Jonathan Warnock, Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences, published with co-authors on the Antarctic Circumpolar Current during the last interglacial. This new publication is based on results from the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 382, which focused on Iceberg Alley and Subantarctic Ice and Ocean Dynamics.
Location of Antarctic Circumpolar Current (NASA, Public domain)
“Extremely Poleward Shift of Antarctic Circumpolar Current by Eccentricity During the Last Interglacial,” published in Nature Communications, involved 26 authors from institutions around the world. Using sediments recovered from drilling the ocean floor, a team of scientists reconstructed the position of ocean and wind currents surrounding Antarctica. The position of these currents, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the Southern Hemisphere Westerlies, impacts how much carbon is stored in ocean sediments. Warnock and colleagues found an extreme southward movement of these currents during the last interglacial, a warm “hothouse” period between ice ages. This time period is of particular interest as modern warming will likely cause a similar response.
Article Citation: Lu, L., Zheng, X., Weber, M.E. et al. Extremely poleward shift of Antarctic Circumpolar Current by eccentricity during the Last Interglacial. Nat Commun 16, 8869 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63933-x