Full Record - HadCM3 Simulations of Millennial-Scale Responses to Orbital Parameter Changes

HadCM3 Simulations of Millennial-Scale Responses to Orbital Parameter Changes

GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/02204

Abstract:
Marine Isotopic Stage 3 (MIS 3, spanning 27.8 to 59.4 thousand years before present) was marked by abrupt millennial-scale climate shifts known as Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) events. These episodes involved rapid transitions between cold stadial and warm interstadial phases, with temperature increases of up to 10-16 deg C over Greenland (Dansgaard et al., 1993; Huber et al., 2006; Kindler et al., 2014).
This dataset includes model output from three newly conducted MIS 3 simulations using the Bristol version of the Hadley Centre Coupled Model 3 (HadCM3b). Each simulation explores a different orbital configuration corresponding to 26, 29, and 34 ka. All three simulations exhibit spontaneous D-O-like oscillations, providing insights into the internal dynamics of millennial-scale variability.

This work was supported by the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme (Grant No. 86463, ANTarctic Sea Ice Evolution from a novel biological archive, ANTSIE).

Citation:
Malmierca Vallet, I., Sime, L., Pedro, J., Valdes, P., Klockmann, M., Vettoretti, G., Slattery, J., McClymont, E., Goswami, S., & Diamond, R. (2026). HadCM3 Simulations of Millennial-Scale Responses to Orbital Parameter Changes (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/04482ccf-ea32-4049-9b6b-3a7627db84a9

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http://ramadda.data.bas.ac.uk/repository/entry/show?entryid=04482ccf-ea32-4049-9b6b-3a7627db84a9

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REFERENCE MATERIALS

License

Access:	No restrictions apply.
Use:	Data supplied under Open Government Licence v3.0 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/.

Authors

Name	UK Polar Data Centre
Role(s)	Metadata Author
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Name	Irene Malmierca Vallet
Role(s)	Investigator, Technical Contact
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Name	Louise C Sime
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Name	Joel B Pedro
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Australian Antarctic Division

Name	Paul J Valdes
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	University of Bristol

Name	Marlene Klockmann
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	The Helmholtz Center Hereon

Name	Guido Vettoretti
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	University of Copenhagen

Name	John Slattery
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Name	Erin L McClymont
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Durham University

Name	Sudipta Goswami
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Name	Rachel Diamond
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Basic Information

Creation Date:	2026-05-14
Dataset Progress:	Complete
Dataset Language:	English
ISO Topic Categories:	Climatology/Meteorology/Atmosphere Inland Waters Oceans
Parameters:	Paleoclimate > Paleoclimate Reconstructions Paleoclimate > Paleoclimate Reconstructions > Air Temperature Reconstruction Paleoclimate > Paleoclimate Reconstructions > Ocean Salinity Reconstruction Paleoclimate > Paleoclimate Reconstructions > Sea Surface Temperature Reconstruction

Additional Information

Reference:	Peltier, W. R. (2004). Global glacial isostasy and the surface of the ice-age earth: The ICE-5G (VM2) Model and GRACE. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 32, 111-149. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.32.082503.144359 Armstrong, E., Hopcroft, P.O., Valdes, P.J. (2019). A simulated Northern Hemisphere terrestrial climate dataset for the past 60,000 years. Sci. Data 6, 265. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0277-1 Davies-Barnard, T., Ridgwell, A., Singarayer, J., Valdes, P. (2017). Quantifying the influence of the terrestrial biosphere on glacial-interglacial climate dynamics, Clim. Past, 13, 1381-1401. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1381-2017
Quality:	HadCM3 is the UK CMIP3 coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model. Our version of HadCM3 includes the dynamic vegetation model TRIFFID and the land surface model MOSES 2.1. The horizontal resolution of the atmosphere model is 3.75 deg longitude by 2.5 deg latitude. The ocean model uses a resolution of 1.25 deg longitude by 1.25 deg latitude. The atmospheric and oceanic components use 19 and 20 vertical levels, respectively.
Lineage/Methodology:	This dataset includes output from three 10,000-year-long simulations using the Bristol version of the Hadley Centre Coupled Model 3 (HadCM3b). The experiments are configured with a constant atmospheric CO2 concentration of 200 ppm and orbital parameters corresponding to 26, 29, and 34 thousand years ago (ka). All simulations use ice sheet boundary conditions based on the ICE-5G reconstruction (Peltier, 2004), specifically the 30 ka ice sheet configuration. ICE-5G provides ice extent, thickness, and isostatic adjustment fields extending to the Last Glacial Maximum. The pre-LGM ice sheets are reconstructed from equivalent sea-level estimates during deglaciation, following the methodology applied in previous studies (e.g., Armstrong et al., 2019; Davies-Barnard et al., 2017).

Extent

Paleo Temporal Coverage:
Paleo Start Date	30 ka
Paleo End Date	30 ka
Chronostratigraphic Unit	PLEISTOCENE

Spatial Coverage:
Latitude
Southernmost	-90
Northernmost	90
Longitude
Westernmost	-180
Easternmost	180
Altitude
Min Altitude	N/A
Max Altitude	N/A
Depth
Min Depth	N/A
Max Depth	N/A

Data Resolution:
Latitude Resolution	2.5 degrees
Longitude Resolution	3.75 degrees
Horizontal Resolution Range	N/A
Vertical Resolution	N/A
Vertical Resolution Range	N/A
Temporal Resolution	N/A
Temporal Resolution Range	N/A

Location:
Location	N/A
Detailed Location	Global

Instrumentation

Data Collection:	The model used is the HadCM3 (Hadley Centre Coupled Model3 - HadCM3b). These model simulations were run on Bristol Supercomputing Service (BlueCrystal Phase 4) and processed on the JASMIN data analysis platform (http://jasmin.ac.uk/).

Storage

Distribution:
Distribution Media	Online Internet (HTTP)
Distribution Size	71 GB
Distribution Format	netCDF
Fees	N/A

Data Storage:	The dataset comprises model outputs of three MIS 3 simulations, with each simulation comprised of seven netCDF files. These files contain the model output for the following variables: surface temperature, ocean temperature, Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), sea ice concentration, precipitation, salinity and mixed layer depth.