Late Eocene to middle Miocene (33 to 13 million years ago) vegetation and climate development on the North American Atlantic Coastal Plain (IODP Expedition 313, Site M0027)

Kotthoff, Ulrich; Greenwood, David R.; McCarthy, Francine M.G.; Müller-Navarra, Katharina; Prader, Sabine; Hesselbo, Stephen P.

doi:10.5194/cp-10-1523-2014

Cited by 43 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…Terrestrial palynomorphs (sporomorphs) reflect variations in the vegetation on the surrounding land masses and provide information on climate variables such as continental temperatures and precipitation (e.g., Heusser and Shackleton, 1979;Donders et al, 2009;Kotthoff et al, 2014). A ratio of terrestrial to marine palynomorphs (T / M ratio) is widely used as a relative measure of distance to the coast and thereby reflects sea level variations and depth trends in the basin (e.g., McCarthy and Mudie, 1998;Donders et al, 2009;Quaijtaal et al, 2014;Kotthoff et al, 2014).…”

Section: Palynological Proxiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land–sea coupling of early Pleistocene glacial cycles in the southern North Sea exhibit dominant Northern Hemisphere forcing

et al. 2018

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Abstract. We assess the disputed phase relations between forcing and climatic response in the early Pleistocene with a spliced Gelasian ( ∼ 2.6-1.8 Ma) multi-proxy record from the southern North Sea basin. The cored sections couple climate evolution on both land and sea during the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation (NHG) in NW Europe, providing the first well-constrained stratigraphic sequence of the classic terrestrial Praetiglian stage. Terrestrial signals were derived from the Eridanos paleoriver, a major fluvial system that contributed a large amount of freshwater to the northeast Atlantic. Due to its latitudinal position, the Eridanos catchment was likely affected by early Pleistocene NHG, leading to intermittent shutdown and reactivation of river flow and sediment transport. Here we apply organic geochemistry, palynology, carbonate isotope geochemistry, and seismostratigraphy to document both vegetation changes in the Eridanos catchment and regional surface water conditions and relate them to early Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles and relative sea level changes. Paleomagnetic and palynological data provide a solid integrated timeframe that ties the obliquity cycles, expressed in the borehole geophysical logs, to Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 103 to 92, independently confirmed by a local benthic oxygen isotope record. Marine and terrestrial palynological and organic geochemical records provide high-resolution reconstructions of relative terrestrial and sea surface temperature (TT and SST), vegetation, relative sea level, and coastal influence.During the prominent cold stages MIS 98 and 96, as well as 94, the record indicates increased non-arboreal vegetation, low SST and TT, and low relative sea level. During the warm stages MIS 99, 97, and 95 we infer increased stratification of the water column together with a higher percentage of arboreal vegetation, high SST, and relative sea level maxima. The early Pleistocene distinct warm-cold alterations are synchronous between land and sea, but lead the relative sea level change by 3000-8000 years. The record provides evPublished by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 398T. H. Donders et al.: Land-sea coupling of early Pleistocene glacial cycles idence for a dominantly Northern Hemisphere-driven cooling that leads the glacial buildup and varies on the obliquity timescale. Southward migration of Arctic surface water masses during glacials, indicated by cool-water dinoflagellate cyst assemblages, is furthermore relevant for the discussion on the relation between the intensity of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and ice sheet growth.

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Section: Palynological Proxiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land–sea coupling of early Pleistocene glacial cycles in the southern North Sea exhibit dominant Northern Hemisphere forcing

et al. 2018

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“…The Pinaceae is the only family for which the recorded family tolerance corresponds to the subsumed tolerances of all genera; 2) the strategy of the database curators to only check Palaeoflora entries if the nearest-living relative is frequently recognised as 'climatic outlier' (Mosbrugger and Utescher, 1997;Utescher et al, 2014); 3) the frequent usage of the interval of one genus to define the tolerance of an entire family: Appendix B to Quan et al, 2012 lists 12 non-monotypic, partly highly diverse families with intervals identical to that of a single genus; 4) unavoidable subjective errors during the selection of climate stations (Utescher et al, 2014, p. 66); and 5) bulk definition of tolerances, in particular of maximum values, for taxa that do not affect Coexistence Approach reconstructions (cf. Judged from the data released to the public so far, the widely used Palaeoflora database (Utescher and Mosbrugger, 2009) does not (yet) fulfil assumption 4 of the Coexistence Approach (Grimm and Denk, 2012) as acknowledged by most recent studies applying MCR-NLR techniques (Eldrett et al, 2014;Kotthoff et al, 2014). Utescher et al (2014) provide a comprehensive review on the reliability of modern climatic data and conclude correctly that "… it is difficult to quantify predictive uncertainty.…”

Section: Quality Of Data In the Palaeoflora Databasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the threshold criterion should be based on absolute numbers. SC-MCR using the 10 th (for maximum tolerances) and 90 th (for minimum tolerances) percentiles has recently been applied in two studies focussing on North America (Eldrett et al, 2014;Kotthoff et al, 2014) to avoid the problems of encountered in the CA + PF highlighted by Grimm and Denk (2012). By using the percentile cut-off, SC-MCR will eliminate the problem of 'climatic outliers' as well as 'ambiguous' intervals at the cost of resolution.…”

Section: Chronic Instability and Inconclusiveness Of Ca + Pf Reconstrmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SC-MCR should not be confused with 'capped' MCR/weighted MCR as they apply the statistical filtering at different analytical steps (e.g. Eldrett et al, 2014;Kotthoff et al, 2014).…”

Section: Chronic Instability and Inconclusiveness Of Ca + Pf Reconstrmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Utescher et al (2014) have recently reassessed the Coexistence Approach and provided extensive details on potential errors ("uncertainties"). The majority of these have thus far not been implemented (but see Eldrett et al, 2014;Kotthoff et al, 2014). Earlier, Grimm and Denk (2012) pointed out similar inconsistencies and shortcomings of this method for the reconstruction of mean-annual temperature using the Palaeoflora database and provided a number of suggestions on how to correct for these.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fables and foibles: A critical analysis of the Palaeoflora database and the Coexistence Approach for palaeoclimate reconstruction

Grimm

Bouchal

Denk

et al. 2016

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

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The 'Coexistence Approach' is a mutual climate range (MCR) technique combined with the nearest-living relative (NLR) concept. It has been widely used for palaeoclimate reconstructions based on Eurasian plant fossil assemblages; most of them palynofloras (studied using light microscopy). The results have been surprisingly uniform, typically converging to subtropical, per-humid or monsoonal conditions. Studies based on the Coexistence Approach have had a marked impact in literature, generating over 10,000 citations thus far. However, recent studies have pointed out inherent theoretical and practical problems entangled in the application of this widely used method. But so far little is known how results generated by the Coexistence Approach are affected by subjective errors, data errors, and violations of the basic assumptions. The majority of Coexistence Approach studies make use of the Palaeoflora database (the combination of which will be abbreviated to CA + PF). Testing results produced by CA + PF studies has been hindered by the general unavailability of the contents in the underlying Palaeoflora database; two exceptions are the mean-annual temperature tolerances and lists of assigned associations between fossils and nearest-living relatives. Using a recently published study on the Eocene of China, which provides the first and only insight into the data structure of the Palaeoflora database, we compare the theory and practice of Coexistence Approach using the Palaeoflora database (CA + PF). We show that CA + PF is riddled by association and climate data error. We reveal flaws in the application of the Coexistence Approach, which is often in stark contrast to the theory of the method. We show that CA + PF is highly vulnerable against numerous sources of errors, mainly because it lacks safeguards that could identify unreliable data. We demonstrate that the CA + PF produces coherent, pseudo-precise results even for artificially generated, random plant assemblages. Alternative MCR-NLR methods can surpass the most imminent deficits of the Coexistence Approach, and may be used as a stop-gap until more accurate bioclimatic and distribution data on potential Eurasian NLRs, and theoretically and statistically robust methods will become available. Finally, general guidelines are provided for the future application of methods using the mutual climatic range with nearest living relatives approach when reconstructing climate from plant fossil assemblages.

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Simulating Miocene warmth: insights from an opportunistic Multi-Model ensemble (MioMIP1)

Burls

Bradshaw

Boer

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The Miocene epoch, spanning 23.03-5.33 Ma, was a dynamic climate of sustained, polar amplified warmth. Miocene atmospheric CO 2 concentrations are typically reconstructed between 300 and 600 ppm and were potentially higher during the Miocene Climatic Optimum (16.75-14.5 Ma). With surface temperature reconstructions pointing to substantial midlatitude and polar warmth, it is unclear what processes maintained the much weaker-than-modern equator-to-pole temperature difference. Here, we synthesize several Miocene climate modeling efforts together with available terrestrial and ocean surface temperature reconstructions. We evaluate the range of model-data agreement, highlight robust mechanisms operating across Miocene modeling efforts and regions where differences across experiments result in a large spread in warming responses. Prescribed CO 2 is the primary factor controlling global warming across the ensemble. On average, elements other than CO 2 , such as Miocene paleogeography and ice sheets, raise global mean temperature by ∼2°C, with the spread in warming under a given CO 2 concentration (due to a combination of the spread in imposed boundary conditions and climate feedback strengths) equivalent to ∼1.2 times a CO 2 doubling. This study uses an ensemble of opportunity: models, boundary conditions, and reference data sets represent the state-of-art for the Miocene, but are inhomogeneous and not ideal for a formal intermodel comparison effort. Acknowledging this caveat, this study is nevertheless the first Miocene multi-model, multi-proxy comparison attempted so far. This study serves to take stock of the current progress toward simulating Miocene warmth while isolating remaining challenges that may be well served by community-led efforts to coordinate modeling and data activities within a common analytical framework.Plain Language Summary As human activity continues to increase atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, scientists turn to warm intervals in Earth's history to develop insight into the behavior of the climate system under elevated carbon dioxide and temperature. One such interval is the Miocene epoch which has become increasingly relevant as reconstructions of Miocene atmospheric CO 2 concentrations point to values ranging between current concentrations of ∼400 ppm and those projected for the end of this century under Shared Socioeconomic Pathways 3 and 4. In this study, we evaluate the BURLS ET AL.

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Late Eocene to middle Miocene (33 to 13 million years ago) vegetation and climate development on the North American Atlantic Coastal Plain (IODP Expedition 313, Site M0027)

Cited by 43 publications

References 93 publications

Land–sea coupling of early Pleistocene glacial cycles in the southern North Sea exhibit dominant Northern Hemisphere forcing

Land–sea coupling of early Pleistocene glacial cycles in the southern North Sea exhibit dominant Northern Hemisphere forcing

Fables and foibles: A critical analysis of the Palaeoflora database and the Coexistence Approach for palaeoclimate reconstruction

Simulating Miocene warmth: insights from an opportunistic Multi-Model ensemble (MioMIP1)

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