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Mountain uplift and the glaciation of North America – a sensitivity study

Mountain uplift and the glaciation of North America – a sensitivity study
Mountain uplift and the glaciation of North America – a sensitivity study
The Miocene (24 to 5 million years ago) was
a period of relative global warmth compared to the Quaternary
(2 million years ago to present; e.g. Zachos et al.,
2001) and was characterised by the intermittent glaciation
of Antarctica only. Paradoxically, the majority of available
proxy data suggest that during the Miocene, pCO2 was similar,
or even lower, than the pre-industrial levels (280 ppmv;
Pagani et al., 1999; Pearson and Palmer, 2000; K¨urschner
et al., 1996, 2008) and at times probably crossed the modelled
threshold value required for sustained glaciation in the
Northern Hemisphere (DeConto et al., 2008). Records of
ice rafted debris and the oxygen isotope composition of benthic
foraminifera suggest that at several times over the last
25 million years substantial amounts of continental ice did
build up in the Northern Hemisphere but none of these led
to prolonged glaciation. In this contribution, we review evidence
that suggests that in the Miocene the North American
Cordillera was, at least in parts, considerably lower than today.
We present new GCM simulations that imply that small
amounts of uplift of the North American Cordillera result
in significant cooling of the northern North American Continent.
Offline ice sheet modelling, driven by these GCM
outputs, suggests that with a reduced topography, inception
of the Cordilleran ice sheet is prohibited. This suggests that
uplift of the North American Cordillera in the Late Miocene
may have played an important role in priming the climate for
the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation in the
Late Pliocene.
1814-9332
707-717
Foster, G.L.
fbaa7255-7267-4443-a55e-e2a791213022
Lunt, D.J.
5bfca8db-49a7-45dd-9855-43606a58788b
Parrish, R.R.
234c4379-f834-4354-9c45-884c13fed8ee
Foster, G.L.
fbaa7255-7267-4443-a55e-e2a791213022
Lunt, D.J.
5bfca8db-49a7-45dd-9855-43606a58788b
Parrish, R.R.
234c4379-f834-4354-9c45-884c13fed8ee

Foster, G.L., Lunt, D.J. and Parrish, R.R. (2010) Mountain uplift and the glaciation of North America – a sensitivity study. Climate of the Past, 6 (5), 707-717. (doi:10.5194/cp-6-707-2010).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The Miocene (24 to 5 million years ago) was
a period of relative global warmth compared to the Quaternary
(2 million years ago to present; e.g. Zachos et al.,
2001) and was characterised by the intermittent glaciation
of Antarctica only. Paradoxically, the majority of available
proxy data suggest that during the Miocene, pCO2 was similar,
or even lower, than the pre-industrial levels (280 ppmv;
Pagani et al., 1999; Pearson and Palmer, 2000; K¨urschner
et al., 1996, 2008) and at times probably crossed the modelled
threshold value required for sustained glaciation in the
Northern Hemisphere (DeConto et al., 2008). Records of
ice rafted debris and the oxygen isotope composition of benthic
foraminifera suggest that at several times over the last
25 million years substantial amounts of continental ice did
build up in the Northern Hemisphere but none of these led
to prolonged glaciation. In this contribution, we review evidence
that suggests that in the Miocene the North American
Cordillera was, at least in parts, considerably lower than today.
We present new GCM simulations that imply that small
amounts of uplift of the North American Cordillera result
in significant cooling of the northern North American Continent.
Offline ice sheet modelling, driven by these GCM
outputs, suggests that with a reduced topography, inception
of the Cordilleran ice sheet is prohibited. This suggests that
uplift of the North American Cordillera in the Late Miocene
may have played an important role in priming the climate for
the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation in the
Late Pliocene.

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Published date: 2010

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 169397
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/169397
ISSN: 1814-9332
PURE UUID: ae0ecc3d-84c0-44cd-8075-3033adaf2280
ORCID for G.L. Foster: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3688-9668

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Date deposited: 14 Dec 2010 16:36
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:55

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Contributors

Author: G.L. Foster ORCID iD
Author: D.J. Lunt
Author: R.R. Parrish

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