Articles | Volume 21, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-381-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-381-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
05 Feb 2025
Research article |
| 05 Feb 2025
| 05 Feb 2025
Testing the reliability of global surface temperature reconstructions of the Last Glacial Cycle with pseudo-proxy experiments
Jean-Philippe Baudouin
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
Nils Weitzel
Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
Maximilian May
Institute of Environmental Physics, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
Lukas Jonkers
MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Andrew M. Dolman
Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Potsdam, Germany
Kira Rehfeld
Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
Department of Physics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Jean-Philippe Baudouin, Michael Herzog, and Cameron A. Petrie
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Andrew M. Dolman, Torben Kunz, Jeroen Groeneveld, and Thomas Laepple
Clim. Past, 17, 825–841, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-825-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-825-2021, 2021
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Laia Comas-Bru, Kira Rehfeld, Carla Roesch, Sahar Amirnezhad-Mozhdehi, Sandy P. Harrison, Kamolphat Atsawawaranunt, Syed Masood Ahmad, Yassine Ait Brahim, Andy Baker, Matthew Bosomworth, Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach, Yuval Burstyn, Andrea Columbu, Michael Deininger, Attila Demény, Bronwyn Dixon, Jens Fohlmeister, István Gábor Hatvani, Jun Hu, Nikita Kaushal, Zoltán Kern, Inga Labuhn, Franziska A. Lechleitner, Andrew Lorrey, Belen Martrat, Valdir Felipe Novello, Jessica Oster, Carlos Pérez-Mejías, Denis Scholz, Nick Scroxton, Nitesh Sinha, Brittany Marie Ward, Sophie Warken, Haiwei Zhang, and SISAL Working Group members
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Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2261–2288, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2261-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2261-2020, 2020
Douglas Lessa, Raphaël Morard, Lukas Jonkers, Igor M. Venancio, Runa Reuter, Adrian Baumeister, Ana Luiza Albuquerque, and Michal Kucera
Biogeosciences, 17, 4313–4342, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4313-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4313-2020, 2020
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We observed that living planktonic foraminifera had distinct vertically distributed communities across the Subtropical South Atlantic. In addition, a hierarchic alternation of environmental parameters was measured to control the distribution of planktonic foraminifer's species depending on the water depth. This implies that not only temperature but also productivity and subsurface processes are signed in fossil assemblages, which could be used to perform paleoceanographic reconstructions.
Torben Kunz, Andrew M. Dolman, and Thomas Laepple
Clim. Past, 16, 1469–1492, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1469-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1469-2020, 2020
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This paper introduces a method to estimate the uncertainty of climate reconstructions from single sediment proxy records. The method can compute uncertainties as a function of averaging timescale, thereby accounting for the fact that some components of the uncertainty are autocorrelated in time. This is achieved by treating the problem in the spectral domain. Fully analytic expressions are derived. A companion paper (Part 2) complements this with application-oriented examples of the method.
Kira Rehfeld, Raphaël Hébert, Juan M. Lora, Marcus Lofverstrom, and Chris M. Brierley
Earth Syst. Dynam., 11, 447–468, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-447-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-447-2020, 2020
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Under continued anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, it is likely that global mean surface temperature will continue to increase. Little is known about changes in climate variability. We analyze surface climate variability and compare it to mean change in colder- and warmer-than-present climate model simulations. In most locations, but not on subtropical land, simulated temperature variability up to decadal timescales decreases with mean temperature, and precipitation variability increases.
Lukas Jonkers, Olivier Cartapanis, Michael Langner, Nick McKay, Stefan Mulitza, Anne Strack, and Michal Kucera
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 1053–1081, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1053-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1053-2020, 2020
Bryan C. Lougheed, Philippa Ascough, Andrew M. Dolman, Ludvig Löwemark, and Brett Metcalfe
Geochronology, 2, 17–31, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2-17-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-2-17-2020, 2020
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The current geochronological state of the art for applying the radiocarbon (14C) method to deep-sea sediment archives lacks key information on sediment bioturbation, which could affect palaeoclimate interpretations made from deep-sea sediment. We use a computer model that simulates the 14C activity and bioturbation history of millions of single foraminifera at the sea floor, allowing us to evaluate the current state of the art at the most fundamental level.
Jean-Philippe Baudouin, Michael Herzog, and Cameron A. Petrie
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 427–450, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-427-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-427-2020, 2020
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Mattia Greco, Lukas Jonkers, Kerstin Kretschmer, Jelle Bijma, and Michal Kucera
Biogeosciences, 16, 3425–3437, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3425-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3425-2019, 2019
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To be able to interpret the paleoecological signal contained in N. pachyderma's shells, its habitat depth must be known. Our investigation on 104 density profiles of this species from the Arctic and North Atlantic shows that specimens reside closer to the surface when sea-ice and/or surface chlorophyll concentrations are high. This is in contrast with previous investigations that pointed at the position of the deep chlorophyll maximum as the main driver of N. pachyderma vertical distribution.
Fei Lu, Nils Weitzel, and Adam H. Monahan
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ll-posedness of the inverse problem and sparse noisy data are two major challenges in the modeling of high-dimensional spatiotemporal processes. We present a Bayesian inference method with a strongly regularized posterior to overcome these challenges, enabling joint state-parameter estimation and quantifying uncertainty in the estimation. We demonstrate the method on a physically motivated nonlinear stochastic partial differential equation arising from paleoclimate construction.
Laia Comas-Bru, Sandy P. Harrison, Martin Werner, Kira Rehfeld, Nick Scroxton, Cristina Veiga-Pires, and SISAL working group members
Clim. Past, 15, 1557–1579, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1557-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1557-2019, 2019
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We use an updated version of the Speleothem Isotopes Synthesis and Analysis (SISAL) database and palaeoclimate simulations generated using the ECHAM5-wiso isotope-enabled climate model to provide a protocol for using speleothem isotopic data for model evaluation, including screening the observations and the optimum period for the modern observational baseline. We also illustrate techniques through which the absolute isotopic values during any time period could be used for model evaluation.
Andreia Rebotim, Antje Helga Luise Voelker, Lukas Jonkers, Joanna J. Waniek, Michael Schulz, and Michal Kucera
J. Micropalaeontol., 38, 113–131, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-38-113-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-38-113-2019, 2019
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To reconstruct subsurface water conditions using deep-dwelling planktonic foraminifera, we must fully understand how the oxygen isotope signal incorporates into their shell. We report δ18O in four species sampled in the eastern North Atlantic with plankton tows. We assess the size and crust effect on the isotopic δ18O and compared them with predictions from two equations. We reveal different patterns of calcite addition with depth, highlighting the need to perform species-specific calibrations.
Nils Weitzel, Andreas Hense, and Christian Ohlwein
Clim. Past, 15, 1275–1301, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1275-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1275-2019, 2019
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A new method for probabilistic spatial reconstructions of past climate states is presented, which combines pollen data with a multi-model ensemble of climate simulations in a Bayesian framework. The approach is applied to reconstruct summer and winter temperature in Europe during the mid-Holocene. Our reconstructions account for multiple sources of uncertainty and are well suited for quantitative statistical analyses of the climate under different forcing conditions.
Lukas Jonkers and Michal Kučera
Clim. Past, 15, 881–891, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-881-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-881-2019, 2019
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Fossil plankton assemblages have been widely used to reconstruct SST. In such approaches, full taxonomic resolution is often used. We assess whether this is required for reliable reconstructions as some species may not respond to SST. We find that only a few species are needed for low reconstruction errors but that species selection has a pronounced effect on reconstructions. We suggest that the sensitivity of a reconstruction to species pruning can be used as a measure of its robustness.
Matthias M. May and Kira Rehfeld
Earth Syst. Dynam., 10, 1–7, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-1-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-1-2019, 2019
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Current CO2 emission rates are incompatible with the 2 °C target for global warming. Negative emission technologies are therefore an important basis for climate policy scenarios. We show that photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction might be a viable, high-efficiency alternative to biomass-based approaches, which reduce competition for arable land. To develop them, chemical reactions have to be optimized for CO2 removal, which deviates from energetic efficiency optimization in solar fuel applications.
Andrew M. Dolman and Thomas Laepple
Clim. Past, 14, 1851–1868, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1851-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1851-2018, 2018
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Climate proxies from marine sediments provide an important record of past temperatures, but contain noise from many sources. These include mixing by burrowing organisms, seasonal and habitat biases, measurement error, and small sample size effects. We have created a forward model that simulates the creation of proxy records and provides it as a user-friendly R package. It allows multiple sources of uncertainty to be considered together when interpreting proxy climate records.
Kerstin Kretschmer, Lukas Jonkers, Michal Kucera, and Michael Schulz
Biogeosciences, 15, 4405–4429, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4405-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-4405-2018, 2018
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The fossil shells of planktonic foraminifera are widely used to reconstruct past climate conditions. To do so, information about their seasonal and vertical habitat is needed. Here we present an updated version of a planktonic foraminifera model to better understand species-specific habitat dynamics under climate change. This model produces spatially and temporally coherent distribution patterns, which agree well with available observations, and can thus aid the interpretation of proxy records.
Lukas Jonkers and Michal Kučera
Clim. Past, 13, 573–586, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-573-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-573-2017, 2017
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Planktonic foraminifera – the most important proxy carriers in palaeoceanography – adjust their seasonal and vertical habitat. They are thought to do so in a way that minimises the change in their environment, implying that proxy records based on these organisms may not capture the full amplitude of past climate change. Here we demonstrate that they indeed track a particular thermal habitat and suggest that this could lead to a 40 % underestimation of reconstructed temperature change.
Andreia Rebotim, Antje H. L. Voelker, Lukas Jonkers, Joanna J. Waniek, Helge Meggers, Ralf Schiebel, Igaratza Fraile, Michael Schulz, and Michal Kucera
Biogeosciences, 14, 827–859, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-827-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-827-2017, 2017
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Planktonic foraminifera species depth habitat remains poorly constrained and the existing conceptual models are not sufficiently tested by observational data. Here we present a synthesis of living planktonic foraminifera abundance data in the subtropical eastern North Atlantic from vertical plankton tows. We also test potential environmental factors influencing the species depth habitat and investigate yearly or lunar migration cycles. These findings may impact paleoceanographic studies.
Kira Rehfeld, Mathias Trachsel, Richard J. Telford, and Thomas Laepple
Clim. Past, 12, 2255–2270, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2255-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2255-2016, 2016
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Indirect evidence on past climate comes from the former composition of ecological communities such as plants, preserved as pollen grains in sediments of lakes. Transfer functions convert relative counts of species to a climatologically meaningful scale (e.g. annual mean temperature in degrees C). We show that the fundamental assumptions in the algorithms impact the reconstruction results in he idealized model world, in particular if the reconstructed variables were not ecologically relevant.
L. Jonkers, C. E. Reynolds, J. Richey, and I. R. Hall
Biogeosciences, 12, 3061–3070, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-3061-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-3061-2015, 2015
L. Jonkers and M. Kučera
Biogeosciences, 12, 2207–2226, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2207-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2207-2015, 2015
K. Rehfeld, N. Molkenthin, and J. Kurths
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 21, 691–703, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-691-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-691-2014, 2014
L. Tupikina, K. Rehfeld, N. Molkenthin, V. Stolbova, N. Marwan, and J. Kurths
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 21, 705–711, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-705-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-705-2014, 2014
N. Molkenthin, K. Rehfeld, V. Stolbova, L. Tupikina, and J. Kurths
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 21, 651–657, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-651-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-651-2014, 2014
K. Rehfeld and J. Kurths
Clim. Past, 10, 107–122, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-107-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-107-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Subject: Proxy Use-Development-Validation | Archive: Marine Archives | Timescale: Pleistocene
Glacial-interglacial contrasts in the marine inorganic carbon chemistry of the Benguela Upwelling System
Monsoon-driven changes in aeolian and fluvial sediment input to the central Red Sea recorded throughout the last 200 000 years
Orbital CO2 reconstruction using boron isotopes during the late Pleistocene, an assessment of accuracy
Bayesian age models and stacks: combining age inferences from radiocarbon and benthic δ18O stratigraphic alignment
A 600 kyr reconstruction of deep Arctic seawater δ18O from benthic foraminiferal δ18O and ostracode Mg ∕ Ca paleothermometry
Antarctic sea ice over the past 130 000 years – Part 1: a review of what proxy records tell us
Reorganization of Atlantic Waters at sub-polar latitudes linked to deep-water overflow in both glacial and interglacial climate states
Parallel between the isotopic composition of coccolith calcite and carbon levels across Termination II: developing a new paleo-CO2 probe
A global climatology of the ocean surface during the Last Glacial Maximum mapped on a regular grid (GLOMAP)
Contrasting late-glacial paleoceanographic evolution between the upper and lower continental slope of the western South Atlantic
Modal shift in North Atlantic seasonality during the last deglaciation
Technical note: PaleoDataView – a software toolbox for the collection, homogenization and visualization of marine proxy data
Sensitivity to species selection indicates the effect of nuisance variables on marine microfossil transfer functions
Insensitivity of alkenone carbon isotopes to atmospheric CO2 at low to moderate CO2 levels
Extreme lowering of deglacial seawater radiocarbon recorded by both epifaunal and infaunal benthic foraminifera in a wood-dated sediment core
A Late Quaternary climate record based on long-chain diol proxies from the Chilean margin
Moving beyond the age–depth model paradigm in deep-sea palaeoclimate archives: dual radiocarbon and stable isotope analysis on single foraminifera
Quantifying the effect of seasonal and vertical habitat tracking on planktonic foraminifera proxies
Water and carbon stable isotope records from natural archives: a new database and interactive online platform for data browsing, visualizing and downloading
Palaeo-sea-level and palaeo-ice-sheet databases: problems, strategies, and perspectives
Multiproxy reconstruction for Kuroshio responses to northern hemispheric oceanic climate and the Asian Monsoon since Marine Isotope Stage 5.1 (∼88 ka)
Hydrographic changes in the Agulhas Recirculation Region during the late Quaternary
Salinity changes in the Agulhas leakage area recorded by stable hydrogen isotopes of C37 alkenones during Termination I and II
Mismatch between the depth habitat of planktonic foraminifera and the calibration depth of SST transfer functions may bias reconstructions
Szabina Karancz, Lennart J. de Nooijer, Bas van der Wagt, Marcel T. J. van der Meer, Sambuddha Misra, Rick Hennekam, Zeynep Erdem, Julie Lattaud, Negar Haghipour, Stefan Schouten, and Gert-Jan Reichart
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1915, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1915, 2024
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Changes in upwelling intensity of the Benguela upwelling region during the last glacial motivated us to investigate the local CO2-history during the last glacial to interglacial transition. Using various geochemical tracers on archives from both intermediate and surface waters reveal enhanced storage of carbon at depth during the last glacial maximum. An efficient biological pump likely prevented outgassing of CO2 from intermediate depth to the atmosphere.
Werner Ehrmann, Paul A. Wilson, Helge W. Arz, Hartmut Schulz, and Gerhard Schmiedl
Clim. Past, 20, 37–52, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-37-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-37-2024, 2024
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Climatic and associated hydrological changes controlled the aeolian versus fluvial transport processes and the composition of the sediments in the central Red Sea through the last ca. 200 kyr. We identify source areas of the mineral dust and pulses of fluvial discharge based on high-resolution grain size, clay mineral, and geochemical data, together with Nd and Sr isotope data. We provide a detailed reconstruction of changes in aridity/humidity.
Elwyn de la Vega, Thomas B. Chalk, Mathis P. Hain, Megan R. Wilding, Daniel Casey, Robin Gledhill, Chongguang Luo, Paul A. Wilson, and Gavin L. Foster
Clim. Past, 19, 2493–2510, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2493-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2493-2023, 2023
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We evaluate how faithfully the boron isotope composition of foraminifera records atmospheric CO2 by comparing it to the high-fidelity CO2 record from the Antarctic ice cores. We evaluate potential factors and find that partial dissolution of foraminifera shells, assumptions of seawater chemistry, and the biology of foraminifera all have a negligible effect on reconstructed CO2. This gives confidence in the use of boron isotopes beyond the interval when ice core CO2 is available.
Taehee Lee, Devin Rand, Lorraine E. Lisiecki, Geoffrey Gebbie, and Charles Lawrence
Clim. Past, 19, 1993–2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1993-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1993-2023, 2023
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Understanding of past climate change depends, in part, on how accurately we can estimate the ages of events recorded in geologic archives. Here we present a new software package, called BIGMACS, to improve age estimates for paleoclimate data from ocean sediment cores. BIGMACS creates multiproxy age estimates that reduce age uncertainty by probabilistically combining information from direct age estimates, such as radiocarbon dates, and the alignment of regional paleoclimate time series.
Jesse R. Farmer, Katherine J. Keller, Robert K. Poirier, Gary S. Dwyer, Morgan F. Schaller, Helen K. Coxall, Matt O'Regan, and Thomas M. Cronin
Clim. Past, 19, 555–578, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-555-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-555-2023, 2023
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Oxygen isotopes are used to date marine sediments via similar large-scale ocean patterns over glacial cycles. However, the Arctic Ocean exhibits a different isotope pattern, creating uncertainty in the timing of past Arctic climate change. We find that the Arctic Ocean experienced large local oxygen isotope changes over glacial cycles. We attribute this to a breakdown of stratification during ice ages that allowed for a unique low isotope value to characterize the ice age Arctic Ocean.
Xavier Crosta, Karen E. Kohfeld, Helen C. Bostock, Matthew Chadwick, Alice Du Vivier, Oliver Esper, Johan Etourneau, Jacob Jones, Amy Leventer, Juliane Müller, Rachael H. Rhodes, Claire S. Allen, Pooja Ghadi, Nele Lamping, Carina B. Lange, Kelly-Anne Lawler, David Lund, Alice Marzocchi, Katrin J. Meissner, Laurie Menviel, Abhilash Nair, Molly Patterson, Jennifer Pike, Joseph G. Prebble, Christina Riesselman, Henrik Sadatzki, Louise C. Sime, Sunil K. Shukla, Lena Thöle, Maria-Elena Vorrath, Wenshen Xiao, and Jiao Yang
Clim. Past, 18, 1729–1756, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1729-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1729-2022, 2022
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Despite its importance in the global climate, our knowledge of Antarctic sea-ice changes throughout the last glacial–interglacial cycle is extremely limited. As part of the Cycles of Sea Ice Dynamics in the Earth system (C-SIDE) Working Group, we review marine- and ice-core-based sea-ice proxies to provide insights into their applicability and limitations. By compiling published records, we provide information on Antarctic sea-ice dynamics over the past 130 000 years.
Dakota E. Holmes, Tali L. Babila, Ulysses Ninnemann, Gordon Bromley, Shane Tyrrell, Greig A. Paterson, Michelle J. Curran, and Audrey Morley
Clim. Past, 18, 989–1009, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-989-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-989-2022, 2022
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Our proxy-based observations of the glacial inception following MIS 11 advance our mechanistic understanding of (and elucidates antecedent conditions that can lead to) high-magnitude climate instability during low- and intermediate-ice boundary conditions. We find that irrespective of the magnitude of climate variability or boundary conditions, the reorganization between Polar Water and Atlantic Water at subpolar latitudes appears to influence deep-water flow in the Nordic Seas.
Camille Godbillot, Fabrice Minoletti, Franck Bassinot, and Michaël Hermoso
Clim. Past, 18, 449–464, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-449-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-449-2022, 2022
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We test a new method to reconstruct past atmospheric CO2 levels based on the geochemistry of pelagic algal biominerals (coccoliths), which recent culture and numerical experiments have related to ambient CO2 concentrations. By comparing the isotopic composition of fossil coccoliths to the inferred surface ocean CO2 level at the time they calcified, we outline a transfer function and argue that coccolith vital effects can be used to reconstruct geological pCO2 beyond the ice core record.
André Paul, Stefan Mulitza, Rüdiger Stein, and Martin Werner
Clim. Past, 17, 805–824, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-805-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-805-2021, 2021
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Maps and fields of near-sea-surface temperature differences between the past and present can be used to visualize and quantify climate changes and perform simulations with climate models. We used a statistical method to map sparse and scattered data for the Last Glacial Maximum time period (23 000 to 19 000 years before present) to a regular grid. The estimated global and tropical cooling would imply an equilibrium climate sensitivity in the lower to middle part of the currently accepted range.
Leticia G. Luz, Thiago P. Santos, Timothy I. Eglinton, Daniel Montluçon, Blanca Ausin, Negar Haghipour, Silvia M. Sousa, Renata H. Nagai, and Renato S. Carreira
Clim. Past, 16, 1245–1261, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1245-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1245-2020, 2020
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Two sediment cores retrieved from the SE Brazilian continental margin were studied using multiple organic (alkenones) and inorganic (oxygen isotopes in carbonate shells and water) proxies to reconstruct the sea surface temperature (SST) over the last 50 000 years. The findings indicate the formation of strong thermal gradients in the region during the last climate transition, a feature that may become more frequent in the future scenario of global water circulation changes.
Geert-Jan A. Brummer, Brett Metcalfe, Wouter Feldmeijer, Maarten A. Prins, Jasmijn van 't Hoff, and Gerald M. Ganssen
Clim. Past, 16, 265–282, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-265-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-265-2020, 2020
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Here, mid-ocean seasonality is resolved through time, using differences in the oxygen isotope composition between individual shells of the commonly used (sub)polar planktonic foraminifera species in ocean-climate reconstruction, N. pachyderma and G. bulloides. Single-specimen isotope measurements during the deglacial period revealed a surprising bimodality, the cause of which was investigated.
Michael Langner and Stefan Mulitza
Clim. Past, 15, 2067–2072, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-2067-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-2067-2019, 2019
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Collections of paleoclimate data provide valuable information on the functioning of the Earth system but are often difficult to manage due to the inconsistency of data formats and reconstruction methods. We present a software toolbox that combines a simple document-based database with functionality for the visualization and management of marine proxy data. The program allows the efficient homogenization of larger paleoceanographic data sets into quality-controlled and transparent data products.
Lukas Jonkers and Michal Kučera
Clim. Past, 15, 881–891, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-881-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-881-2019, 2019
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Fossil plankton assemblages have been widely used to reconstruct SST. In such approaches, full taxonomic resolution is often used. We assess whether this is required for reliable reconstructions as some species may not respond to SST. We find that only a few species are needed for low reconstruction errors but that species selection has a pronounced effect on reconstructions. We suggest that the sensitivity of a reconstruction to species pruning can be used as a measure of its robustness.
Marcus P. S. Badger, Thomas B. Chalk, Gavin L. Foster, Paul R. Bown, Samantha J. Gibbs, Philip F. Sexton, Daniela N. Schmidt, Heiko Pälike, Andreas Mackensen, and Richard D. Pancost
Clim. Past, 15, 539–554, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-539-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-539-2019, 2019
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Understanding how atmospheric CO2 has affected the climate of the past is an important way of furthering our understanding of how CO2 may affect our climate in the future. There are several ways of determining CO2 in the past; in this paper, we ground-truth one method (based on preserved organic matter from alga) against the record of CO2 preserved as bubbles in ice cores over a glacial–interglacial cycle. We find that there is a discrepancy between the two.
Patrick A. Rafter, Juan-Carlos Herguera, and John R. Southon
Clim. Past, 14, 1977–1989, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1977-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1977-2018, 2018
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Carbon’s radioactive isotope (radiocarbon) is a useful tool for oceanographers investigating carbon cycling in the modern ocean and ice age oceans (using foraminifera microfossils). Here we used sediment cores with excellent age constraints and abundant foraminifera microfossils to examine interspecies radiocarbon differences. All species demonstrate the same extreme radiocarbon depletion, and we argue that these observations represent important changes in seawater carbon chemistry.
Marijke W. de Bar, Dave J. Stolwijk, Jerry F. McManus, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté, and Stefan Schouten
Clim. Past, 14, 1783–1803, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1783-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1783-2018, 2018
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We present a past sea surface temperature and paleoproductivity record over the last 150 000 years for ODP Site 1234 (Chilean margin). We tested the applicability of long-chain diol proxies for the reconstrucion of SST (LDI), past upwelling conditions (diol index), and nutrient concentrations (NDI). The LDI likely reflects past temperature changes, but the diol index and NDI are perhaps more indicative of Proboscia diatom productivity rather than upwelling and/or nutrient conditions.
Bryan C. Lougheed, Brett Metcalfe, Ulysses S. Ninnemann, and Lukas Wacker
Clim. Past, 14, 515–526, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-515-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-515-2018, 2018
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Palaeoclimate reconstructions from deep-sea sediment archives provide valuable insight into past rapid climate change, but only a small proportion of the ocean is suitable for such reconstructions using the existing state of the art, i.e. the age–depth approach. We use dual radiocarbon (14C) and stable isotope analysis on single foraminifera to bypass the long-standing age–depth approach, thus facilitating past ocean chemistry reconstructions from vast, previously untapped ocean areas.
Lukas Jonkers and Michal Kučera
Clim. Past, 13, 573–586, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-573-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-573-2017, 2017
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Planktonic foraminifera – the most important proxy carriers in palaeoceanography – adjust their seasonal and vertical habitat. They are thought to do so in a way that minimises the change in their environment, implying that proxy records based on these organisms may not capture the full amplitude of past climate change. Here we demonstrate that they indeed track a particular thermal habitat and suggest that this could lead to a 40 % underestimation of reconstructed temperature change.
Timothé Bolliet, Patrick Brockmann, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Franck Bassinot, Valérie Daux, Dominique Genty, Amaelle Landais, Marlène Lavrieux, Elisabeth Michel, Pablo Ortega, Camille Risi, Didier M. Roche, Françoise Vimeux, and Claire Waelbroeck
Clim. Past, 12, 1693–1719, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1693-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1693-2016, 2016
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This paper presents a new database of past climate proxies which aims to facilitate the distribution of data by using a user-friendly interface. Available data from the last 40 years are often fragmented, with lots of different formats, and online libraries are sometimes nonintuitive. We thus built a new dynamic web portal for data browsing, visualizing, and batch downloading of hundreds of datasets presenting a homogeneous format.
André Düsterhus, Alessio Rovere, Anders E. Carlson, Benjamin P. Horton, Volker Klemann, Lev Tarasov, Natasha L. M. Barlow, Tom Bradwell, Jorie Clark, Andrea Dutton, W. Roland Gehrels, Fiona D. Hibbert, Marc P. Hijma, Nicole Khan, Robert E. Kopp, Dorit Sivan, and Torbjörn E. Törnqvist
Clim. Past, 12, 911–921, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-911-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-911-2016, 2016
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This review/position paper addresses problems in creating new interdisciplinary databases for palaeo-climatological sea-level and ice-sheet data and gives an overview on new advances to tackle them. The focus therein is to define and explain strategies and highlight their importance to allow further progress in these fields. It also offers important insights into the general problem of designing competitive databases which are also applicable to other communities within the palaeo-environment.
X. Shi, Y. Wu, J. Zou, Y. Liu, S. Ge, M. Zhao, J. Liu, A. Zhu, X. Meng, Z. Yao, and Y. Han
Clim. Past, 10, 1735–1750, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1735-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1735-2014, 2014
D. K. Naik, R. Saraswat, N. Khare, A. C. Pandey, and R. Nigam
Clim. Past, 10, 745–758, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-745-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-745-2014, 2014
S. Kasper, M. T. J. van der Meer, A. Mets, R. Zahn, J. S. Sinninghe Damsté, and S. Schouten
Clim. Past, 10, 251–260, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-251-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-251-2014, 2014
R. J. Telford, C. Li, and M. Kucera
Clim. Past, 9, 859–870, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-859-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-859-2013, 2013
Cited articles
Anand, P., Elderfield, H., and Conte, M. H.: Calibration of Mg/Ca thermometry in planktonic foraminifera from a sediment trap time series, Paleoceanography, 18, 2, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002PA000846, 2003. a
Annan, J. D., Hargreaves, J. C., and Mauritsen, T.: A new global surface temperature reconstruction for the Last Glacial Maximum, Clim. Past, 18, 1883–1896, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1883-2022, 2022. a
Argus, D. F., Peltier, W. R., Drummond, R., and Moore, A. W.: The Antarctica component of postglacial rebound model ICE-6G_C (VM5a) based on GPS positioning, exposure age dating of ice thicknesses, and relative sea level histories, Geophys. J. Int., 198, 537–563, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggu140, 2014. a
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Short summary
Earth's past temperature reconstructions are critical for understanding climate change. We test the ability of these reconstructions using climate simulations. Uncertainties, mainly from past temperature measurement methods and age determination, impact reconstructions over time. While more data enhance accuracy for long-term trends, high-quality data are more important for short-term precision. Our study lays the groundwork for better reconstructions and suggests avenues for improvement.
Earth's past temperature reconstructions are critical for understanding climate change. We test...
