Collaborative Research: Evolution of the Climate Continuum- Late Paleogene to Present

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

Determining the driving forces behind climate change, as well as the sensitivity of Earth's climate system to these forces, is a central question in paleoclimate research. This study will provide the first explicit evaluation of changes in stochastic versus deterministic climate processes associated with the evolution of the Late Paleogene to Neogene climate system (36 Ma to the present). This timeframe was chosen because high quality, high resolution, continuous data are available for analysis, and because the interval spans the transition from a high pCO2 "Greenhouse" climate to a low pCO2 "Icehouse" world. The investigators focus on the analysis of published foraminiferal oxygen and carbon isotope records and use a number of techniques rooted in Thomson's multi-taper spectral method (MTM), as well as a suite of non-linear time series analysis methods. The project will generate several products: 1) a new high resolution benthic d18O composite record spanning 36 Ma to the present, 2) an analysis of the evolution of orbital signals over the same timeframe, and 3) a quantification of changes in stochastic climate variability during the Late Paleogene to Neogene, and an assessment of the relative dominance of deterministic orbital versus stochastic climate energy through the Greenhouse-Icehouse climate transition. Funding supports collaboration between a young PI and a senior female scientist, as well as graduate student training. The algorithms produced in the course of the research will be made publicly available as a resource for the broader climate science community.