An astronomically dated record of Earth's climate and its predictability over the last 66 million years

Much of our understanding of Earth's past climate comes from the measurement of oxygen and carbon isotope variations in deep-sea benthic foraminifera. Yet, long intervals in existing records lack the temporal resolution and age control needed to thoroughly categorize climate states of the Cenoz...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Westerhold, Thomas, Marwan, Norbert, Drury, Anna Joy, Liebrand, Diederik, Agnini, Claudia, Anagnostou, Eleni, Barnet, James S K, Bohaty, Steven M, De Vleeschouwer, David, Florindo, Fabio, Frederichs, Thomas, Hodell, David, Holbourn, Ann, Kroon, Dick, Lauretano, Vittoria, Littler, Kate, Lourens, Lucas, Lyle, Mitchell, Pälike, Heiko, Röhl, Ursula, Tian, Jun, Wilkens, Roy H, Wilson, Paul A, Zachos, James C
Other Authors: MARUM–Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association,14412 Potsdam, Germany, Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università degli Studi di Padova, GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel, Wischhofstrasse 1-3, 24148Kiel, Germany, #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Sezione AC, Roma, Italia
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: AAAS 2020
Subjects:
Ice Sheet
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2122/14348
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba6853
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Summary:Much of our understanding of Earth's past climate comes from the measurement of oxygen and carbon isotope variations in deep-sea benthic foraminifera. Yet, long intervals in existing records lack the temporal resolution and age control needed to thoroughly categorize climate states of the Cenozoic era and to study their dynamics. Here, we present a new, highly resolved, astronomically dated, continuous composite of benthic foraminifer isotope records developed in our laboratories. Four climate states-Hothouse, Warmhouse, Coolhouse, Icehouse-are identified on the basis of their distinctive response to astronomical forcing depending on greenhouse gas concentrations and polar ice sheet volume. Statistical analysis of the nonlinear behavior encoded in our record reveals the key role that polar ice volume plays in the predictability of Cenozoic climate dynamics. Published 1383–1387 5A. Ricerche polari e paleoclima JCR Journal

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