IMIS

Publications | Institutes | Persons | Datasets | Projects | Maps
[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Patterns and mechanisms of early Pliocene warmth
Fedorov, A.V.; Brierley, C.M.; Lawrence, K.T.; Liu, Z.; Dekens, P.S.; Ravelo, A.C. (2013). Patterns and mechanisms of early Pliocene warmth. Nature (Lond.) 496(7443): 43-49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature12003
In: Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science. Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 0028-0836; e-ISSN 1476-4687, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keyword
    Marine/Coastal

Authors  Top 
  • Fedorov, A.V.
  • Brierley, C.M.
  • Lawrence, K.T.
  • Liu, Z.
  • Dekens, P.S.
  • Ravelo, A.C.

Abstract
    About five to four million years ago, in the early Pliocene epoch, Earth had a warm, temperate climate. The gradual cooling that followed led to the establishment of modern temperature patterns, possibly in response to a decrease in atmospheric CO2 concentration, of the order of 100 parts per million, towards preindustrial values. Here we synthesize the available geochemical proxy records of sea surface temperature and show that, compared with that of today, the early Pliocene climate had substantially lower meridional and zonal temperature gradients but similar maximum ocean temperatures. Using an Earth system model, we show that none of the mechanisms currently proposed to explain Pliocene warmth can simultaneously reproduce all three crucial features. We suggest that a combination of several dynamical feedbacks underestimated in the models at present, such as those related to ocean mixing and cloud albedo, may have been responsible for these climate conditions.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors