Sensitivity of the Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone to Last Glacial Maximum boundary conditions

Abstract

Recent paleoproxy records suggest that the mean latitude of the Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) varied synchronously with North Atlantic climate over a range of timescales throughout the Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum. We show that the present‐day “meridional mode” of atmosphere‐ocean variability in the tropical Atlantic is a potentially useful model for understanding these paleoclimate changes. The tropical Atlantic in a coupled atmospheric general circulation and slab ocean model responds to Last Glacial Maximum conditions with a southward displacement of the ITCZ. This response arises primarily through the land ice sheet that forces increased North Atlantic trades analogous to the forcing on the present‐day meridional mode. Changes to sea ice coverage and to ocean heat transport associated with a weakened Atlantic thermohaline circulation also cause a meridional mode response, though through different mechanisms. Our results highlight the potential for tropical Atlantic paleoclimate to be driven from the high latitude influences, in particular, land ice on glacial‐interglacial timescales.