Global Temperature and Sea-level Change Over the Last 4.5 Myr

Abstract
Current understanding of global temperature and sea-level change over the Plio-Pleistocene remains poorly constrained and highly uncertain. We address these issues by reconstructing regional and global temperature evolution using ~120 published SST records that span some to all of the last 4.5 Myr. We use the resulting globally averaged SST difference to derive differences in global mean surface temperature and mean ocean temperature. We subtract reconstructed changes in mean ocean temperature from a global benthic oxygen isotope stack to derive the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater. We then reconstruct global mean sea level from our seawater isotope record by accounting for temperature effects on the isotopic composition of the main global ice sheets. Our reconstructions suggest that global cooling between 4.0-0.8 Ma was accompanied by intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation by 2.5 Ma, with subsequent fluctuations of large, LGM-like ice sheets occurring under a range of temperatures and temperature variability. These results present fundamental challenges to our understanding of ice sheet-climate interactions, including controls on ice-sheet inception and growth, and require a reassessment of hypotheses for the middle Pleistocene transition that invoke an increase in ice-sheet volume.

Item Type
Conference (Talk)

Authors
Shakun, J., Clark, P. U., Rosenthal, Y., Köhler, Peter , Schrag, D., Pollard, D., Hostetler, S., Liu, Z., Bartlein, P., Pisias, N. and Mix, H.

Divisions
AWI Organizations > Geosciences > Glaciology 

Primary Division
Organizations > AWI Organizations > Geosciences > Glaciology

Programs
Helmholtz Research Programs > CHANGING EARTH (2021-2027) > PT2:Ocean and Cryosphere in Climate > ST2.1: Warming Climates

Primary Topic
Helmholtz Programs > Helmholtz Research Programs > CHANGING EARTH (2021-2027) > PT2:Ocean and Cryosphere in Climate > ST2.1: Warming Climates

Publication Status
Published

Event Details
PALSEA 2022: Paleo sea level and ice sheets for Earth's future, 17 Jul 2022 - 20 Jul 2022, Singapore.

Eprint ID
57154