HR: 1340h
AN: PP53A-1382    [Abstracts]
TI: Pliocene Sea Surface Temperature Variability
AU: * Dowsett, H J
EM: hdowsett@usgs.gov
AF: US Geological Survey, 926A National Center, Reston, VA 20192 United States
AU: Chandler, M A
EM: mac59@columbia.edu
AF: GISS at Columbia University, 2880 Broadway, New York, NY 10025 United States
AB: Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and modification of land surfaces are expected to cause the earth's climate to warm. However the amount and details of the warming are still highly uncertain. Identifying and predicting human related changes must take into account natural climate variability and the complex interactions of the different components of the Earth's climate system. The USGS PRISM (Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping) Project has documented the characteristics of middle Pliocene climate on a global scale. The middle Pliocene was selected for detailed study because it spans the transition from relatively warm global climates when glaciers were absent or greatly reduced in the Northern Hemisphere to the generally cooler climates of the Pleistocene with expanded Northern Hemisphere ice sheets and prominent glacial-interglacial cycles. Present work focuses on establishing reasonable limits of variability around the PRISM2 SST reconstruction. Minimum and maximum possible warming, based upon the peak averaging technique, was established at each of the 72 original data localities. Minimum possible February and August contour maps were created and the derivative 10 months manufactured using standard procedures. The same methodology was utilized for the maximum possible warming. These 24 new monthly data sets establish limits about the original PRISM2 SST reconstruction and are useful for modeling experiments where the PRISM2 reconstruction and model results are not in agreement.
UR: http://geology.er.usgs.gov/eespteam/prism/prism3main.html
DE: 3344 Paleoclimatology
DE: 4267 Paleoceanography
DE: 1600 GLOBAL CHANGE (New category)
SC: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology [PP]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting