Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 344, Issue 6179, Pages 84-87Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1246172
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Funding
- NSF [AGS 1203163]
- Schlanger Ocean Drilling Fellowship
- NSF
- Div Atmospheric & Geospace Sciences
- Directorate For Geosciences [1203163] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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The appearance of permanent El Nino-like conditions prior to 3 million years ago is founded on sea-surface temperature (SST) reconstructions that show invariant Pacific warm pool temperatures and negligible equatorial zonal temperature gradients. However, only a few SST records are available, and these are potentially compromised by changes in seawater chemistry, diagenesis, and calibration limitations. For this study, we establish new biomarker-SST records and show that the Pacific warm pool was similar to 4 degrees C warmer 12 million years ago. Both the warm pool and cold tongue slowly cooled toward modern conditions while maintaining a zonal temperature gradient of similar to 3 degrees C in the late Miocene, which increased during the Plio-Pleistocene. Our results contrast with previous temperature reconstructions that support the supposition of a permanent El Nino-like state.
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