[en] The middle Miocene is a crucial period for the evolution of apes, and it corresponds to their
<br /><br />appearance in Europe. The dispersion of apes was made possible by tectonic changes and the
<br /><br />expansion of their habitat, (sub-) tropical forest, in Europe. The context in which the middle
<br /><br />Miocene climatic optimum occurred still lacks constraints in terms of atmospheric pCO2 and
<br /><br />ice-sheet volume and extent. Using a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model
<br /><br />(GCM) and dynamic vegetation model, we investigated the sensitivity of Miocene climate and
<br /><br />vegetation to pCO2 levels and Antarctic ice-sheet confi gurations. Our results indicate that
<br /><br />higher than present pCO2 is necessary to simulate subtropical forest in Western and Central
<br /><br />Europe during the middle Miocene, but that a threshold at high pCO2 makes subtropical
<br /><br />forest partly collapse. Moreover, removing ice over Antarctica modifi es oceanic circulation
<br /><br />and induces warmer and slightly wetter conditions in Europe, which are consistent with the
<br /><br />expansion of subtropical forest. These results suggest that a small East Antarctic Ice Sheet
<br /><br />(25% of present-day ice volume) together with higher than present pCO2 values are in better
<br /><br />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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