The Eocene–Oligocene transition: a review of marine and terrestrial proxy data, models and model–data comparisons
International audience Abstract. The Eocene–Oligocene transition (EOT) was a climate shift from a largely ice-free greenhouse world to an icehouse climate, involving the first major glaciation of Antarctica and global cooling occurring ∼34 million years ago (Ma) and lasting ∼790 kyr. The change is m...
Published in: | Climate of the Past |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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HAL CCSD
2021
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-03844708 https://hal.science/hal-03844708/document https://hal.science/hal-03844708/file/cp-17-269-2021.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-269-2021 |
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[SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology |
spellingShingle |
[SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology Hutchinson, David Coxall, Helen Lunt, Daniel Steinthorsdottir, Margret de Boer, Agatha Baatsen, Michiel von der Heydt, Anna Huber, Matthew Kennedy-Asser, Alan Kunzmann, Lutz Ladant, Jean-Baptiste Lear, Caroline Moraweck, Karolin Pearson, Paul Piga, Emanuela Pound, Matthew Salzmann, Ulrich Scher, Howie Sijp, Willem Śliwińska, Kasia Wilson, Paul Zhang, Zhongshi The Eocene–Oligocene transition: a review of marine and terrestrial proxy data, models and model–data comparisons |
topic_facet |
[SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology |
description |
International audience Abstract. The Eocene–Oligocene transition (EOT) was a climate shift from a largely ice-free greenhouse world to an icehouse climate, involving the first major glaciation of Antarctica and global cooling occurring ∼34 million years ago (Ma) and lasting ∼790 kyr. The change is marked by a global shift in deep-sea δ18O representing a combination of deep-ocean cooling and growth in land ice volume. At the same time, multiple independent proxies for ocean temperature indicate sea surface cooling, and major changes in global fauna and flora record a shift toward more cold-climate-adapted species. The two principal suggested explanations of this transition are a decline in atmospheric CO2 and changes to ocean gateways, while orbital forcing likely influenced the precise timing of the glaciation. Here we review and synthesise proxy evidence of palaeogeography, temperature, ice sheets, ocean circulation and CO2 change from the marine and terrestrial realms. Furthermore, we quantitatively compare proxy records of change to an ensemble of climate model simulations of temperature change across the EOT. The simulations compare three forcing mechanisms across the EOT: CO2 decrease, palaeogeographic changes and ice sheet growth. Our model ensemble results demonstrate the need for a global cooling mechanism beyond the imposition of an ice sheet or palaeogeographic changes. We find that CO2 forcing involving a large decrease in CO2 of ca. 40 % (∼325 ppm drop) provides the best fit to the available proxy evidence, with ice sheet and palaeogeographic changes playing a secondary role. While this large decrease is consistent with some CO2 proxy records (the extreme endmember of decrease), the positive feedback mechanisms on ice growth are so strong that a modest CO2 decrease beyond a critical threshold for ice sheet initiation is well capable of triggering rapid ice sheet growth. Thus, the amplitude of CO2 decrease signalled by our data–model comparison should be considered an upper estimate and perhaps ... |
author2 |
Department of Geological Sciences and Bolin Centre for Climate Research Stockholm University School of Geographical Sciences Bristol University of Bristol Bristol Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE) Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Modélisation du climat (CLIM) Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hutchinson, David Coxall, Helen Lunt, Daniel Steinthorsdottir, Margret de Boer, Agatha Baatsen, Michiel von der Heydt, Anna Huber, Matthew Kennedy-Asser, Alan Kunzmann, Lutz Ladant, Jean-Baptiste Lear, Caroline Moraweck, Karolin Pearson, Paul Piga, Emanuela Pound, Matthew Salzmann, Ulrich Scher, Howie Sijp, Willem Śliwińska, Kasia Wilson, Paul Zhang, Zhongshi |
author_facet |
Hutchinson, David Coxall, Helen Lunt, Daniel Steinthorsdottir, Margret de Boer, Agatha Baatsen, Michiel von der Heydt, Anna Huber, Matthew Kennedy-Asser, Alan Kunzmann, Lutz Ladant, Jean-Baptiste Lear, Caroline Moraweck, Karolin Pearson, Paul Piga, Emanuela Pound, Matthew Salzmann, Ulrich Scher, Howie Sijp, Willem Śliwińska, Kasia Wilson, Paul Zhang, Zhongshi |
author_sort |
Hutchinson, David |
title |
The Eocene–Oligocene transition: a review of marine and terrestrial proxy data, models and model–data comparisons |
title_short |
The Eocene–Oligocene transition: a review of marine and terrestrial proxy data, models and model–data comparisons |
title_full |
The Eocene–Oligocene transition: a review of marine and terrestrial proxy data, models and model–data comparisons |
title_fullStr |
The Eocene–Oligocene transition: a review of marine and terrestrial proxy data, models and model–data comparisons |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Eocene–Oligocene transition: a review of marine and terrestrial proxy data, models and model–data comparisons |
title_sort |
eocene–oligocene transition: a review of marine and terrestrial proxy data, models and model–data comparisons |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-03844708 https://hal.science/hal-03844708/document https://hal.science/hal-03844708/file/cp-17-269-2021.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-269-2021 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Ice Sheet |
op_source |
ISSN: 1814-9324 EISSN: 1814-9332 Climate of the Past https://hal.science/hal-03844708 Climate of the Past, 2021, 17 (1), pp.269-315. ⟨10.5194/cp-17-269-2021⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/cp-17-269-2021 hal-03844708 https://hal.science/hal-03844708 https://hal.science/hal-03844708/document https://hal.science/hal-03844708/file/cp-17-269-2021.pdf doi:10.5194/cp-17-269-2021 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-269-2021 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
269 |
op_container_end_page |
315 |
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1768378588918185984 |
spelling |
ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-03844708v1 2023-06-11T04:06:34+02:00 The Eocene–Oligocene transition: a review of marine and terrestrial proxy data, models and model–data comparisons Hutchinson, David Coxall, Helen Lunt, Daniel Steinthorsdottir, Margret de Boer, Agatha Baatsen, Michiel von der Heydt, Anna Huber, Matthew Kennedy-Asser, Alan Kunzmann, Lutz Ladant, Jean-Baptiste Lear, Caroline Moraweck, Karolin Pearson, Paul Piga, Emanuela Pound, Matthew Salzmann, Ulrich Scher, Howie Sijp, Willem Śliwińska, Kasia Wilson, Paul Zhang, Zhongshi Department of Geological Sciences and Bolin Centre for Climate Research Stockholm University School of Geographical Sciences Bristol University of Bristol Bristol Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE) Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Modélisation du climat (CLIM) Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2021 https://hal.science/hal-03844708 https://hal.science/hal-03844708/document https://hal.science/hal-03844708/file/cp-17-269-2021.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-269-2021 en eng HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union (EGU) info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/cp-17-269-2021 hal-03844708 https://hal.science/hal-03844708 https://hal.science/hal-03844708/document https://hal.science/hal-03844708/file/cp-17-269-2021.pdf doi:10.5194/cp-17-269-2021 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1814-9324 EISSN: 1814-9332 Climate of the Past https://hal.science/hal-03844708 Climate of the Past, 2021, 17 (1), pp.269-315. ⟨10.5194/cp-17-269-2021⟩ [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2021 ftccsdartic https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-269-2021 2023-05-06T23:14:57Z International audience Abstract. The Eocene–Oligocene transition (EOT) was a climate shift from a largely ice-free greenhouse world to an icehouse climate, involving the first major glaciation of Antarctica and global cooling occurring ∼34 million years ago (Ma) and lasting ∼790 kyr. The change is marked by a global shift in deep-sea δ18O representing a combination of deep-ocean cooling and growth in land ice volume. At the same time, multiple independent proxies for ocean temperature indicate sea surface cooling, and major changes in global fauna and flora record a shift toward more cold-climate-adapted species. The two principal suggested explanations of this transition are a decline in atmospheric CO2 and changes to ocean gateways, while orbital forcing likely influenced the precise timing of the glaciation. Here we review and synthesise proxy evidence of palaeogeography, temperature, ice sheets, ocean circulation and CO2 change from the marine and terrestrial realms. Furthermore, we quantitatively compare proxy records of change to an ensemble of climate model simulations of temperature change across the EOT. The simulations compare three forcing mechanisms across the EOT: CO2 decrease, palaeogeographic changes and ice sheet growth. Our model ensemble results demonstrate the need for a global cooling mechanism beyond the imposition of an ice sheet or palaeogeographic changes. We find that CO2 forcing involving a large decrease in CO2 of ca. 40 % (∼325 ppm drop) provides the best fit to the available proxy evidence, with ice sheet and palaeogeographic changes playing a secondary role. While this large decrease is consistent with some CO2 proxy records (the extreme endmember of decrease), the positive feedback mechanisms on ice growth are so strong that a modest CO2 decrease beyond a critical threshold for ice sheet initiation is well capable of triggering rapid ice sheet growth. Thus, the amplitude of CO2 decrease signalled by our data–model comparison should be considered an upper estimate and perhaps ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Ice Sheet Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) Climate of the Past 17 1 269 315 |