Pacific Ocean and Cenozoic evolution of climate

Pacific Ocean and Cenozoic Evolution of Climate

[1] The Pacific Ocean has played a major role in climate evolution throughout the Cenozoic (65–0 Ma). It is a fundamental component of global heat transport and circulation, the dominant locus of primary productivity, and, consequently, the largest reservoir for carbon exchange between the oceans and the atmosphere. A satisfactory understanding of the Cenozoic evolutionary history of the Pacifi...

Indian Ocean warming modulates Pacific climate change.

It has been widely believed that the tropical Pacific trade winds weakened in the last century and would further decrease under a warmer climate in the 21st century. Recent high-quality observations, however, suggest that the tropical Pacific winds have actually strengthened in the past two decades. Precise causes of the recent Pacific climate shift are uncertain. Here we explore how the enhanc...

Synthesis of Pacific Ocean Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics

Climate change and salmon production in the Northeast Pacific Ocean

Alaskan salmon stocks have exhibited enormous fluctuations in production during the 20th century. In this paper, we investigate our hypothesis that large-scale salmon-production variability is driven by climatic processes in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Using a time-series analytical technique known as intervention analysis, we demonstrate that Alaskan salmonids alternate between high and low p...

Tectonic forcings of Maastrichtian ocean-climate evolution

A global compilation of deep-sea isotopic records suggests that Maastrichtian ocean-climate evolution was tectonically driven. During the early Maastrichtian the Atlantic intermediate-deep ocean was isolated from the Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans; deep water formed in the high-latitude North Atlantic and North Pacific. At the early/late Maastrichtian boundary a major reorganization of oc...