Articles | Volume 22, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1729-2026
© Author(s) 2026. 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-22-1729-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Middle to late Holocene cooling and increased zonal asymmetry in the mid-latitude North Atlantic
Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
Timothy Herbert
Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
John R. Toggweiler
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Princeton, NJ, 08540-6649, USA
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Joseph B. Novak, Rocío P. Caballero-Gill, Timothy D. Herbert, Harry J. Dowsett, and Alfredo Martínez-García
Clim. Past, 22, 1277–1290, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1277-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1277-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate information about the surface ocean temperatures are important for understanding Earth's climate history. Here, we correct a sea surface temperature record from the critical subarctic North Pacific region for systematic biases introduced into the algal-biomarker-based geologic temperature estimates by the analytical method used by the original study.
Brianna Hoegler, Timothy D. Herbert, and Jamie Pahigian
Clim. Past, 22, 1241–1254, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1241-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1241-2026, 2026
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Studying the Pliocene (5.33–2.58 Ma) is key to understanding Earth’s climate under current atmospheric CO2 levels and the development of permanent Northern Hemisphere ice. We used ocean sediments and improved laboratory methods to reconstruct sea surface temperatures from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1090 (south Atlantic) from ~4.3–2.6 Ma. Our data suggests cooling patterns similar to those found worldwide, suggesting a global forcing, like decreased CO2, triggered the shift to the ice ages.
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Short summary
Transient climate models simulate warming over the past 5000 years due to a 20 ppm CO2 rise, yet paleo-proxies indicate cooling. In this study, we examine the mid-latitude North Atlantic, where model-data mismatch is largest. Our analysis links Late Holocene cooling to increased zonal SST (Sea Surface Temperature) asymmetry, likely from basin-scale reorganization of inter-gyre circulation. Transient models, however, do not to capture this spatial pattern and associated circulation changes.
Transient climate models simulate warming over the past 5000 years due to a 20 ppm CO2 rise, yet...