@article {Lebreiro2009, title = {{Sediment instability on the Portuguese continental margin under abrupt glacial climate changes (last 60kyr)}}, journal = {Quaternary Science Reviews}, volume = {28}, number = {27-28}, year = {2009}, month = {dec}, pages = {3211{\textendash}3223}, abstract = {It is well established that orbital scale sea-level changes generated larger transport of sediments into the deep-sea during the last glacial maximum than the Holocene. However, the response of sedimentary processes to abrupt millennial-scale climate variability is rather unknown. Frequency of distal turbidites and amounts of advected detrital carbonate are estimated off the Lisbon-Set{\'u}bal canyons (core MD03-2698, at 4602 mwd), within a chronostratigraphy based on radiometric ages, oxygen isotopes and paleomagnetic key global anomalies. We found that: 1) higher frequency of turbidites concurred with Northern Hemisphere coldest temperatures (Greenland Stadials [GS], including Heinrich [H] events). But more than that, an escalating frequency of turbidites starts with the onset of global sea-level rising (and warming in Antarctica) and culminates during H events, at the time when rising is still in its early-mid stage, and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is re-starting. This short time span coincides with maximum gradients of ocean surface and bottom temperatures between GS and Antarctic warmings (Antarctic Isotope Maximum; AIM 17, 14, 12, 8, 4, 2) and rapid sea-level rises. 2) Trigger of turbidity currents is not the only sedimentary process responding to millennial variability; land-detrital carbonate (with a very negative bulk $δ$18O signature) enters the deep-sea by density-driven slope lateral advection, accordingly during GS. 3) Possible mechanisms to create slope instability on the Portuguese continental margin are sea-level variations as small as 20 m, and slope friction by rapid deep and intermediate re-accommodation of water masses circulation. 4) Common forcing mechanisms appear to drive slope instability at both millennial and orbital scales. {\textcopyright} 2009.}, issn = {02773791}, doi = {10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.08.007}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-70549094210\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Lebreiro, S.M. and Voelker, A.H.L. and Vizcaino, A. and Abrantes, F.G. and Alt-Epping, U. and Jung, S. and Thouveny, N. and Gr{\`a}cia, E.} }