DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2577
论文题名: Tightly linked zonal and meridional sea surface temperature gradients over the past five million years
作者: Fedorov A.V. ; Burls N.J. ; Lawrence K.T. ; Peterson L.C.
刊名: Nature Geoscience
ISSN: 17520894
出版年: 2015
卷: 8, 期: 12 起始页码: 975
结束页码: 980
语种: 英语
Scopus关键词: albedo
; alkenone
; climate modeling
; meridional circulation
; paleotemperature
; Pliocene
; sea surface temperature
; stratification
; temperature gradient
; upper ocean
; Atlantic Ocean
; Pacific Ocean
英文摘要: The climate of the tropics and surrounding regions is defined by pronounced zonal (east-west) and meridional (equator to mid-latitudes) gradients in sea surface temperature. These gradients control zonal and meridional atmospheric circulations, and thus the Earth's climate. Global cooling over the past five million years, since the early Pliocene epoch, was accompanied by the gradual strengthening of these temperature gradients. Here we use records from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, including a new alkenone palaeotemperature record from the South Pacific, to reconstruct changes in zonal and meridional sea surface temperature gradients since the Pliocene, and assess their connection using a comprehensive climate model. We find that the reconstructed zonal and meridional temperature gradients vary coherently over this time frame, showing a one-to-one relationship between their changes. In our model simulations, we systematically reduce the meridional sea surface temperature gradient by modifying the latitudinal distribution of cloud albedo or atmospheric CO2 concentration. The simulated zonal temperature gradient in the equatorial Pacific adjusts proportionally. These experiments and idealized modelling indicate that the meridional temperature gradient controls upper-ocean stratification in the tropics, which in turn controls the zonal gradient along the equator, as well as heat export from the tropical oceans. We conclude that this tight linkage between the two sea surface temperature gradients posits a fundamental constraint on both past and future climates. © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. Citation statistics:
资源类型: 期刊论文
标识符: http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/106121
Appears in Collections: 气候减缓与适应 科学计划与规划
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作者单位: Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric Oceanic and Earth Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States; Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, United States; Department of Chemistry and Environmental Studies Program, Luther College, Decorah, IA, United States
Recommended Citation:
Fedorov A.V.,Burls N.J.,Lawrence K.T.,et al. Tightly linked zonal and meridional sea surface temperature gradients over the past five million years[J]. Nature Geoscience,2015-01-01,8(12)