[en] The middle Miocene is a crucial period for the evolution of apes, and it corresponds to their
appearance in Europe. The dispersion of apes was made possible by tectonic changes and the
expansion of their habitat, (sub-) tropical forest, in Europe. The context in which the middle
Miocene climatic optimum occurred still lacks constraints in terms of atmospheric pCO2 and
ice-sheet volume and extent. Using a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model
(GCM) and dynamic vegetation model, we investigated the sensitivity of Miocene climate and
vegetation to pCO2 levels and Antarctic ice-sheet confi gurations. Our results indicate that
higher than present pCO2 is necessary to simulate subtropical forest in Western and Central
Europe during the middle Miocene, but that a threshold at high pCO2 makes subtropical
forest partly collapse. Moreover, removing ice over Antarctica modifi es oceanic circulation
and induces warmer and slightly wetter conditions in Europe, which are consistent with the
expansion of subtropical forest. These results suggest that a small East Antarctic Ice Sheet
(25% of present-day ice volume) together with higher than present pCO2 values are in better
agreement with available European middle Miocene data.
Research Center/Unit :
Unité de Modélisation du Climat et des Cycles Biogéochimiques, Université de Liège
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Hamon, Noémie; Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’environnement, CNRS-CEA-UVSQ
Sepulchre, Pierre; Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’environnement, CNRS-CEA-UVSQ
Donnadieu, Yannick; Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’environnement, CNRS-CEA-UVSQ
Henrot, Alexandra-Jane ; Université de Liège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Modélisation du climat et des cycles biogéochimiques
François, Louis ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Modélisation du climat et des cycles biogéochimiques
Jaeger, Jean-Jacques; CNRS-INEE, Université de Poitiers
Ramstein, Gilles; Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’environnement, CNRS-CEA-UVSQ
Language :
English
Title :
Growth of subtropical forests in Miocene Europe: The roles of carbon dioxide and Antarctic ice volume
Publication date :
2012
Journal title :
Geology
ISSN :
0091-7613
eISSN :
1943-2682
Publisher :
Geological Society of America, Boulder, United States - Colorado
Volume :
40
Pages :
567-570
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Name of the research project :
Comprendre le refroidissement du Cénozoïque
Funders :
FRFC - Fonds de la Recherche Fondamentale Collective
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