Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Dataset Open Access |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
PANGAEA
2005
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.772021 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Table of Contents:
- During the warm early Pliocene (~4.5 to 3.0 million years ago), the most recent interval with a climate warmer than today, the eastern Pacific thermocline was deep and the average west-to-east sea surface temperature difference across the equatorial Pacific was only 1.5 ± 0.9°C, much like it is during a modern El Niño event. Thus, the modern strong sea surface temperature gradient across the equatorial Pacific is not a stable and permanent feature. Sustained El Niño-like conditions, including relatively weak zonal atmospheric (Walker) circulation, could be a consequence of, and play an important role in determining, global warmth.