Late Pliocene Greenland glaciation controlled by a decline in atmospheric CO2 levels

Daniel J. Lunt (), Gavin L. Foster, Alan M. Haywood and Emma J. Stone
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Daniel J. Lunt: BRIDGE, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road
Gavin L. Foster: Bristol Isotope Group, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen’s Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
Alan M. Haywood: School of Earth and Environment, Environment Building, University of Leeds
Emma J. Stone: BRIDGE, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road

Nature, 2008, vol. 454, issue 7208, 1102-1105

Abstract: Global cooling in the Pliocene Despite the importance of ice-sheet stability in the context of climate change, there are still large gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms that control the ice sheet volume. The Northern Hemisphere is thought to have been mostly free from ice cover for more than 30 million years until the onset of extensive glaciations during the late Pliocene, about 3 million years ago. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the growth of the Greenland ice sheet at the time. A new simulation using a fully coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model and an ice sheet model now points to a decline in atmospheric CO2 as the dominant driver of the Pliocene growth of the Greenland ice sheet. The rival hypotheses — the closure of the Panama seaway, the termination of El Niño and tectonic uplift — are not sufficient to trigger widespread glaciation in this model.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07223

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