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Middle Pliocene sea surface temperature variability
U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, USA
Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, USA
Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Estimates of sea surface temperature (SST) based upon foraminifer, diatom, and ostracod assemblages from ocean cores reveal a warm phase of the Pliocene between about 3.3 and 3.0 Ma. Pollen records and plant megafossils, although not as well dated, show evidence for a warmer climate at about the same time. Increased greenhouse forcing and altered ocean heat transport are the leading candidates for the underlying cause of Pliocene global warmth. Despite being a period of global warmth, this interval encompasses considerable variability. Two new SST reconstructions are presented that are designed to provide a climatological error bar for warm peak phases of the Pliocene and to document the spatial distribution and magnitude of SST variability within the mid-Pliocene warm period. These data suggest long-term stability of low-latitude SST and document greater variability in regions of maximum warming.
Received 11 January 2005; accepted 8 April 2005; published 10 June 2005.
Citation: (2005), Middle Pliocene sea surface temperature variability, Paleoceanography, 20, PA2014, doi:10.1029/2005PA001133.
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