Climate modelling sensitivity experiments for the Messinian Salinity Crisis

Schneck, Rainer; Micheels, A.; Mosbrugger, Volker

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.12.011

Cited by 26 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…We suggest that the global-scale MSC climate signal could be absent (e.g. discussions within Murphy et al, 2009;Schneck et al, 2010) due to palaeoclimate reconstructions inadvertently targeting either the wrong geographic locations or the wrong climate variables.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Modelling global-scale climate impacts of the late Miocene Messinian Salinity Crisis

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Late Miocene tectonic changes in MediterraneanAtlantic connectivity and climatic changes caused Mediterranean salinity to fluctuate dramatically, including a tenfold increase and near-freshening. Recent proxy-and modelbased evidence suggests that at times during this Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC, 5.96-5.33 Ma), highly saline and highly fresh Mediterranean water flowed into the North Atlantic Ocean, whilst at others, no Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) reached the Atlantic. By running extreme, sensitivity-type experiments with a fully coupled oceanatmosphere general circulation model, we investigate the potential of these various MSC MOW scenarios to impact global-scale climate.The simulations suggest that although the effect remains relatively small, MOW had a greater influence on North Atlantic Ocean circulation and climate than it does today. We also find that depending on the presence, strength and salinity of MOW, the MSC could have been capable of cooling mid-high northern latitudes by a few degrees, with the greatest cooling taking place in the Labrador, Greenland-IcelandNorwegian and Barents seas. With hypersaline MOW, a component of North Atlantic Deep Water formation shifts to the Mediterranean, strengthening the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) south of 35 • N by 1.5-6 Sv. With hyposaline MOW, AMOC completely shuts down, inducing a bipolar climate anomaly with strong cooling in the north (mainly −1 to −3 • C, but up to −8 • C) and weaker warming in the south (up to +0.5 to +2.7 • C).These simulations identify key target regions and climate variables for future proxy reconstructions to provide the best and most robust test cases for (a) assessing Messinian model performance, (b) evaluating Mediterranean-Atlantic connectivity during the MSC and (c) establishing whether or not the MSC could ever have affected global-scale climate.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Modelling global-scale climate impacts of the late Miocene Messinian Salinity Crisis

et al. 2014

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“…The surface water flux is a constant evaporation of 0.5 m yr −1 over the whole model domain, a value close to presentday evaporation -precipitation -river input (Mariotti et al, 2002), but also suitable for the Late Miocene (Gladstone et al, 2007;Schneck et al, 2010). Sea surface temperatures are relaxed to a best fit for zonally and yearly averaged air temperatures from ECMWF data ( Fig.…”

Section: Model Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Mediterranean circulation and water characteristics due to restriction of the Atlantic connection: a high-resolution ocean model

Topper

Meijer

2015

Clim. Past

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Abstract. A high-resolution parallel ocean model is set up to examine how the sill depth of the Atlantic connection affects circulation and water characteristics in the MediterraneanBasin. An analysis of the model performance, comparing model results with observations of the present-day Mediterranean, demonstrates its ability to reproduce observed water characteristics and circulation (including deep water formation). A series of experiments with different sill depths in the Atlantic-Mediterranean connection is used to assess the sensitivity of Mediterranean circulation and water characteristics to sill depth. Basin-averaged water salinity and, to a lesser degree, temperature rise when the sill depth is shallower and exchange with the Atlantic is lower. Lateral and interbasinal differences in the Mediterranean are, however, largely unchanged. The strength of the upper overturning cell in the western basin is proportional to the magnitude of the exchange with the Atlantic, and hence to sill depth. Overturning in the eastern basin and deep water formation in both basins, on the contrary, are little affected by the sill depth.The model results are used to interpret the sedimentary record of the Late Miocene preceding and during the Messinian Salinity Crisis. In the western basin, a correlation exists between sill depth and rate of refreshment of deep water. On the other hand, because sill depth has little effect on the overturning and deep water formation in the eastern basin, the model results do not support the notion that restriction of the Atlantic-Mediterranean connection may cause lower oxygenation of deep water in the eastern basin. However, this discrepancy may be due to simplifications in the surface forcing and the use of a bathymetry different from that in the Late Miocene. We also tentatively conclude that blocked outflow, as found in experiments with a sill depth ≤ 10 m, is a plausible scenario for the second stage of the Messinian Salinity Crisis during which halite was rapidly accumulated in the Mediterranean.With the model setup and experiments, a basis has been established for future work on the sensitivity of Mediterranean circulation to changes in (palaeo-)bathymetry and external forcings.

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“…These results are in agreement with the palynological record (Nagy 1990;Planderová 1991; (Eronen et al 2009). Thus, Messinian climate conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean are far from being understood, yet significant changes in temperature and aridity compared to the Tortonian are likely (Schneck et al 2010).…”

Section: Eastern Mediterraneanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable isotope-based reconstruction of Oligo-Miocene paleoenvironment and paleohydrology of Central Anatolian lake basins (Turkey)

Lüdecke¹

2013

Turkish J Earth Sci

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Climate modelling sensitivity experiments for the Messinian Salinity Crisis

Cited by 26 publications

References 47 publications

Modelling global-scale climate impacts of the late Miocene Messinian Salinity Crisis

Modelling global-scale climate impacts of the late Miocene Messinian Salinity Crisis

Changes in Mediterranean circulation and water characteristics due to restriction of the Atlantic connection: a high-resolution ocean model

Stable isotope-based reconstruction of Oligo-Miocene paleoenvironment and paleohydrology of Central Anatolian lake basins (Turkey)

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