Open AccessMiddle Pliocene sea surface temperature variability
Author(s) -
Dowsett Harry J.,
Chandler Mark A.,
Cronin Thomas M.,
Dwyer Gary S.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
paleoceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1944-9186
pISSN - 0883-8305
DOI - 10.1029/2005pa001133
Subject(s) - geology , climatology , sea surface temperature , forcing (mathematics) , period (music) , oceanography , latitude , low latitude , paleoclimatology , climate change , physics , geodesy , acoustics
Estimates of sea surface temperature (SST) based upon foraminifer, diatom, and ostracod assemblages from ocean cores reveal a warm phase of the Pliocene between about 3.3 and 3.0 Ma. Pollen records and plant megafossils, although not as well dated, show evidence for a warmer climate at about the same time. Increased greenhouse forcing and altered ocean heat transport are the leading candidates for the underlying cause of Pliocene global warmth. Despite being a period of global warmth, this interval encompasses considerable variability. Two new SST reconstructions are presented that are designed to provide a climatological error bar for warm peak phases of the Pliocene and to document the spatial distribution and magnitude of SST variability within the mid‐Pliocene warm period. These data suggest long‐term stability of low‐latitude SST and document greater variability in regions of maximum warming.