STUDY OF THE HIGH-RESOLUTION CLIMATIC VAR IABILITY IN NORTH-ATLANTIC SEDIMENTS

The study of sediment reflectance permits an efficient and accurate de termination of stratigraphy. We used this method in conjunction with i sotopic analyses to study a set of cores located between 40 and 55 deg rees N in the North Atlantic Ocean during the last climatic cycle (the last 150,000 years). Our results confirm that the last glacial period is subject to rapid climatic variability initiated in high northern l atitudes. These oscillations are easily linked to the ones observed in Greenland ice cores (GRIP) whereas they are rare in Antarctica (Vosto k). We conclude that only the largest climatic fluctuations are transm itted to the southern hemisphere.