Middle Miocene closure of the Central American Seaway

A coastal upwelling seesaw in the Atlantic Ocean as a result of the closure of the Central American Seaway

[1] Based on coupled climate model experiments, we suggest an antiphase relationship between the two major coastal upwelling zones in the Atlantic Ocean off northwestern and southwestern Africa. We describe this as an ‘upwelling seesaw’. The state of the coastal upwelling seesaw is controlled by variations in the oceanic meridional heat transfer between South and North Atlantic. In particular, ...

Miocene Mammals and Central American Seaways

East-Tethys closure and middle Miocene climatic transition

Introduction Conclusions References

Testing the influence of the Central American Seaway on orbitally forced Northern Hemisphere glaciation

[1] Utilizing a climate model of intermediate complexity, we test the hypothesis that the Pliocene closure of the Central American Seaway was a necessary precondition for orbitally triggered Northern Hemisphere glaciation. We conduct a series of sensitivity experiments in order to analyze the isolated and combined effects of Panama closure and orbital forcing on Northern Hemisphere perennial sn...

Closing of the Central American Seaway and the Ice Age: A critical review

[1] What role did the closing of the Central American Seaway play in enabling continental ice sheets to wax and wane over North America and Fennoscandia? A summary of relevant evidence presented here permits a causal relationship between them but can be interpreted to show none. The common denominator of such evidence is the approximate simultaneity of that closing with global cooling and the f...