The Miocene: The Future of the Past
The Miocene epoch (23.03–5.33 Ma) was a time interval of global warmth, relative to today. Continental configurations and mountain topography transitioned toward modern conditions, and many flora and fauna evolved into the same taxa that exist today. Miocene climate was dynamic: long periods of earl...
Published in: | Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Enheten för paleobiologi
2021
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Online Access: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-4510 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020pa004037 |
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Paleontology Atmospheric Science Oceanography Miocene Climate Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap |
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Paleontology Atmospheric Science Oceanography Miocene Climate Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap Steinthorsdottir, Margret Coxall, H. K. de Boer, A. M. Huber, M. Barbolini, N. Bradshaw, C. D. Burls, N. J. Feakins, S. J. Gasson, E. Henderiks, J. Holbourn, A. E. Kiel, S. Kohn, M. J. Knorr, G. Kürschner, W. M. Lear, C. H. Liebrand, D. Lunt, D. J. Mörs, Thomas Pearson, P. N. Pound, M. J. Stoll, H. Strömberg, C. A. E. The Miocene: The Future of the Past |
topic_facet |
Paleontology Atmospheric Science Oceanography Miocene Climate Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap |
description |
The Miocene epoch (23.03–5.33 Ma) was a time interval of global warmth, relative to today. Continental configurations and mountain topography transitioned toward modern conditions, and many flora and fauna evolved into the same taxa that exist today. Miocene climate was dynamic: long periods of early and late glaciation bracketed a ∼2 Myr greenhouse interval—the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO). Floras, faunas, ice sheets, precipitation, pCO2, and ocean and atmospheric circulation mostly (but not ubiquitously) covaried with these large changes in climate. With higher temperatures and moderately higher pCO2 (∼400–600 ppm), the MCO has been suggested as a particularly appropriate analog for future climate scenarios, and for assessing the predictive accuracy of numerical climate models—the same models that are used to simulate future climate. Yet, Miocene conditions have proved difficult to reconcile with models. This implies either missing positive feedbacks in the models, a lack of knowledge of past climate forcings, or the need for re-interpretation of proxies, which might mitigate the model-data discrepancy. Our understanding of Miocene climatic, biogeochemical, and oceanic changes on broad spatial and temporal scales is still developing. New records documenting the physical, chemical, and biotic aspects of the Earth system are emerging, and together provide a more comprehensive understanding of this important time interval. Here, we review the state-of-the-art in Miocene climate, ocean circulation, biogeochemical cycling, ice sheet dynamics, and biotic adaptation research as inferred through proxy observations and modeling studies. The initial workshops that catalyzed this project were supported by The Bolin Center for Climate Research, Stockholm University, and the Swedish Research Council (Conference Grant nr. 2018–06,618 to M. Steinthorsdottir). The authors acknowledge funding from: the Swedish Research Council (VR starting grant nr. NT7-2016 04,905 to M. Steinthorsdottir; VR grants nr. 2016–03,912 to A. M. de Boer and nr. 2016–04,434 to J. Henderiks); the United States National Science Foundation (NSF), through the P2C2 program grant nr. 1602905 to M. Huber, the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences program grant nr. to N.J.B (who is also supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as a Research Fellow), and the Global Change, Sedimentary Geology & Paleobiology, and Geobiology and Low-temperature Geochemistry programs grant nrs. 1349749 and1561027 to M. J. Kohn; and the UK Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/P019102) to C. H. Lear. E. Gasson acknowledges funding from a Royal Society fellowship. Clara Bolton, Peter Bijl, Daniel Breecker, Jeremy Caves Rugenstein, Florence Collioni, Mikael Fortelius, David Lazarus, Eelco Rohling, Francesca Sangiorgi, Maria Seton, Erik Skovbjerg Rasmussen, Appy Sluijs, Lars Werdelin, and Zhongshi Zhang are thanked for their useful comments with respect to Figure 1. M. Huber acknowledges assistance in Miocene work from Nick Herold and Ashley Dicks. No new data were created for this study, and all reviewed data sets are available through the cited original papers. The authors declare no conflict of interest. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Steinthorsdottir, Margret Coxall, H. K. de Boer, A. M. Huber, M. Barbolini, N. Bradshaw, C. D. Burls, N. J. Feakins, S. J. Gasson, E. Henderiks, J. Holbourn, A. E. Kiel, S. Kohn, M. J. Knorr, G. Kürschner, W. M. Lear, C. H. Liebrand, D. Lunt, D. J. Mörs, Thomas Pearson, P. N. Pound, M. J. Stoll, H. Strömberg, C. A. E. |
author_facet |
Steinthorsdottir, Margret Coxall, H. K. de Boer, A. M. Huber, M. Barbolini, N. Bradshaw, C. D. Burls, N. J. Feakins, S. J. Gasson, E. Henderiks, J. Holbourn, A. E. Kiel, S. Kohn, M. J. Knorr, G. Kürschner, W. M. Lear, C. H. Liebrand, D. Lunt, D. J. Mörs, Thomas Pearson, P. N. Pound, M. J. Stoll, H. Strömberg, C. A. E. |
author_sort |
Steinthorsdottir, Margret |
title |
The Miocene: The Future of the Past |
title_short |
The Miocene: The Future of the Past |
title_full |
The Miocene: The Future of the Past |
title_fullStr |
The Miocene: The Future of the Past |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Miocene: The Future of the Past |
title_sort |
miocene: the future of the past |
publisher |
Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Enheten för paleobiologi |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-4510 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020pa004037 |
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ENVELOPE(-64.084,-64.084,-65.248,-65.248) ENVELOPE(-62.967,-62.967,-65.017,-65.017) ENVELOPE(-68.838,-68.838,-69.402,-69.402) |
geographic |
Rasmussen Bolton Jeremy |
geographic_facet |
Rasmussen Bolton Jeremy |
genre |
Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Ice Sheet |
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Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 2572-4517, 2021, 36:4, orcid:0000-0002-7893-1142 orcid:0000-0002-3943-7694 orcid:0000-0002-2771-9977 orcid:0000-0001-7121-3634 orcid:0000-0003-4305-380X orcid:0000-0002-6950-3808 orcid:0000-0003-3434-2423 orcid:0000-0003-4653-6217 orcid:0000-0001-9486-6275 orcid:0000-0001-6281-100X orcid:0000-0002-7202-4525 orcid:0000-0002-7533-4430 orcid:0000-0003-3585-6928 orcid:0000-0003-2268-5824 orcid:0000-0003-4628-9818 orcid:0000-0001-8029-9548 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-4510 doi:10.1029/2020pa004037 |
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info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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https://doi.org/10.1029/2020pa004037 |
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Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology |
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36 |
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ftnrm:oai:DiVA.org:nrm-4510 2023-05-15T16:41:40+02:00 The Miocene: The Future of the Past Steinthorsdottir, Margret Coxall, H. K. de Boer, A. M. Huber, M. Barbolini, N. Bradshaw, C. D. Burls, N. J. Feakins, S. J. Gasson, E. Henderiks, J. Holbourn, A. E. Kiel, S. Kohn, M. J. Knorr, G. Kürschner, W. M. Lear, C. H. Liebrand, D. Lunt, D. J. Mörs, Thomas Pearson, P. N. Pound, M. J. Stoll, H. Strömberg, C. A. E. 2021 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-4510 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020pa004037 eng eng Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Enheten för paleobiologi Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University Bolin Centre for Climate Research Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden;Department of Geological Sciences Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden Department of Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Purdue University West Lafayette IN USA Bolin Centre for Climate Research Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden;Department of Ecology Environment and Plant Sciences Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden The Global Systems Institute University of Exeter Exeter UK;Met Office Hadley Centre Exeter UK Department of Atmospheric Oceanic and Earth Sciences and the Center for Ocean‐Land‐Atmosphere Studies George Mason University Fairfax, VA USA Department of Earth Sciences University of Southern California Los Angeles CA USA School of Geographical Sciences University of Bristol Bristol UK Department of Earth Sciences Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden Institute of Geosciences Christian‐Albrechts‐University Kiel Germany Department of Palaeobiology Swedish Museum of Natural History Stockholm Sweden;Bolin Centre for Climate Research Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden Department of Geosciences Boise State University Boise ID USA Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research Bremerhaven Germany Department of Geoscience University of Oslo Oslo Norway School of Earth and Ocean Sciences Cardiff University Cardiff UK MARUM – Center for Marine and Environmental Sciences University of Bremen Bremen Germany Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences Northumbria University Newcastle upon Tyne UK Earth Science Department ETH Zürich Zürich Switzerland Department of Biology and Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture University of Washington Seattle WA USA Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 2572-4517, 2021, 36:4, orcid:0000-0002-7893-1142 orcid:0000-0002-3943-7694 orcid:0000-0002-2771-9977 orcid:0000-0001-7121-3634 orcid:0000-0003-4305-380X orcid:0000-0002-6950-3808 orcid:0000-0003-3434-2423 orcid:0000-0003-4653-6217 orcid:0000-0001-9486-6275 orcid:0000-0001-6281-100X orcid:0000-0002-7202-4525 orcid:0000-0002-7533-4430 orcid:0000-0003-3585-6928 orcid:0000-0003-2268-5824 orcid:0000-0003-4628-9818 orcid:0000-0001-8029-9548 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-4510 doi:10.1029/2020pa004037 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Paleontology Atmospheric Science Oceanography Miocene Climate Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2021 ftnrm https://doi.org/10.1029/2020pa004037 2021-12-16T17:17:02Z The Miocene epoch (23.03–5.33 Ma) was a time interval of global warmth, relative to today. Continental configurations and mountain topography transitioned toward modern conditions, and many flora and fauna evolved into the same taxa that exist today. Miocene climate was dynamic: long periods of early and late glaciation bracketed a ∼2 Myr greenhouse interval—the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO). Floras, faunas, ice sheets, precipitation, pCO2, and ocean and atmospheric circulation mostly (but not ubiquitously) covaried with these large changes in climate. With higher temperatures and moderately higher pCO2 (∼400–600 ppm), the MCO has been suggested as a particularly appropriate analog for future climate scenarios, and for assessing the predictive accuracy of numerical climate models—the same models that are used to simulate future climate. Yet, Miocene conditions have proved difficult to reconcile with models. This implies either missing positive feedbacks in the models, a lack of knowledge of past climate forcings, or the need for re-interpretation of proxies, which might mitigate the model-data discrepancy. Our understanding of Miocene climatic, biogeochemical, and oceanic changes on broad spatial and temporal scales is still developing. New records documenting the physical, chemical, and biotic aspects of the Earth system are emerging, and together provide a more comprehensive understanding of this important time interval. Here, we review the state-of-the-art in Miocene climate, ocean circulation, biogeochemical cycling, ice sheet dynamics, and biotic adaptation research as inferred through proxy observations and modeling studies. The initial workshops that catalyzed this project were supported by The Bolin Center for Climate Research, Stockholm University, and the Swedish Research Council (Conference Grant nr. 2018–06,618 to M. Steinthorsdottir). The authors acknowledge funding from: the Swedish Research Council (VR starting grant nr. NT7-2016 04,905 to M. Steinthorsdottir; VR grants nr. 2016–03,912 to A. M. de Boer and nr. 2016–04,434 to J. Henderiks); the United States National Science Foundation (NSF), through the P2C2 program grant nr. 1602905 to M. Huber, the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences program grant nr. to N.J.B (who is also supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as a Research Fellow), and the Global Change, Sedimentary Geology & Paleobiology, and Geobiology and Low-temperature Geochemistry programs grant nrs. 1349749 and1561027 to M. J. Kohn; and the UK Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/P019102) to C. H. Lear. E. Gasson acknowledges funding from a Royal Society fellowship. Clara Bolton, Peter Bijl, Daniel Breecker, Jeremy Caves Rugenstein, Florence Collioni, Mikael Fortelius, David Lazarus, Eelco Rohling, Francesca Sangiorgi, Maria Seton, Erik Skovbjerg Rasmussen, Appy Sluijs, Lars Werdelin, and Zhongshi Zhang are thanked for their useful comments with respect to Figure 1. M. Huber acknowledges assistance in Miocene work from Nick Herold and Ashley Dicks. No new data were created for this study, and all reviewed data sets are available through the cited original papers. The authors declare no conflict of interest. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Sheet Swedish Museum of Natural History: Publications (DiVA) Rasmussen ENVELOPE(-64.084,-64.084,-65.248,-65.248) Bolton ENVELOPE(-62.967,-62.967,-65.017,-65.017) Jeremy ENVELOPE(-68.838,-68.838,-69.402,-69.402) Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 36 4 |