Paper: Kennedy et al 2015

Title: Atmospheric and oceanic impacts of Antarctic glaciation across the Eocene-Oligocene transition

For a fuller description of the paper itself, go to the end of this web page.

Each simulation published in this paper corresponds to a unique 5 or 6 character code on the web pages.
The following table lists the name of the simulation as used in the paper, and the corresponding code name

The webpage gives you the ability to examine the published simulations, but you can also download the raw (netcdf) files to perform your own analysis. Detailed instructions on how to use the webpages and access the data can be found here: Using_BRIDGE_webpages.pdf

There are 6 simulations used in this paper: 3 different ice sheet states on 2 different palaeogeographies at the EOT

You can have make you own analysis and plots by going here

Simulation Name as in PaperSimulation name on web pages
PriNOtdwqj
PriEAIStdwqm
PriFULLtdwql
RupNOtdlut
RupEAIStdwqe
RupFULLtdlup


This is a fuller description of paper

Paper highlights model sensitivity to changes in ice sheet size and palaeogeography at the Eocene-Oligocene Transition.

NameKennedy et al
Brief DescriptionPaper highlights model sensitivity to changes in ice sheet size and palaeogeography at the Eocene-Oligocene Transition.
Full Author ListAlan T. Kennedy, Alex Farnsworth, Dan J. Lunt, Carrie H. Lear, Paul J. Markwick.
TitleAtmospheric and oceanic impacts of Antarctic glaciation across the Eocene-Oligocene transition
Year2015
JournalPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A
Volume373
Issue3-4
Pages
DOI10.1098/rsta.2014.0419
Contact's NameAlan Kennedy
Contact's emailalan.kennedy@bristol.ac.uk
AbstractThe glaciation of Antarctica at the Eocene-Oligocene transition (~34 million years ago) was a major shift in the Earth’s climate system, but the mechanisms that caused the glaciation, and its effects, remain highly debated. A number of recent studies have used coupled atmosphere-ocean climate models to assess the climatic effects of Antarctic glacial inception, with often contrasting results. Here, using the HadCM3L model, we show that the global atmosphere and ocean response to growth of the Antarctic ice sheet is sensitive to subtle variations in palaeogeography, using two reconstructions representing Eocene and Oligocene geological stages. The earlier Stage (Eocene; Priabonian), which has a relatively constricted Tasman Seaway, shows a major increase in sea surface temperature over the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean in response to the ice sheet. This response does not occur for the later Stage (Oligocene; Rupelian), which has a more open Tasman Seaway. This difference in temperature response is attributed to reorganisation of ocean currents between the stages. Following ice sheet expansion in the earlier stage, the large Ross Sea gyre circulation decreases in size. Stronger zonal flow through the Tasman Seaway allows salinities to increase in the Ross Sea, deep-water formation initiates and multiple feedbacks then occur amplifying the temperature response. This is potentially a model dependent result, but it highlights the sensitive nature of model simulations to subtle variations in paleogeography, and highlights the need for coupled ice sheet-climate simulations to properly represent and investigate feedback processes acting on these timescales.