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- Christensen, Beth A., et al.
(författare)
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Indonesian Throughflow drove Australian climate from humid Pliocene to arid Pleistocene
- 2017
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Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 44:13, s. 6914-6925
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Late Miocene to mid-Pleistocene sedimentary proxy records reveal that northwest Australia underwent an abrupt transition from dry to humid climate conditions at 5.5 million years (Ma), likely receiving year-round rainfall, but after similar to 3.3 Ma, climate shifted toward an increasingly seasonal precipitation regime. The progressive constriction of the Indonesian Throughflow likely decreased continental humidity and transferred control of northwest Australian climate from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean, leading to drier conditions punctuated by monsoonal precipitation. The northwest dust pathway and fully established seasonal and orbitally controlled precipitation were in place by similar to 2.4 Ma, well after the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation. The transition from humid to arid conditions was driven by changes in Pacific and Indian Ocean circulation and regional atmospheric moisture transport, influenced by the emerging Maritime Continent. We conclude that the Maritime Continent is the switchboard modulating teleconnections between tropical and high-latitude climate systems. Plain Language Summary Australia is themost arid habitable continent on earth, however its climate is capable of dramatic changewith seasonalmonsoon rains in the otherwise arid northwest. We analyzed natural gamma radiation in a recently drilled borehole (IODP Expedition 356 Site U1463) off NW Australia to examine long-term climate changes over the last 6 million years. Based on variations in potassium, thorium and uranium, as well as common clay minerals, we show that the NW continent was more humid during the Pliocene period, between similar to 5.5 and 3.3 million years ago (Humid Interval), and became arid by the early Pleistocene, similar to 2.4 million years ago (Arid Interval). We attribute the Humid Interval to an expansion of warm surface waters in the western Pacific, supplying warm and moist air to the continent. As Australia moved north, the Maritime Continent (islands to the north) emerged, restricting the flow of warm surface currents from the Pacific (Indonesian Throughflow), resulting in drier conditions on land. The Arid Interval ushered in amodern-like Australian climate, with seasonal rainfall and dust storms, and a more modern Indian Ocean circulation. Our results show that the Maritime Continent is an important control on both Australian climate and Indian Ocean circulation.
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| 2. |
- Groeneveld, Jeroen, et al.
(författare)
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Australian shelf sediments reveal shifts in Miocene Southern Hemisphere westerlies
- 2017
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Ingår i: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 3:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Global climate underwent a major reorganization when the Antarctic ice sheet expanded ~14 million years ago (Ma) (1). This event affected global atmospheric circulation, including the strength and position of the westerlies and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), and, therefore, precipitation patterns (2–5). We present new shallow-marine sediment records from the continental shelf of Australia (International Ocean Discovery Program Sites U1459 and U1464) providing the first empirical evidence linking high-latitude cooling around Antarctica to climate change in the (sub)tropics during the Miocene. We show that Western Australia was arid during most of the Middle Miocene. Southwest Australia became wetter during the Late Miocene, creating a climate gradient with the arid interior, whereas northwest Australia remained arid throughout. Precipitation and river runoff in southwest Australia gradually increased from 12 to 8 Ma, which we relate to a northward migration or intensification of the westerlies possibly due to increased sea ice in the Southern Ocean (5). Abrupt aridification indicates that the westerlies shifted back to a position south of Australia after 8 Ma. Our midlatitude Southern Hemisphere data are consistent with the inference that expansion of sea ice around Antarctica resulted in a northward movement of the westerlies. In turn, this may have pushed tropical atmospheric circulation and the ITCZ northward, shifting the main precipitation belt over large parts of Southeast Asia (4).
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| 3. |
- Suganuma, Yusuke, et al.
(författare)
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Regional sea-level highstand triggered Holocene ice sheet thinning across coastal Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica
- 2022
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Ingår i: Communications Earth & Environment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2662-4435. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The East Antarctic Ice Sheet stores a vast amount of freshwater, which makes it the single largest potential contributor to future sea-level rise. However, the lack of well-constrained geological records of past ice sheet changes impedes model validation, hampers mass balance estimates, and inhibits examination of ice loss mechanisms. Here we identify rapid ice-sheet thinning in coastal Dronning Maud Land from Early to Middle Holocene (9000–5000 years ago) using a deglacial chronology based on in situ cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dates from central Dronning Maud Land, in concert with numerical simulations of regional and continental ice-sheet evolution. Regional sea-level changes reproduced from our refined ice-load history show a highstand at 9000–8000 years ago. We propose that sea-level rise and a concomitant influx of warmer Circumpolar Deep Water triggered ice shelf breakup via the marine ice sheet instability mechanism, which led to rapid thinning of upstream coastal ice sheet sectors.
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