Active Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC) during the warm Pliocene.

ABSTRACT: An essential element of modern ocean circulation and climate is the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), which includes deep-water formation in the subarctic North Atlantic. However, a comparable overturning circulation is absent in the Pacific, the world's largest ocean, where relatively fresh surface waters inhibit North Pacific deep convection. We present complementary measurement and modeling evidence that the warm, ~400-ppmv (parts per million by volume) CO₂ world of the Pliocene supported subarctic North Pacific deep-water formation and a Pacific meridional overturning circulation (PMOC) cell. In Pliocene subarctic North Pacific sediments, we report orbitally paced maxima in calcium carbonate accumulation rate, with accompanying pigment and total organic car

SUBMITTER: Burls NJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5597313 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature