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Pliocene reversal of late Neogene aridification
Citation
Sniderman, JMK and Woodhead, JD and Hellstrom, J and Jordan, GJ and Drysdale, RN and Tyler, JJ and Porch, N, Pliocene reversal of late Neogene aridification, National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America. Proceedings, 113, (8) pp. 1999-2004. ISSN 0027-8424 (2016) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2016 The Authors
DOI: doi:10.1073/pnas.1520188113
Abstract
The Pliocene epoch (5.3–2.6Ma) represents the most recent geological
interval in which global temperatures were several degrees warmer
than today and is therefore considered our best analog for a future
anthropogenic greenhouse world. However, our understanding of
Pliocene climates is limited by poor age control on existing terrestrial
climate archives, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, and by persistent
disagreement between paleo-data and models concerning the
magnitude of regional warming and/or wetting that occurred in response
to increased greenhouse forcing. To address these problems,
here we document the evolution of Southern Hemisphere hydroclimate
from the latest Miocene to the middle Pliocene using radiometrically-
dated fossil pollen records preserved in speleothems from
semiarid southern Australia. These data reveal an abrupt onset of
warm and wet climates early within the Pliocene, driving complete
biome turnover. Pliocene warmth thus clearly represents a discrete
interval which reversed a long-term trend of late Neogene cooling
and aridification, rather than being simply the most recent period of
greater-than-modern warmth within a continuously cooling trajectory.
These findings demonstrate the importance of high-resolution
chronologies to accompany paleoclimate data and also highlight the
question of what initiated the sustained interval of Pliocene warmth.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | paleoclimate, pollen, speleothems, aridification, Neogene |
Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
Research Group: | Physical geography and environmental geoscience |
Research Field: | Palaeoclimatology |
Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences |
UTAS Author: | Jordan, GJ (Professor Greg Jordan) |
ID Code: | 106786 |
Year Published: | 2016 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 74 |
Deposited By: | Plant Science |
Deposited On: | 2016-02-20 |
Last Modified: | 2017-10-30 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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