The connection between abrupt high-latitude warming during the last glacial period—Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) events—and rapid climate changes at lower latitudes has revealed inter-hemispheric teleconnections in the ocean–atmosphere system. Links between DO events and climate variability in mid-latitude, mid-continent settings remain, however, poorly understood, especially in North America where climate archives with sufficient time resolution are scarce. Here we examine a speleothem that grew from ~70–50 thousand years ago (ka) in Wisconsin (United States) and combine fluorescent imaging of its growth banding with an annual-resolution oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸O) record. Eight large (2.0–3.0‰) negative δ¹⁸O excursions, each with an onset in <10 annual growth bands, occur between 61–55 ka, when DO events 17–14 are recorded in the ice core of the North Greenland Ice Core Project. Although the age model does not allow these δ¹⁸O excursions to be matched to specific DO events, their magnitude and rapid onset support a credible link. Isotope-enabled climate simulations suggest that abrupt DO warming would increase the δ¹⁸O of annual precipitation in the study area and corroborate that warming of >10 °C in <10 years is thus required to produce the observed negative δ¹⁸O excursions. Our findings of expansive abrupt DO warming in central North America has implications for environmental, climate and ice sheet dynamics.

末次冰期期间高纬度地区突然变暖——Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) 事件——与低纬度地区快速气候变化之间的联系揭示了海洋-大气系统中的半球间遥相关。然而，中纬度、中部大陆环境中溶解氧事件与气候变率之间的联系仍然知之甚少，尤其是在北美，那里缺乏具有足够时间分辨率的气候档案。在这里，我们检查了大约 70-5 万年前 (ka) 在威斯康星州（美国）生长的洞穴，并将其生长带的荧光成像与年度分辨率氧同位素 (δ 18 O) 记录相^结合。八大（2.0-3.0‰）负^δ18O 远足发生在 61-55 ka 之间，每次发生在 <10 年增长带内，此时 DO 事件 17-14 记录在北格陵兰冰芯项目的冰芯中。尽管年龄模型不允许将这些 δ ¹⁸ O 偏移与特定的 DO 事件相匹配，但它们的强度和快速发生支持可靠的联系。同位素支持的气候模拟表明，突然的 DO 变暖会增加研究区域年降水量的δ ^{18 O，并证实需要在 <10 年内变暖 >10°C 才能产生观察到的负 δ 18} O 偏移。我们对北美中部 DO 急剧变暖的发现对环境、气候和冰盖动力学具有影响。