Open AccessImpact of a permanent El Niño (El Padre) and Indian Ocean Dipole in warm Pliocene climates
Author(s) -
Shukla Sonali P.,
Chandler Mark A.,
Jonas Jeff,
Sohl Linda E.,
Mankoff Ken,
Dowsett Harry
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
paleoceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1944-9186
pISSN - 0883-8305
DOI - 10.1029/2008pa001682
Subject(s) - sea surface temperature , geology , climatology , walker circulation , precipitation , oceanography , pacific ocean , indian ocean dipole , subtropical indian ocean dipole , indian ocean , convection , ocean current , geography , meteorology
Pliocene sea surface temperature data, as well as terrestrial precipitation and temperature proxies, indicate warmer than modern conditions in the eastern equatorial Pacific and imply permanent El Niño–like conditions with impacts similar to those of the 1997/1998 El Niño event. Here we use a general circulation model to examine the global‐scale effects that result from imposing warm tropical sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in both modern and Pliocene simulations. Observed SSTs from the 1997/1998 El Niño event were used for the anomalies and incorporate Pacific warming as well as a prominent Indian Ocean Dipole event. Both the permanent El Niño (also called El Padre) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) conditions are necessary to reproduce temperature and precipitation patterns consistent with the global distribution of Pliocene proxy data. These patterns may result from the poleward propagation of planetary waves from the strong convection centers associated with the El Niño and IOD.