The Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO), sometimes referred to as the Middle Miocene Thermal Maximum (MMTM), [1] was an interval of warm climate during the Miocene epoch, specifically the Burdigalian and Langhian stages. [2]
Based on the magnetic susceptibility of Miocene sedimentary stratigraphic sequences in the Huatugou section in the Qaidam Basin, the MMCO lasted from 17.5 to 14.5 Ma; rocks deposited during this interval have a high magnetic susceptibility due to the production of superparamagnetic and single domain magnetite amidst the warm and humid conditions at the time that defines the MMCO. [3]
Estimates derived from Mg/Ca palaeothermometry in the benthic foraminifer Oridorsalis umbonatus suggest the onset of the MMCO occurred at 16.9 Ma, peak warmth at 15.3 Ma, and the end of the MMCO at 13.8 Ma. [4]
Global mean surface temperatures during the MMCO were approximately 18.4 °C, about 3 °C warmer than today and 4 °C warmer than preindustrial. [5] The latitudinal zone of tropical climate was significantly extended. [6] The latitudinal climate gradient was about 0.3 °C per degree of latitude. [7] During orbital eccentricity maxima, which corresponded to warm phases, the ocean's lysocline shoaled[ clarification needed ] by approximately 500 metres. [8]
The Arctic was ice free and warm enough to host permanent forest cover across much of its extent. Iceland had a humid and subtropical climate. [2]
The mean annual temperature (MAT) of the United Kingdom was 16.9 °C. [9] In Central Europe, the minimal cold months temperature (mCMT) was at least 8.0 °C and the minimal warm months temperature (mWMT) was about 18.3 °C, with an overall MAT no cooler than 17.4 °C. [10] Central Europe's annual precipitation range was 1050–1600 mm, based on data from Hevlín Quarry in the Czech Republic. [11] Climatic data from Poland and Bulgaria suggest a minimal latitudinal temperature gradient in Europe during the MMCO. [12] Dense, humid rainforests covered much of France, Switzerland, and northern Germany, while southern and central Spain were arid and contained open environments. [13] In the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB), hydrological cycling intensified during the MMCO. [14] The Austrian locality of Stetten had a mean winter temperature of 9.6–13.3 °C and a mean summer temperature of 24.7–27.9 °C, contrasting with −1.4 °C and 19.9 °C respectively in the present; precipitation amounts at this site were 9–24 mm in winter and 204–236 mm in summer. [15] Unusually, the bottom waters of the Vienna Basin show a marked cooling during the MMCO. [16]
The Northern Hemisphere summer location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) shifted northward; because the ITCZ is the zone of maximum monsoon rainfall, the precipitation brought by the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) increased over southern China while simultaneously declining over Indochina. [17] The Tibetan Plateau was overall wetter and warmer. [3]
Overall, Western North America north of 40° N was wetter than south of 40° N. [18] The interior Pacific Northwest experienced a dramatic increase in precipitation during the MMCO around 15.1 Ma. [19] In contrast, the Mojave region of western North America exhibited a drying trend. [20] Along the New Jersey shelf, the MMCO did not result in any discernable climatic signal relative to earlier or later climatic intervals of the Miocene; temperatures here may have been kept low by an uplift of the Appalachian Mountains. [21]
Northern South America developed increased seasonality in its precipitation patterns as a consequence of the ITCZ's northward migration during the MMCO. [22] The Bolivian Altiplano had a MAT of 21.5–21.7 ± 2.1 °C, in stark contrast to its present MAT of 8–9 °C, while its MMCO precipitation patterns were identical to those of today. [23]
The Cape Peninsula in South Africa was significantly warmer than today, and its environment fluctuated between open riparian forest and swampland. [24]
In Antarctica, average summer temperatures were about 10 °C. [25] The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) was severely reduced in area, [26] [27] and it may have occupied as little as 25% of its present volume. [28] However, despite its diminished size and its retreat away from the coastline of Antarctica, the EAIS remained relatively thick. [29] Additionally, Antarctica's polar ice sheets exhibited high variability and instability throughout this warm period. [30]
Modelling of ocean circulation shows that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) was strengthened by the greater inflow of waters from the Pacific and Indian Oceans due to more open Panama and Tethys Seaways. This stronger AMOC in turn resulted in a deeper mixed layer. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) became stronger as westerly wind stress increased and Antarctic sea ice diminished in extent. [31]
The global warmth of the MMCO resulted from its elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations relative to the rest of the Neogene. [2] Boron-based records indicate pCO2 varied between 300 and 500 ppm during the MMCO. [30] A MMCO pCO2 estimate of 852 ± 86 ppm has been derived from palaeosols in Railroad Canyon, Idaho. [32] The primary cause of this high pCO2 is generally accepted to be elevated volcanic activity. [33] [34] [35] Hydrothermal alteration by magmatic dikes and sills of sediments rich in organic carbon further contributed to rising pCO2. [36] The activity of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG), a large igneous province in the northwestern United States that emitted 95% of its contents between 16.7 and 15.9 Ma, is believed to be the dominant geological event responsible for the MMCO. [37] The CRBG has been estimated to have added 4090–5670 Pg of carbon into the atmosphere in total, 3000–4000 Pg of which was discharged during the Grande Ronde Basalt eruptions, explaining much of the MMCO's anomalous warmth. Carbon dioxide was released both directly from volcanic activity as well as by cryptic degassing from intrusive magmatic sills that liberated the greenhouse gas from existing sediments. However, CRBG activity and cryptic degassing do not sufficiently explain warming before 16.3 Ma. [38] Enhanced tectonic activity led to increased volcanic degassing at plate margins, causing high background warmth and complementing CRBG activity in driving temperatures upwards. [39]
Albedo decrease from the reduction in Earth's surface area covered by deserts and the expansion of forests was an important positive feedback enhancing the warmth of the MMCO. [40]
The nature and magnitude of organic carbon burial during the MMCO is controversial. The orthodox hypothesis holds that the increase in organic carbon burial on lands submerged by rising sea levels resultant from the increased warmth were an important negative feedback inhibiting further warming. [41] [42] This positive carbon excursion is called the Monterey Carbon Excursion, which is globally recorded but mainly in the Circum-Pacific Belt. [43] [44] [45] The Monterey Excursion seems to envelop the MMCO, meaning this carbon excursion started just before the climatic optimum and it ended just after it. [46] However, recent work has challenged and contradicted the Monterey Hypothesis on the basis of evidence showing that the MMCO occurred during an interval of low organic carbon burial, likely due to enhanced bacterial decomposition of organic matter that recycled carbon back into the ocean-atmosphere system, and that this organic carbon burial nadir contributed to the sustained warmth of the MMCO. [47]
Climate modelling has shown that there remain as-of-yet unknown forcing and feedback mechanisms that had to have existed to account for the observed rise in temperature during the MMCO, [48] as the amount of carbon dioxide known to have been in the atmosphere during the MMCO along with other known boundary conditions are insufficient to explain the high temperatures of the Middle Miocene. [2]
The West African Monsoon strengthened. [49] The strengthening of West African offshore winds and enhancement of continental weathering in North Africa caused oxygen minimum zones to expand in the Atlantic off the coast of West Africa. [50]
The world of the MMCO was heavily forested; trees grew across the Arctic and even in parts of Antarctica. [2] Tundras and forest tundras were absent from the Arctic. [51]
Northern North America was dominated by cool-temperate forests. Western North America was mostly composed of warm-temperate evergeen broadleaf and mixed forest. [18] In spite of the climatic changes, the niches of Oregonian equids were unchanged throughout the MMCO. [52] What is now the Mojave Desert was a grassland dominated by C3 grasses during the MMCO. [20] Central America had tropical vegetation, as it does today. [18] Terrestrial mammals in the tectonically active region of western North America experienced a surge in species originations. [53]
In Europe, there was a northward expansion of thermophilic plants during the MMCO. [10] Along the northwestern coast of the Central Paratethys, mixed mesophytic forest vegetation predominated. [54] At the Stetten locality, spruces and firs increased in abundance during transgressive phases of precessionally forced transgressive-regressive cycles, while marshes, many of them saline, dominated by Cyperaceae and swamps dominated by Taxodiaceae prevailed during sea level lowstands. [15] Offshore, coral reefs were able to develop in the Central Paratethys. [55] Because of the dense, humid forests covering central eastern France and northern Germany, the species richness of these areas was high and mammals were dominated by small taxa, while the more arid Iberian Peninsula had a lower species richness and a relative absence of medium-sized mammals. [13] In Poland, the Mid-Polish Lignite Seam was formed due to an abundance of peat-forming vegetation. [56] Along the western margin of the Central Paratethys, primate diversity exploded, likely because of the unique mosaic of different habitats it hosted. [57] The genus Procervulus was able to diversify its dietary habits as a result of the MMCO's effects on vegetation and ecosystem structure in Europe. [58] Europe also contained an abundance of ectothermic vertebrates due to its much warmer climate in the MMCO compared to the present. [10] In the Paratethys, marine biodiversity peaked at the culmination of the MMCO. [59]
The MMCO may have favoured the spread of pongines into Asia by creating continuous stretches of subtropical forest that enabled the migration of these apes from Africa into Eurasia. [60] There was a simultaneous dispersal of rhizomyine and ctenodactyline rodents along this same corridor. [61] A dispersal of Uvaria followed a similar path through Asia and into Australasia. [62] In Japan, Pinus mikii was able to thrive due to warmer temperatures. [63] The coast of southwestern Japan was predominantly populated by thermophilic ostracods. [64]
Northern South America possessed tropical evergreen broadleaf forests. The Atacama Desert already existed along the western coast of central South America and graded into temperate xerophytic shrubland and temperate sclerophyll woodland and shrubland to the south. In eastern South America south of 35° S, warm-temperate evergreen broadleaf and mixed forest predominated, alongside temperate grassland. [18] The MMCO played a major role in the partitioning and diversification of South America's land mammal faunas. [65]
In Africa, rapid speciation in Bicyclus representing the continent's largest radiation of satyrine butterflies occurred amidst the climatic changes of the MMCO. [66]
The MMCO's temperature estimates of 3–4 °C above the preindustrial mean are similar to those projected in the future by mid-range forecasts of anthropogenic global warming conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). [67] Estimates of future pCO2 are also remarkably similar to those derived for the MMCO. [2] Because of these many similarities, many palaeoclimatologists use the MMCO as an analogue for what Earth's future climate will look like. [1] Arguably, it is the best of all possible analogues; the pCO2 of the cooler Pliocene has already been exceeded, while the warmer Eocene had global temperatures and carbon dioxide levels so high that reaching them would require scenarios that are no longer considered realistic or likely to occur. [2]
The Eocene is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name Eocene comes from the Ancient Greek Ἠώς and καινός and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch.
The Holocene is the current geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene together form the Quaternary period. The Holocene is an interglacial period within the ongoing glacial cycles of the Quaternary, and is equivalent to Marine Isotope Stage 1.
The Miocene is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about 23.03 to 5.333 million years ago (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words μείων and καινός and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern marine invertebrates than the Pliocene has. The Miocene followed the Oligocene and preceded the Pliocene.
The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present. As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the epoch are slightly uncertain. The name Oligocene was coined in 1854 by the German paleontologist Heinrich Ernst Beyrich from his studies of marine beds in Belgium and Germany. The name comes from Ancient Greek ὀλίγος (olígos) 'few' and καινός (kainós) 'new', and refers to the sparsity of extant forms of molluscs. The Oligocene is preceded by the Eocene Epoch and is followed by the Miocene Epoch. The Oligocene is the third and final epoch of the Paleogene Period.
Approximately 251.9 million years ago, the Permian–Triassicextinction event forms the boundary between the Permian and Triassic geologic periods, and with them the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. It is Earth's most severe known extinction event, with the extinction of 57% of biological families, 83% of genera, 81% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species. It is also the greatest known mass extinction of insects. It is the greatest of the "Big Five" mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic. There is evidence for one to three distinct pulses, or phases, of extinction.
The Triassic–Jurassic (Tr-J) extinction event (TJME), often called the end-Triassic extinction, was a Mesozoic extinction event that marks the boundary between the Triassic and Jurassic periods, 201.4 million years ago, and is one of the top five major extinction events of the Phanerozoic eon, profoundly affecting life on land and in the oceans. In the seas, about 23–34% of marine genera disappeared. On land, all archosauromorphs other than crocodylomorphs, pterosaurs, and non-avian dinosaurs became extinct; some of the groups which died out were previously abundant, such as aetosaurs, phytosaurs, and rauisuchids. Plants, crocodylomorphs, dinosaurs, pterosaurs and mammals were left largely untouched, allowing the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and crocodylomorphs to become the dominant land animals for the next 135 million years.
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Europe, and Asia and profoundly affected Earth's climate by causing a major expansion of deserts, along with a large drop in sea levels.
The Holocene Climate Optimum (HCO) was a warm period in the first half of the Holocene epoch, that occurred in the interval roughly 9,500 to 5,500 years BP, with a thermal maximum around 8000 years BP. It has also been known by many other names, such as Altithermal, Climatic Optimum, Holocene Megathermal, Holocene Optimum, Holocene Thermal Maximum, Holocene global thermal maximum, Hypsithermal, and Mid-Holocene Warm Period.
The Hirnantian glaciation, also known as the Andean-Saharan glaciation, Early Paleozoic Ice Age (EPIA), the Early Paleozoic Icehouse, the Late Ordovician glaciation, or the end-Ordovician glaciation, occurred during the Paleozoic from approximately 460 Ma to around 420 Ma, during the Late Ordovician and the Silurian period. The major glaciation during this period was formerly thought only to consist of the Hirnantian glaciation itself but has now been recognized as a longer, more gradual event, which began as early as the Darriwilian, and possibly even the Floian. Evidence of this glaciation can be seen in places such as Arabia, North Africa, South Africa, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Wyoming. More evidence derived from isotopic data is that during the Late Ordovician, tropical ocean temperatures were about 5 °C cooler than present day; this would have been a major factor that aided in the glaciation process.
The late Paleozoic icehouse, also known as the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) and formerly known as the Karoo ice age, was an ice age that began in the Late Devonian and ended in the Late Permian, occurring from 360 to 255 million years ago (Mya), and large land-based ice sheets were then present on Earth's surface. It was the second major icehouse period of the Phanerozoic, after the Late Ordovician Andean-Saharan glaciation.
The Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, also called the Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) or Grande Coupure, is the transition between the end of the Eocene and the beginning of the Oligocene, an extinction event and faunal turnover occurring between 33.9 and 33.4 million years ago. It was marked by large-scale extinction and floral and faunal turnover, although it was relatively minor in comparison to the largest mass extinctions.
The Middle Miocene Climatic Transition (MMCT) was a relatively steady period of climatic cooling that occurred around the middle of the Miocene, roughly 14 million years ago (Ma), during the Langhian stage, and resulted in the growth of ice sheet volumes globally, and the reestablishment of the ice of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). The term Middle Miocene disruption, alternatively the Middle Miocene extinction or Middle Miocene extinction peak, refers to a wave of extinctions of terrestrial and aquatic life forms that occurred during this climatic interval. This period was preceded by the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO), a period of relative warmth from 18 to 14 Ma. Cooling that led to the Middle Miocene disruption is primarily attributed CO2 being pulled out of the Earth's atmosphere by organic material before becoming caught in different locations like the Monterey Formation. These may have been amplified by changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation due to continental drift. Additionally, orbitally paced factors may also have played a role.
The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO), also called the Middle Eocene Thermal Maximum (METM), was a period of very warm climate that occurred during the Bartonian, from around 40.5 to 40.0 Ma. It marked a notable reversal of the overall trend of global cooling that characterised the Middle and Late Eocene.
The Carnian pluvial episode (CPE), often called the Carnian pluvial event, was a period of major change in global climate that coincided with significant changes in Earth's biota both in the sea and on land. It occurred during the latter part of the Carnian Stage, a subdivision of the late Triassic period, and lasted for perhaps 1–2 million years.
The Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT), also known as the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution (MPR), is a fundamental change in the behaviour of glacial cycles during the Quaternary glaciations. The transition occurred gradually, taking place approximately 1.25–0.7 million years ago, in the Pleistocene epoch. Before the MPT, the glacial cycles were dominated by a 41,000-year periodicity with low-amplitude, thin ice sheets, and a linear relationship to the Milankovitch forcing from axial tilt. Because of this, sheets were more dynamic during the Early Pleistocene. After the MPT there have been strongly asymmetric cycles with long-duration cooling of the climate and build-up of thick ice sheets, followed by a fast change from extreme glacial conditions to a warm interglacial. This led to less dynamic ice sheets. Interglacials before the MPT had lower levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide compared to interglacials after the MPT. One of the MPT's effects was causing ice sheets to become higher in altitude and less slippery compared to before. The MPT greatly increased the reservoirs of hydrocarbons locked up as permafrost methane or methane clathrate during glacial intervals. This led to larger methane releases during deglaciations. The cycle lengths have varied, with an average length of approximately 100,000 years.
Global paleoclimate indicators are the proxies sensitive to global paleoclimatic environment changes. They are mostly derived from marine sediments. Paleoclimate indicators derived from terrestrial sediments, on the other hand, are commonly influenced by local tectonic movements and paleogeographic variations. Factors governing the Earth's climate system include plate tectonics, which controls the configuration of continents, the interplay between the atmosphere and the ocean, and the Earth's orbital characteristics. Global paleoclimate indicators are established based on the information extracted from the analyses of geologic materials, including biological, geochemical and mineralogical data preserved in marine sediments. Indicators are generally grouped into three categories; paleontological, geochemical and lithological.
The Paquier Event (OAE1b) was an oceanic anoxic event (OAE) that occurred around 111 million years ago (Ma), in the Albian geologic stage, during a climatic interval of Earth's history known as the Middle Cretaceous Hothouse (MKH).
The Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO), also referred to as the Early Eocene Thermal Maximum (EETM), was a period of extremely warm greenhouse climatic conditions during the Eocene epoch. The EECO represented the hottest sustained interval of the Cenozoic era and one of the hottest periods in all of Earth's history.
Tethytragus was a genus of caprine bovid that lived in the Middle and Late Miocene.
Palaeoreas was a genus of Miocene bovid from Europe.
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