The Role of the Tropical Pacific in Pliocene Climate Change

University Of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

Investigators

Abstract

Summary: This ESH project will analyze stable isotopes and Mg/Ca in planktic foraminifera from two sites in the equatorial Pacific to determine whether the early Pliocene was characterized by a permanent ENSO-like state with uniformly warm tropical temperatures and a shallow termocline. A second hypothesis to be tested is that since the early Pliocene there has been a steepening of the thermocline and SST gradients from east to west, and that this steepening has allow the eastern equatorial Pacific to be more sensitive to orbital (insulation) forcing.