Effect of Vegetation on the Late Miocene Ocean Circulation

We examine the role of the vegetation cover and the associated hydrological cycle on the deep ocean circulation during the Late Miocene (~10 million years ago). In our simulations, an open Central American gateway and exchange with fresh Pacific waters leads to a weak and shallow thermohaline circul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Main Authors: Gerrit Lohmann, Martin Butzin, Torsten Bickert
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2015
Subjects:
ocean circulation
Late Miocene
hydrological cycle
Central American gateway
Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering
VM1-989
Oceanography
GC1-1581
Pacific
North Atlantic Deep Water
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse3041311
https://doaj.org/article/eeaa4ab5255b4685a14a63ccf31e0b6d
Description
Summary:We examine the role of the vegetation cover and the associated hydrological cycle on the deep ocean circulation during the Late Miocene (~10 million years ago). In our simulations, an open Central American gateway and exchange with fresh Pacific waters leads to a weak and shallow thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean which is consistent with most other modeling studies for this time period. Here, we estimate the effect of a changed vegetation cover on the ocean general circulation using atmospheric circulation model simulations for the late Miocene climate with 353 ppmv CO2 level. The Late Miocene land surface cover reduces the albedo, the net evaporation in the North Atlantic catchment is affected and the North Atlantic water becomes more saline leading to a more vigorous North Atlantic Deep Water circulation. These effects reveal potentially important feedbacks between the ocean circulation, the hydrological cycle and the land surface cover for Cenozoic climate evolution.

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