Impacts of orbital forcing and atmospheric carbon dioxide on Miocene ice-sheet expansion

Holbourn, Ann; Kuhnt, Wolfgang; Schulz, Michael; Erlenkeuser, Helmut

doi:10.1038/nature04123

Cited by 317 publications

(343 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…During the same period, the Cape Roberts record shows a progressive decline in meltwater sediments accumulating offshore and a vegetation decline to moss tundra, both indicating progressive cooling. A second stepwise cooling of Pacific surface waters of 6-7°C accompanied by a glacial expansion occurred in the mid-Miocene at ~14 Ma and is indicated in the marine isotope record (Shevenell et al, 2004;Holbourn et al, 2005). This event is also recorded in the transition from ash-bearing temperate proglacial deposits to diamict from cold ice in the Olympus Range of South Victoria Land at the edge of the South Polar Plateau (Lewis et al, 2007).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 88%

Landscape evolution of Antarctica

Jamieson¹,

Sugden²

2007

Open-File Report

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The relative roles of fluvial versus glacial processes in shaping the landscape of Antarctica have been debated since the expeditions of Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton in the early years of the 20th century. Here we build a synthesis of Antarctic landscape evolution based on the geomorphology of passive continental margins and former northern mid-latitude Pleistocene ice sheets. What makes Antarctica so interesting is that the terrestrial landscape retains elements of a record of change that extends back to the Oligocene. Thus there is the potential to link conditions on land with those in the oceans and atmosphere as the world switched from a greenhouse to a glacial world and the Antarctic ice sheet evolved to its present state. In common with other continental fragments of Gondwana there is a fluvial signature to the landscape in the form of the coastal erosion surfaces and escarpments, incised river valleys, and a continent-wide network of river basins. A selective superimposed glacial signature reflects the presence or absence of ice at the pressure melting point. Earliest continental-scale ice sheets formed around 34 Ma, growing from local ice caps centered on mountain massifs, and featured phases of ice-sheet expansion and contraction. These ice masses were most likely cold-based over uplands and warm-based across lowlands and near their margins. For 20 million years ice sheets fluctuated on Croll-Milankovitch frequencies. At ~14 Ma the ice sheet expanded to its maximum and deepened a preexisting radial array of troughs selectively through the coastal mountains and eroded the continental shelf before retreating to its present dimensions at ~13.5 Ma. Subsequent changes in ice extent have been forced mainly by sea-level change. Weathering rates of exposed bedrock have been remarkably slow at high elevations around the margin of East Antarctica under the hyperarid polar climate of the last ~13.5 Ma, offering potential for a long quantitative record of ice-sheet evolution with techniques such as cosmogenic isotope analysis.

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Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 88%

Landscape evolution of Antarctica

Jamieson¹,

Sugden²

2007

Open-File Report

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“…Some authors argue that it was due to an atmospheric CO 2 concentration drawdown (Shevenell et al, 2004;Holbourn et al, 2005;Tripati et al, 2009;Foster et al, 2012;Badger et al, 2013), but pCO 2 variations during the Miocene are not well constrained (Cerling, 1991;Pagani et al, 1999Pagani et al, , 2009Pearson and Palmer, 2000;Royer et al, 2001;Kürschner et al, 2008;Kürschner and Kvacek, 2009;Tripati et al, 2009). Indeed the reconstructions for the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO, approximately 17-15 Ma) are highly controversial, varying from 200 to 700 ppmv, whereas the majority of published studies agree that the atmospheric pCO 2 was low (approximately 200-300 ppmv) during the MMCT (Cerling, 1991;Pagani et al, 1999Pagani et al, , 2009Pearson and Palmer, 2000;Royer et al, 2001;Kürschner et al, 2008;Kürschner and Kvacek, 2009;Tripati et al, 2009;Foster et al, 2012;Badger et al, 2013).…”

Section: N Hamon Et Al: Tethys Seaway Closure and Middle Miocene CLmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Indeed the reconstructions for the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO, approximately 17-15 Ma) are highly controversial, varying from 200 to 700 ppmv, whereas the majority of published studies agree that the atmospheric pCO 2 was low (approximately 200-300 ppmv) during the MMCT (Cerling, 1991;Pagani et al, 1999Pagani et al, , 2009Pearson and Palmer, 2000;Royer et al, 2001;Kürschner et al, 2008;Kürschner and Kvacek, 2009;Tripati et al, 2009;Foster et al, 2012;Badger et al, 2013). Insolation has also been proposed as the driver of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet expansion (Shevenell et al, 2004(Shevenell et al, , 2008Holbourn et al, 2005Holbourn et al, , 2013, and modelling studies suggested that, at low atmospheric CO 2 concentration, orbital configuration is a major driver of ice-sheet development (DeConto et al, 2007). Therefore the atmospheric CO 2 concentration decline could have been either the initial cause of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet growth or a positive feedback of cooling during the MMCT (Holbourn et al, 2005(Holbourn et al, , 2013Badger et al, 2013).…”

Section: N Hamon Et Al: Tethys Seaway Closure and Middle Miocene CLmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of eastern Tethys seaway closure in the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition (ca. 14 Ma)

et al. 2013

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Abstract. The Middle Miocene Climatic Transition (MMCT, approximately 14 Ma) is a key period in Cenozoic cooling and cryospheric expansion. Despite being well documented in isotopic record, the causes of the MMCT are still a matter of debate. Among various hypotheses, some authors suggested that it was due the final closure of the eastern Tethys seaway and subsequent oceanic circulation reorganisation. The aim of the present study is to quantify the impact of varying Tethys seaway depths on middle Miocene ocean and climate, in order to better understand its role in the MMCT.We present four sensitivity experiments with a fully coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model. Our results indicate the presence of a warm and salty water source in the northern Indian Ocean when the eastern Tethys is deep open (4000 or 1000 m), which corresponds to the Tethyan Indian Saline Water (TISW) described on the basis of isotopic studies. This water source is absent in the experiments with shallow (250 m) and closed Tethys seaway, inducing strong changes in the latitudinal density gradient and ultimately the reinforcement of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Moreover, when the Tethys seaway is shallow or closed, there is a westward water flow in the Gibraltar Strait that strengthens the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) compared to the experiments with deep-open Tethys seaway. Our results therefore suggest that the shoaling and final closure of the eastern Tethys seaway played a major role in the oceanic circulation reorganisation during the middle Miocene.The results presented here provide new constraints on the timing of the Tethys seaway closure and particularly indicate that, prior to 14 Ma, a deep-open Tethys seaway should have allowed the formation of TISW. Moreover, whereas the final closure of this seaway likely played a major role in the reorganisation of oceanic circulation, we suggest that it was not the main driver of the global cooling and Antarctica ice-sheet expansion during the MMCT. Here we propose that the initiation of the MMCT was caused by an atmospheric pCO 2 drawdown and that the oceanic changes due to the Tethys seaway closure amplified the response of global climate and East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

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“…That history, summarized in Fig. 4, includes a strong overall trend toward cooling, drying, seasonality, and latitudinal climate stratification (26)(27)(28), punctuated by the rapid cooling events of the earliest Oligocene glacial maximum (EOGM, 33.5 Ma) (29) and the middle Miocene climatic transition (MMCT, 13.9 Ma) (30). The cooling trend was interrupted from the late Oligocene warming event (LOWE, 24-26 Ma) until the middle Miocene (28).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Repeated climate-linked host shifts have promoted diversification in a temperate clade of leaf-mining flies

Winkler

Mitter²,

Scheffer³

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

108

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A central but little-tested prediction of ''escape and radiation'' coevolution is that colonization of novel, chemically defended host plant clades accelerates insect herbivore diversification. That theory, in turn, exemplifies one side of a broader debate about the relative influence on clade dynamics of intrinsic (biotic) vs. extrinsic (physical-environmental) forces. Here, we use a fossil-calibrated molecular chronogram to compare the effects of a major biotic factor (repeated shift to a chemically divergent host plant clade) and a major abiotic factor (global climate change) on the macroevolutionary dynamics of a large Cenozoic radiation of phytophagous insects, the leaf-mining fly genus Phytomyza (Diptera: Agromyzidae). We find one of the first statistically supported examples of consistently elevated net diversification accompanying shift to new plant clades. In contrast, we detect no significant direct effect on diversification of major global climate events in the early and late Oligocene. The broader paleoclimatic context strongly suggests, however, that climate change has at times had a strong indirect influence through its effect on the biotic environment. Repeated rapid Miocene radiation of these flies on temperate herbaceous asterids closely corresponds to the dramatic, climatedriven expansion of seasonal, open habitats.adaptive radiation ͉ coevolution ͉ climate change ͉ macroevolution ͉ Agromyzidae

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Impacts of orbital forcing and atmospheric carbon dioxide on Miocene ice-sheet expansion

Cited by 317 publications

References 29 publications

Landscape evolution of Antarctica

Landscape evolution of Antarctica

The role of eastern Tethys seaway closure in the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition (ca. 14 Ma)

Repeated climate-linked host shifts have promoted diversification in a temperate clade of leaf-mining flies

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