Articles | Volume 22, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-625-2026
© 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-22-625-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
20 Mar 2026
Research article |
| 20 Mar 2026
| 20 Mar 2026
Exploring the Mid-Pleistocene transition with a simple physical model
Geosciences Institute (IGEO, CSIC-UCM), Madrid, Spain
Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Department of Earth Physics and Astrophysics, Madrid, Spain
Jorge Alvarez-Solas
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Geosciences Institute (IGEO, CSIC-UCM), Madrid, Spain
Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Department of Earth Physics and Astrophysics, Madrid, Spain
Jan Swierczek-Jereczek
Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Department of Earth Physics and Astrophysics, Madrid, Spain
Daniel Moreno-Parada
Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Laboratoire de Glaciologie, Brussels, Belgium
Alexander Robinson
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany
Marisa Montoya
Geosciences Institute (IGEO, CSIC-UCM), Madrid, Spain
Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Department of Earth Physics and Astrophysics, Madrid, Spain
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Short summary
Almost 3 million years ago, the planet began to experience a succession of cold and warm periods every 40,000 years. However, about 1 million years ago, they began to occur every 100,000 years. In this paper we explore how the change in the basal velocity of the ice sheets could have produced this change in behavior. On the other hand, we also see that in our model, decreasing in time the sensitivity of snowfall to temperature is also an effective mechanism with which to reproduce the records.
Almost 3 million years ago, the planet began to experience a succession of cold and warm periods...
