine Cheron & Audrey Boissier

  2. CRPG, CNRS, Université de Lorraine, Vandoeuvre-les Nancy, France

    Pierre-Henri Blard

  3. Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Vincent Rigalleau

  4. Climate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Laurie Menviel

  5. Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Laurie Menviel

  6. School of the Environment, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia

    Helen Bostock

  7. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New Zealand

    Helen Bostock

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  1. Samuel Toucanne
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Contributions

S.T. designed and led the research aided by H.B., N.V.R., G.S., P.H.B. and L.M.; G.S., S.T. and H.B. constructed the age model; S.T. conducted the geochemical and mineralogical analyses with assistance from S.C., A.B. and V.R.; A.M., A.R., H.B., N.V.R. and S.T produced and analysed the planktic foraminiferal data; L.M. carried out the LOVECLIM experiments; S.T interpreted data and results, and drafted the paper with assistance from all authors.

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Correspondence to Samuel Toucanne.

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Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1 Paleoclimatic and mineralogical/geochemical data for TAN1106-28.

a, Planktonic (G. bulloides) δ18O data. b, Summer sea-surface temperature (sSST) estimates from the planktic foraminifera N. pachyderma. c, Latitudinal STF shifts derived from planktonic foraminifera assemblages. The thick lines in b and c represent the 3-point moving average. d, εNd values for the medium-coarse silt (10-63 μm; blue), fine silt (2-10 μm; red), and clay-size ( < 2 μm; black) fractions of the detrital sediment. External reproducibility of ±0.08 ε (2σ). e, (amphibole + plagioclase) / quartz (A + P/Q) ratio ( < 63 µm; orange), the illite content ( < 2 µm; green), and the Fiordland glaciation index (GI; grey). f, Ti/K ratio measured by WD-XRF ( < 63 µm; black) and XRF core scanner (bulk; grey). EWFB: Eastern-Western Fiordland belts; SWFB: Southwest Fiordland block (Fig. 1). Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) are numbered. Radiocarbon dates (triangles) and calendar tie-points (circles) are also shown.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Sources and pathways of Solander Trough sediments.

Mean εNd (that is, 143Nd/144Nd) versus (amphibole + plagioclase) / quartz (A + P/Q) composition of Fiordland-Southland (open symbols) and TAN1106-28 (coloured circles) detrital sediment (upper panel; Extended Data Tables 1 and 2). Isotopic/mineralogical data from the Fiordland’s interior are from published data, including εNd (measured on rock samples) for the ~felsic SWFB (purple; for example, Paleozoic granite and quartzofeldspathic metasediments101) and the ~intermediate to mafic EWFB (green; for example, Jurassic-Cretaceous (meta)igneous rocks101)102,103,104,105,106,107,108. Grey lines represent binary mixing curves (10% mixing steps) which provide successful fits to the TAN1106-28 data (including those interpreted as Fiordland Otiran glacier maxima, FO). The palaeogeographical maps (lower panel) depict the relationship between the compositional signatures of TAN1106-28 sediment and the Fiordland glacier extent. Ice coverage correspond to equilibrium line altitude at ~1,500 m (today109; left lower panel), ~1,000 m (central panel) and ~400 m (LLGM110,111; right panel). Open symbols (left lower panel) show the location of the Fiordland-Southland detrital sediment (Extended Data Table 2), as in the upper panel. Coloured arrows depict the sediment routings from SWFB/EWFB sources. Continous lines depict the bed and suspended load from sources directly connected to the Solander Trough (for example, Waiau River, and Chalky inlet), while dashed arrows depict suspended sediment flux transported by the Fiordland Current. Red lines east of Fiordland lakes depict the sediment trapping efficiency: null when ice reached out onto the foreland (right lower panel), total in ice-free conditions (left panel; thick red lines), intermediate when glaciers occupied valleys (central panel; thin red lines). The latter configuration, with glacial flour reaching the downstream river (thin green arrows, central lower panel), is observed today at the outlet of turbid glacier-fed lakes (for example Pukaki Lake).

Extended Data Fig. 3 Fiordland glacier fluctuations and their regional-to-hemispheric counterparts.

a, Ice-thickness chronology in the Rangitata Valley, central South Island, based on the dating of kame terraces (circles; letters refer to site locations)34. The Rangitata ice advances R1-R6 (grey bands)112 are also shown. b, Fiordland GI (grey), and the mean εNd values of the clay-silt fractions of the detrital sediment at TAN1106-28 (blue; ±2σ, blue shading). External reproducibility on discrete samples of ±0.08 ε (2σ). The arrows on the TAN1106-28 proxy records show the R1-R6 counterparts. Vertical dashed lines highlight Fiordland Otiran peak glaciation (FO), with their age uncertainties (horizontal lines, in c). c, Glacier chronologies from U-Th dating of cave speleothems above Lake Te Anau, Fiordland27 (grey squares), and from 10Be moraine dating (probability plots with their age uncertainties generated with Chronomodel 2.0 Bayesian software113,114,115; y-axis on arbitrary scales) from central Southern Alps of New Zealand (grey)21,116,117,118 and the Falklands119 (blue), where past glacier fluctuations resemble those in New Zealand21,119. All published 10Be exposure ages were homogenised using the CREp online calculator120 and the SH calibration sites121,122. Probability for moraine survival based on ref. 123. Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) are numbered.

Extended Data Fig. 4 Comparison of glacier fluctuations in Fiordland and western Patagonia.

a, Mass accumulation rates (MAR) of n-alkane (continuous line) and dry bulk density (DBD; dashed line) at site MR16-09 PC03 (Fig. 1), southeast Pacific (46°S), as marker for fluctuations of the southern Patagonian ice field (SPI)50. Based on these data and the original interpretation in ref. 50, we propose below a summary view of ice fluctuations (that is mass balance changes) in this region (ice growth for MAR n-alkanes > 3000 mg/ka.cm2 and DBD > 0.65 g/cm3). b, Glacier chronologies for eastern SPI (51-53°S) from 10Be moraine dating (probability plots with their age uncertainties generated with Chronomodel 2.0 Bayesian software113,114,115; y-axis on arbitrary scales)124,125,126. The Local LGM (LLGM) at these latitudes occurred ca. 47 ka (green triangle in a)37. The high preservation of moraines from ca. 30-25 ka onwards (n = 12) highlights the first-order net decrease in glacier extent in Patagonia37. All published 10Be exposure ages were homogenised using the CREp online calculator120 and the SH calibration sites121,122. c, Mean εNd values of the clay-silt fractions of the detrital sediment at TAN1106-28 (blue; ±2σ, blue shading), and the Fiordland GI (grey). A summary view of ice fluctuations in the Fiordland region from TAN1106-28 is shown ( = first-order changes in εNd values; see Fig. 2c). The timing of the Fiordland Otiran (FO) glacier maxima (including the Fiordland LLGM at ca. 45 ka, FO6) are also shown. Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) are numbered.

Extended Data Fig. 5 LOVECLIM simulations.

Climatic anomalies associated with the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, compared to 2 ka; panel a) and Heinrich Stadials (HSs, compared with interstadials; panel b) in the New Zealand region, as simulated in LOVECLIM40. Colder SST (relative to 2 ka) prevailed at the LGM ( = equatorward STF shift), together with drier conditions over New Zealand and the Tasman Sea. The westerlies were certainly not as strong as shown by the model39. If the westerlies were indeed weaker over the south of New Zealand at the LGM, then the aridity over the Fiordland region at the global LGM were certainly more important than those estimated in the simulations (Supplementary Fig. 2). During HSs (equivalent to AIM events), warmer SST (relative to the interstadials) prevailed ( = poleward STF shift), together with weaker westerlies over New Zealand and dryer conditions. These conditions, as was possibly the case during the global LGM, favoured glacier withdrawal (that is negative mass balance) over Fiordland. Left panels: annual mean sea-surface temperatures (SST, °C; shading) anomalies for LGM compared to 2 ka in the upper panel (a), and for HSs relative to interstadial conditions in the lower panel (b), with subtropical front (STF) overlaid (red lines for LGM and HS, black lines for 2 ka and interstadial). The STF is defined as the southern-most location of the 11 °C isotherm at 120 m water depth. Right panels: winter (June, July, August; JJA) precipitation (cm/yr; shading) and 800 mb winds (m/s; vectors) anomalies. The LGM is defined at 21 ka (200 yrs average, 21.2 to 21 ka). Composite data are used for HSs (HS3 at 30-29.8 ka, HS3.2 at 36-35.8 ka and HS4 at 39.6-39.4 ka) and the interstadials (31.8-31.6 ka, 36.8-36.6 ka and 41.2-41 ka). See ref. 40 for details on the simulation. The location of the Fiordland icefield and marine core site TAN1106-28 (white stars) and of Talos Dome (TD; white circles) are also shown. Geographical data from ref. 53.

Extended Data Fig. 6 dln from the Pacific sector of Antarctica, and the TAN1106-28 proxy records.

a, Summer sea-surface temperature (sSST) estimates at TAN1106-28 from the planktic foraminifera N. pachyderma (blue; 3-point moving average), and sampled SST from Talos (TAL) Dome6,127,128 (light blue). WDC dln anomaly8 (grey; thick line is 5-point moving average) are also shown. b, sSST estimates at TAN1106-28 (as in a) together with the mm-scale XRF ln(Canorm) for TAN1106-28 (dark blue; together with the Calcium content, open circles), known as a proxy for biogenic carbonate productivity77. c, XRF ln(Canorm) for TAN1106-28 (dark blue; as in b), the percentage of the (foraminifera-rich) >63 µm fraction (light purple) and WDC dln anomaly8 (as in a). The location of Talos dome and WDC is shown in Fig. 1 and Extended Data Fig. 5. Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) and Heinrich Stadials (HS) are numbered.

Extended Data Fig. 7 Interhemispheric comparison of glaciogenic sedimentary sequences.

a, Channel River meltwater flood originating from the Baltic Ice Stream, European Ice Sheet (EIS)12,129, and the associated (summary) EIS mass-balance changes (based on original interpretations from ref. 12). b, Terrigenous and ice-rafted debris (IRD) fluxes (mass accumulation rates, MAR) west of the Cordilleran Ice sheet (CIS)11, and the associated (summary) CIS mass-balance changes (based on original interpretations from ref. 11). c, Summary for glacier mass-balance changes (as in a, b; Extended Data Fig. 4 and Supplementary Fig. 3), and the global composite signal (NH-SH sum.; lower part) in which the blue/yellow intervals correspond to positive (glacier advance) / negative (retreat) mass balance, respectively. Coloured intervals (highlighted by horizontal black lines) correspond to period of similar signal (+/-) in glacier mass balance in all reconstructions (except at ca. 25-20 ka, where only three of the four regions have a similar signal; see the horizontal red lines). Triangles in a,b and c show the timing of local Last Glacial Maximum (LLGM)37,130,131. d, Antarctica WDC δ18O (grey; thick line is 5-point moving average) and CO2 (black) records6,7. e, Greenland NGRIP δ18O (grey; thick line is 5-point moving average), aligned to WDC6. Coloured intervals as in c (that is, NH-SH sum.). Marine Isotope Stages (MIS), Antarctic Isotope Maxima (AIM) and Heinrich Stadials (HS) are numbered.

Extended Data Table 1 Mineralogical-geochemical data for TAN1106-28
Full size table
Extended Data Table 2 Mineralogical-geochemical source proxies for the Fiordland-Southland regions
Full size table
Extended Data Table 3 Timing for NH-SH Pacific glacier retreats during Heinrich Stadials
Full size table

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–5, Supplementary Information (Oxcal code) and references.

Supplementary Tables 1–4

Supplementary Table 1. Chronological data for core TAN1106-28. Supplementary Table 2. Calendar age-depth model for core TAN1106-28. Supplementary Table 3. Proxy-based reconstructions of SST and STF at site TAN1106-28. Supplementary Table 4. The Fiordland GI.

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Toucanne, S., Vázquez Riveiros, N., Soulet, G. et al. Synchronous bipolar retreat of mid-latitude ice masses during Heinrich Stadials. Nat. Geosci. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01887-x

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