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Pacific Ocean and Cenozoic evolution of climate

Pacific Ocean and Cenozoic evolution of climate
Pacific Ocean and Cenozoic evolution of climate
The Pacific Ocean has played a major role in climate evolution throughout the Cenozoic (65–0 Ma). It is a fundamental component of global heat transport and circulation, the dominant locus of primary productivity, and, consequently, the largest reservoir for carbon exchange between the oceans and the atmosphere. A satisfactory understanding of the Cenozoic evolutionary history of the Pacific and its impact on global climate is currently data-limited. Nevertheless, the large dynamic range of Cenozoic conditions sets the stage to greatly expand our understanding of global climate and biogeochemical cycles. Past Earth “experiments” are particularly useful to understand interactions between climate and geosystems under different greenhouse gas loads. We highlight in this review four important problems in which the Pacific played a major role: the effect of changing geographic boundary conditions on ocean circulation; interactions between the carbon cycle and climate; the Pacific Ocean's influence on North American climate and its water cycle; and the gradual evolution of climate systems.

Cenozoic, Pacific, paleoceanography
RG2002-[47]
Lyle, Mitchell
679ab0ed-6986-4198-b8fa-ea80793df449
Barron, John
9239ddc3-b230-4e1b-8b74-1c4520228422
Bralower, Timothy J.
8d16a733-85c8-4837-aa95-f070d61494a7
Huber, Matthew
cac8c146-e2e3-4758-9fe9-46aa85e35ad2
Olivarez Lyle, Annette
d14d1ef4-0b90-4603-a637-a00766a5246a
Ravelo, A. Christina
0f5f6626-6228-4639-a877-8762e889fb5e
Rea, David K.
e31f71e0-33fe-4c15-8e8a-8285ed4776ae
Wilson, Paul A.
f940a9f0-fa5a-4a64-9061-f0794bfbf7c6
Lyle, Mitchell
679ab0ed-6986-4198-b8fa-ea80793df449
Barron, John
9239ddc3-b230-4e1b-8b74-1c4520228422
Bralower, Timothy J.
8d16a733-85c8-4837-aa95-f070d61494a7
Huber, Matthew
cac8c146-e2e3-4758-9fe9-46aa85e35ad2
Olivarez Lyle, Annette
d14d1ef4-0b90-4603-a637-a00766a5246a
Ravelo, A. Christina
0f5f6626-6228-4639-a877-8762e889fb5e
Rea, David K.
e31f71e0-33fe-4c15-8e8a-8285ed4776ae
Wilson, Paul A.
f940a9f0-fa5a-4a64-9061-f0794bfbf7c6

Lyle, Mitchell, Barron, John, Bralower, Timothy J., Huber, Matthew, Olivarez Lyle, Annette, Ravelo, A. Christina, Rea, David K. and Wilson, Paul A. (2008) Pacific Ocean and Cenozoic evolution of climate. Reviews of Geophysics, 46 (2), RG2002-[47]. (doi:10.1029/2005RG000190).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The Pacific Ocean has played a major role in climate evolution throughout the Cenozoic (65–0 Ma). It is a fundamental component of global heat transport and circulation, the dominant locus of primary productivity, and, consequently, the largest reservoir for carbon exchange between the oceans and the atmosphere. A satisfactory understanding of the Cenozoic evolutionary history of the Pacific and its impact on global climate is currently data-limited. Nevertheless, the large dynamic range of Cenozoic conditions sets the stage to greatly expand our understanding of global climate and biogeochemical cycles. Past Earth “experiments” are particularly useful to understand interactions between climate and geosystems under different greenhouse gas loads. We highlight in this review four important problems in which the Pacific played a major role: the effect of changing geographic boundary conditions on ocean circulation; interactions between the carbon cycle and climate; the Pacific Ocean's influence on North American climate and its water cycle; and the gradual evolution of climate systems.

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More information

Published date: 2 June 2008
Keywords: Cenozoic, Pacific, paleoceanography

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 63111
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/63111
PURE UUID: 1483fb26-b437-4689-b29d-6c58b2728c10
ORCID for Paul A. Wilson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6425-8906

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 10 Sep 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:13

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Contributors

Author: Mitchell Lyle
Author: John Barron
Author: Timothy J. Bralower
Author: Matthew Huber
Author: Annette Olivarez Lyle
Author: A. Christina Ravelo
Author: David K. Rea
Author: Paul A. Wilson ORCID iD

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