Pliocene climate and seasonality in North Atlantic shelf seas

Williams, Mark; Haywood, Alan M.; Harper, Elizabeth M.; Johnson, Andrew L. A.; Knowles, Tanya; Leng, Melanie J.; Lunt, Daniel J.; Okamura, Beth; Taylor, Paul D.; Zalasiewicz, Jan

doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0224

Cited by 60 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 61 publications

(141 reference statements)

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“…Specimens in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London, were identified that provided at least 5 autozooids for measurement that were unobstructed in growth and outside the zone of astogenetic change. Mean zooid sizes were significantly smaller in 5 of the 8 species in the Coralline Crag than the present day, corroborating previous estimates (see Okamura & Bishop 1988 for references) that the Coralline Crag was deposited in a sub-tropical sea considerably warmer than today (see also Williams et al 2009 for further evaluation of the Coralline Crag environment). Replicating the same methods and many shared species, A. O'Dea (unpublished data), found that zooid sizes in the younger Pleistocene Red Crag formation were midway between those of the Coralline Crag and modern day, corroborating the inferred slightly warmer conditions of the Red Crag relative to the present day and cooler conditions relative to the Coralline Crag (Head 1998).…”

Section: Deep-time Variationsupporting

confidence: 80%

Bryozoan growth and environmental reconstruction by zooid size variation

Okamura¹,

O’Dea²,

Knowles³

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The modular growth of cheilostome bryozoans combined with temperature-induced variation in module (zooid) size has enabled the development of a unique proxy for deducing seasonal temperature regimes. The approach is based on measures of intracolonial variation in zooid size that can be used to infer the mean annual range of temperature (MART) experienced by a bryozoan colony as predicted by a model of this relationship that was developed primarily to infer palaeoseasonal regimes. Using the model predictions effectively requires a highly strategic approach to characterise the relative amount of within-colony zooid size variation (by adopting random or very systematic measurements of zooids that meet a stringent set of criteria) to gain insights on temperature variation. The method provides an indication of absolute temperature range but not the actual temperatures experienced. Here we review the development of, support for and applications of the zooid size MART approach. In particular, we consider the general issue of why body size may vary with temperature, studies that validate the zooid size-temperature relationship and insights that have been gained by application of the zooid size MART approach. We emphasise the potential limitations of the approach, including the influence of confounding factors, and highlight its advantages relative to other proxies for palaeotemperature inferences. Of prime importance is that it is relatively inexpensive and quick and allows a direct estimate of temperature variation experienced by an individual colony. Our review demonstrates a strong and growing body of evidence that the application of the zooid size MART approach enables robust interpretations for palaeoclimates and merits broad recognition by environmental and evolutionary biologists and climate modellers.

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Section: Deep-time Variationsupporting

confidence: 80%

Bryozoan growth and environmental reconstruction by zooid size variation

Okamura¹,

O’Dea²,

Knowles³

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…Summer season temperatures at these locations change by less than 28C. Thus, warming of the Gulf Stream appears to have been accomplished by warmer winter season temperatures (see also Williams et al 2009). …”

Section: (B ) Gulf Streammentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite being effectively closed by the PRISM interval, the CAS was breached repeatedly possibly as late as 2.4 Ma (Stehli & Webb 1985;Cronin & Dowsett 1996;Webb 1997;Kameo & Sato 2000;Groeneveld et al 2006;Steph et al 2006;Schmidt 2007;Williams et al 2009). The PRISM reconstruction includes five sites in the Caribbean Sea (figure 2b).…”

Section: (A ) Caribbean Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface temperatures of the Mid-Pliocene North Atlantic Ocean: implications for future climate

Dowsett

Chandler

Robinson

2008

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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The Mid-Pliocene is the most recent interval in the Earth's history to have experienced warming of the magnitude predicted for the second half of the twenty-first century and is, therefore, a possible analogue for future climate conditions. With continents basically in their current positions and atmospheric CO 2 similar to early twenty-first century values, the cause of Mid-Pliocene warmth remains elusive. Understanding the behaviour of the North Atlantic Ocean during the Mid-Pliocene is integral to evaluating future climate scenarios owing to its role in deep water formation and its sensitivity to climate change. Under the framework of the Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) sea surface reconstruction, we synthesize Mid-Pliocene North Atlantic studies by PRISM members and others, describing each region of the North Atlantic in terms of palaeoceanography. We then relate Mid-Pliocene sea surface conditions to expectations of future warming. The results of the data and climate model comparisons suggest that the North Atlantic is more sensitive to climate change than is suggested by climate model simulations, raising the concern that estimates of future climate change are conservative.

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“…In order to resolve Pliocene-Pleistocene interglacial SSTs 2 • C above present, we infer values of local δ 18 O w with a range between 1.9 to 2.9 ‰ on the basis of the temperature equation of Leder et al (1996), although middle Pliocene to early Pleistocene global interglacial seawater δ 18 O w was similar to the present day, or even more negative (Zachos et al, 2001). Substantially more negative water values for the peninsula of δ 18 O w = 1.0 ‰ have been inferred by modelling Pliocene conditions (Williams et al, 2009). According to this line of reasoning, evaporation should have been an essential driver of Pliocene and Pleistocene bulk skeletal δ 18 O, and the z corals with the most positive bulk δ 18 O values being similar in magnitude to the recent Florida Bay coral have an evaporative signature in δ 18 O.…”

Section: Paleotemperaturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upwellings mitigated Plio-Pleistocene heat stress for reef corals on the Florida platform (USA)

et al. 2016

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Abstract. The fast growing calcareous skeletons of zooxanthellate reef corals (z corals) represent unique environmental proxy archives through their oxygen and carbon stable isotope composition (δ 18 O, δ 13 C). In addition, the accretion of the skeleton itself is ultimately linked to the environment and responds with variable growth rates (extension rate) and density to environmental changes. Here we present classical proxy data (δ 18 O, δ 13 C) in combination with calcification records from 15 massive z corals. The z corals were sampled from four interglacial units of the Florida carbonate platform (USA) dated approximately 3.2, 2.9, 1.8 and 1.2 Ma (middle Pliocene to early Pleistocene). The z corals (Solenastrea, Orbicella, Porites) derive from unlithified shallow marine carbonates and were carefully screened for primary preservation suited for proxy analysis. We show that skeletal accretion responded with decreasing overall calcification rates (decreasing extension rate but increasing density) to warmer water temperatures. Under high annual water temperatures, inferred from sub-annually resolved δ 18 O data, skeletal bulk density was high, but extension rates and overall calcification rates were at a minimum (endmember scenario 1). Maximum skeletal density was reached during the summer season giving rise to a growth band of high density within the annually banded skeletons ("high density band", HDB). With low mean annual water temperatures (endmember scenario 2), bulk skeletal density was low but extension rates and calcification rates reached a maximum, and under these conditions the HDB formed during winter. Although surface water temperatures in the Western Atlantic warm pool during the interglacials of the late Neogene were ∼ 2 • C higher than they are in the present day, intermittent upwelling of cool, nutrient-rich water mitigated water temperatures off southwestern Florida and created temporary refuges for z coral growth. Based on the sub-annually resolved δ 18 O and δ 13 C records, the duration of the upwelling episodes causing the endmember 2 conditions was variable and lasted from a few years to a number of decades. The episodes of upwelling were interrupted by phases without upwelling (endmember 1) which lasted for at least a few years and led to high surface water temperatures. This variable environment is likely one of the reasons why the coral fauna is dominated by the eurytopic genus Solenastrea, also a genus resistant to high turbidity. Over a period of ∼ 50 years, the oldest sub annually resolved proxy record available (3.2 Ma) documents a persistent occurrence of the HDB during winter. In contrast, the HDB forms in summer in modern z corals from the Florida reef tract. We suggest this difference should be tested as being the expression of a tendency towards decreasing interglacial upwelling since the middle Pliocene. The number of z coral sclerochronological records for the Plio-Pleistocene is still rather low, however, and requires more data and an improved resolution, through records from...

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Pliocene climate and seasonality in North Atlantic shelf seas

Cited by 60 publications

References 61 publications

Bryozoan growth and environmental reconstruction by zooid size variation

Bryozoan growth and environmental reconstruction by zooid size variation

Surface temperatures of the Mid-Pliocene North Atlantic Ocean: implications for future climate

Upwellings mitigated Plio-Pleistocene heat stress for reef corals on the Florida platform (USA)

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