A dynamical systems perspective on the Mid-Pleistocene Transition.

ABSTRACT: Long-term cooling of Earth's climate led to repeated glaciations that from the Pliocene (5.3-2.6 Ma) into the Pleistocene (2.6 Ma-11.7 ka) became increasingly cold and asymmetric. Whether this progressive change in global climate was forced by external drivers, or arose entirely from internal feedbacks, is debated. Much of this debate has centred on the so-called 'Mid-Pleistocene Transition' (MPT, 1.25 Ma to 0.75 Ma), when these changes become most apparent in palaeo-environmental proxies. Here we first establish a context for this period of change by summarising the key characteristics of Plio-Pleistocene climate cycles. We then use simple conceptual dynamical systems models to (1) simulate the asymmetric pattern of Late Pleistocene temperature changes and (2) investigate the mechanism dr

SUBMITTER: Golledge NR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12315222 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature