The Gulf Stream moved northward at the end of the Little Ice Age

Abstract The Gulf Stream forms part of the upper-ocean limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, playing an essential role in redistributing heat northward and greatly influencing regional climates in the North Atlantic. Understanding Gulf Stream path and strength variability on pre-instrumental timescales is vital to contextualise its proposed present-day weakening and to better appreciate its sensitivity to external forcing. Here we present a 564 year-long monthly resolved terrestrial palaeo-oceanographic temperature record derived from a Bermudan stalagmite, spanning 1449 to 2013 in the Common Era. Our reconstruction suggests that the Gulf Stream migrated northward as the Little Ice Age abated, after a combination of reduced Gulf Stream transport, enhanced Labrador Current and Deep Western Boundary Current transport, and an extended negative North Atlantic Oscillation phase had likely forced its path southward.

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Publication Details

Journal
Communications Earth & Environment
Published
2025-07-14
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02446-3
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.60

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article

The Gulf Stream moved northward at the end of the Little Ice Age

Andrew J. Peters, James U.L. Baldini, David A. Richards, Struan R. Smith et al.
3 citations
Communications Earth & Environment
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
2.60
article

The Gulf Stream moved northward at the end of the Little Ice Age

Andrew J. Peters, James U.L. Baldini, David A. Richards, Struan R. Smith, Lisa M. Baldini, Cameron McIntyre, Franziska A. Lechleitner, Wolfgang Müller, Izabela Walczak, D. C. Niţă, R. A. Jamieson, Edward Forman
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Abstract The Gulf Stream forms part of the upper-ocean limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, playing an essential role in redistributing heat northward and greatly influencing regional climates in the North Atlantic. Understanding Gulf Stream path and strength variability on pre-instrumental timescales is vital to contextualise its proposed present-day weakening and to better appreciate its sensitivity to external forcing. Here we present a 564 year-long monthly resolved terrestrial palaeo-oceanographic temperature record derived from a Bermudan stalagmite, spanning 1449 to 2013 in the Common Era. Our reconstruction suggests that the Gulf Stream migrated northward as the Little Ice Age abated, after a combination of reduced Gulf Stream transport, enhanced Labrador Current and Deep Western Boundary Current transport, and an extended negative North Atlantic Oscillation phase had likely forced its path southward.

Communications Earth & EnvironmentVol. 6(1)
Goethe University Frankfurt (DE), Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (CH), Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BM), University of Leeds (GB), Durham University (GB), Bermuda College (BM), Babeș-Bolyai University (RO), ETH Zurich (CH), University of Bristol (GB), Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (GB), University of Southampton (GB), Teesside University (GB)
Durham University
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
2.60
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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