Reconstructing intermediate and deep ocean circulation during the Pliocene warm period

GSTDTAP

项目编号	NE/N015045/1
	Reconstructing intermediate and deep ocean circulation during the Pliocene warm period
	[unavailable]
主持机构	University of Cambridge
项目开始年	2016
	2016-08-01
项目结束日期	2021-07-31
资助机构	UK-NERC
项目类别	Fellowship
国家	英国
语种	英语
英文摘要	The ocean is absorbing much of the heat and carbon dioxide emissions introduced to the climate system today by human activity. However, long-term impacts of the 'experiment' we are currently carrying out with our planet earth are poorly understood. Approximately three million years ago, during the Pliocene warm period, temperatures were elevated over modern levels and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were similar to today. This past era could present clues to future climate change and a key response we would like to understand is how ocean circulation will function in a warmer world. Today, surface waters in the North Atlantic become denser than the surrounding water and sink to the ocean's interior forming a deep-water mass as part of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. This Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation plays a major role in global climate and climate/weather in the United Kingdom. The North Pacific on the other hand is too fresh, and hence no deep waters are formed there today. The configuration of deep ocean circulation during the Pliocene is unclear: some fossil evidence suggests that Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation was strong, whereas climate models suggest Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation was weak and a Pacific Meridional Overturning Circulation occurred in the North Pacific. This disagreement has profound implications for heat transport and the cycling of carbon, oxygen, and nutrients throughout the oceans. To address this data-model mismatch, this project aims to reconstruct intermediate and deep-water circulation in the Atlantic and Pacific during the Pliocene warm period using the chemistry of microfossils found within marine sediment. These records will then be compared to state of the art climate models for the Pliocene to help understand the climate dynamics important in maintaining Pliocene warmth. These records will help characterize heat transport, carbon cycling and intermediate to deep ocean circulation during a globally warm climate state and may help identify some of the long-term consequences of global warming.
来源学科分类	Natural Environment Research
文献类型	项目
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/86284
专题	环境与发展全球科技态势
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	[unavailable].Reconstructing intermediate and deep ocean circulation during the Pliocene warm period.2016.