Dansgaard–Oeschger event A period of extremely rapid temperature change (increases of 10 deg C or more) that occurred during the last ice age. Strictly speaking, our knowledge of these events is confined to Greenland, where 23 have been identified by the oxygen-isotope method from deep ice cores, and where they are correlated with snow deposition rates.
The ice cores show, however, that the events also coincide with large changes in methane concentrations and dust deposition rates, which probably relate to conditions in tropical wetlands and in eastern Asia, respectively. These imply major climatic changes throughout the northern hemisphere. See also Heinrich event.
How to cite this entry: "Dansgaard–Oeschger event" A Dictionary of Weather. Storm Dunlop. Oxford University Press, 2008.Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 12 January 2012
