Causes of ice age intensification across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition

Chalk, Thomas B.; Hain, Mathis P.; Foster, Gavin L.; Rohling, Eelco J.; Sexton, Philip F.; Badger, Marcus P. S.; Cherry, Soraya G.; Hasenfratz, Adam P.; Haug, Gerald H.; Jaccard, Samuel; Martínez-García, Alfredo; Pälike, Heiko; Pancost, Richard D.; Wilson, Paul A. (2017). Causes of ice age intensification across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - PNAS, 114(50), pp. 13114-13119. National Academy of Sciences NAS 10.1073/pnas.1702143114

Preview

Text Chalk et al., 17.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works (CC-BY-NC-ND). Download (5MB) | Preview

Conflicting sets of hypotheses highlight either the role of ice sheets or atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) in causing the increase in duration and severity of ice age cycles ∼1 Mya during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT). We document early MPT CO2 cycles that were smaller than during recent ice age cycles. Using model simulations, we attribute this to post-MPT increase in glacial-stage dustiness and its effect on Southern Ocean productivity. Detailed analysis reveals the importance of CO2 climate forcing as a powerful positive feedback that magnified MPT climate change originally triggered by a change in ice sheet dynamics. These findings offer insights into the close coupling of climate, oceans, and ice sheets within the Earth System.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

1116 since deposited on 12 Dec 2017
28 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item