PRISM will help distinguish the USGS as a world leader in paleoclimate research, data generation and delivery for use in addressing the modern world's climate-related needs. We will be recognized for the passion of our researchers and partners in providing quality, innovative paleoclimate interpretation and data analysis to the science (climate change) community and to the public we serve.
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PlioMIP2
Below are USGS publications associated with this project. For a full list of PRISM related publications, CLICK HERE.
The PRISM4 (mid-Piacenzian) paleoenvironmental reconstruction
Sensitivity of Pliocene Arctic climate to orbital forcing, atmospheric CO2 and sea ice albedo parameterisation
The Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP) Phase 2: Scientific objectives and experimental design
Modelling the enigmatic Late Pliocene Glacial Event - Marine Isotope Stage M2
The PRISM (Pliocene Palaeoclimate) reconstruction: Time for a paradigm shift
Latitudinal species diversity gradient of marine zooplankton for the last three million years
On the causes of mid-Pliocene warmth and polar amplification
Assessing confidence in Pliocene sea surface temperatures to evaluate predictive models
Computational considerations for collecting and using data in the equidistant cylindrical map projection and the bounds of sampling geographic data at progressively higher resolution
Pliocene climate lessons
Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP): experimental design and boundary conditions (Experiment 2)
Sea surface temperatures of the mid-Piacenzian Warm Period: A comparison of PRISM3 and HadCM3
Below are PRISM4D collaborating institutions.
- Overview
PRISM will help distinguish the USGS as a world leader in paleoclimate research, data generation and delivery for use in addressing the modern world's climate-related needs. We will be recognized for the passion of our researchers and partners in providing quality, innovative paleoclimate interpretation and data analysis to the science (climate change) community and to the public we serve.
PRISM3 site locations - Click the image to learn more! (Public Domain, USGS.) Introduction
Background
Work Plans
Publications
Data Products
Gallery
People
PlioMIP2
- Publications
Below are USGS publications associated with this project. For a full list of PRISM related publications, CLICK HERE.
Filter Total Items: 39The PRISM4 (mid-Piacenzian) paleoenvironmental reconstruction
The mid-Piacenzian is known as a period of relative warmth when compared to the present day. A comprehensive understanding of conditions during the Piacenzian serves as both a conceptual model and a source for boundary conditions as well as means of verification of global climate model experiments. In this paper we present the PRISM4 reconstruction, a paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the mid-PAuthorsHarry J. Dowsett, Aisling M. Dolan, David Rowley, Robert Moucha, Alessandro Forte, Jerry X. Mitrovica, Matthew Pound, Ulrich Salzmann, Marci M. Robinson, Mark Chandler, Kevin M. Foley, Alan M. HaywoodSensitivity of Pliocene Arctic climate to orbital forcing, atmospheric CO2 and sea ice albedo parameterisation
General circulation model (GCM) simulations of the mid-Pliocene Warm Period (mPWP, 3.264 to 3.025 Myr ago) do not reproduce the magnitude of Northern Hemisphere high latitude surface air and sea surface temperature (SAT and SST) warming that proxy data indicate. There is also large uncertainty regarding the state of sea ice cover in the mPWP. Evidence for both perennial and seasonal mPWP Arctic seAuthorsFergus W. Howell, Alan M. Haywood, Harry J. Dowsett, Steven J. PickeringThe Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP) Phase 2: Scientific objectives and experimental design
The Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP) is a co-ordinated international climate modelling initiative to study and understand climate and environments of the Late Pliocene, as well as their potential relevance in the context of future climate change. PlioMIP examines the consistency of model predictions in simulating Pliocene climate and their ability to reproduce climate signals preseAuthorsAlan M. Haywood, Harry J. Dowsett, Aisling M. Dolan, David Rowley, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Bette Otto-Bliesner, Mark A. Chandler, Stephen J. Hunter, Daniel J. Lunt, Matthew Pound, Ulrich SalzmannModelling the enigmatic Late Pliocene Glacial Event - Marine Isotope Stage M2
The Pliocene Epoch (5.2 to 2.58 Ma) has often been targeted to investigate the nature of warm climates. However, climate records for the Pliocene exhibit significant variability and show intervals that apparently experienced a cooler than modern climate. Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) M2 (~ 3.3 Ma) is a globally recognisable cooling event that disturbs an otherwise relatively (compared to present-day)AuthorsAisling M. Dolan, Alan M. Haywood, Stephen J. Hunter, Julia C. Tindall, Harry J. Dowsett, Daniel J. Hill, Steven J. PickeringThe PRISM (Pliocene Palaeoclimate) reconstruction: Time for a paradigm shift
Global palaeoclimate reconstructions have been invaluable to our understanding of the causes and effects of climate change, but single-temperature representations of the oceanic mixed layer for data–model comparisons are outdated, and the time for a paradigm shift in marine palaeoclimate reconstruction is overdue. The new paradigm in marine palaeoclimate reconstruction stems the loss of valuable cAuthorsHarry J. Dowsett, Marci M. Robinson, Danielle K. Stoll, Kevin M. Foley, Andrew L. A. Johnson, Mark Williams, Christina RiesselmanLatitudinal species diversity gradient of marine zooplankton for the last three million years
High tropical and low polar biodiversity is one of the most fundamental patterns characterising marine ecosystems, and the influence of temperature on such marine latitudinal diversity gradients is increasingly well documented. However, the temporal stability of quantitative relationships among diversity, latitude and temperature is largely unknown. Herein we document marine zooplankton species diAuthorsMoriaki Yasuhara, Gene Hunt, Harry J. Dowsett, Marci M. Robinson, Danielle K. StollOn the causes of mid-Pliocene warmth and polar amplification
The mid-Pliocene (~ 3 to 3.3 Ma ago), is a period of sustained global warmth in comparison to the late Quaternary (0 to ~ 1 Ma ago), and has potential to inform predictions of long-term future climate change. However, given that several processes potentially contributed, relatively little is understood about the reasons for the observed warmth, or the associated polar amplification. Here, using aAuthorsDaniel J. Lunt, Alan M. Haywood, Gavin A. Schmidt, Ulrich Salzmann, Paul J. Valdes, Harry J. Dowsett, Claire A. LoptsonAssessing confidence in Pliocene sea surface temperatures to evaluate predictive models
In light of mounting empirical evidence that planetary warming is well underway, the climate research community looks to palaeoclimate research for a ground-truthing measure with which to test the accuracy of future climate simulations. Model experiments that attempt to simulate climates of the past serve to identify both similarities and differences between two climate states and, when compared wAuthorsHarry J. Dowsett, Marci M. Robinson, Alan M. Haywood, Daniel J. Hill, Aisling M. Dolan, Danielle K. Stoll, Wing-Le Chan, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Mark A. Chandler, Nan A. Rosenbloom, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, Fran J. Bragg, Daniel J. Lunt, Kevin M. Foley, Christina R. RiesselmanComputational considerations for collecting and using data in the equidistant cylindrical map projection and the bounds of sampling geographic data at progressively higher resolution
The Equidistant Cylindrical Map projection is popular with digital modelers and others for storing and processing worldwide data sets because of the simple association of latitude and longitude to cell values or pixels in the resulting grid. This projection does not accurately display area, and the diminished geographic area represented by cells at high latitudes is not often carefully considered.AuthorsKevin M. FoleyPliocene climate lessons
The middle portion of the Pliocene Epoch—about three million years ago—is the most recent period when global temperatures were sustained at levels comparable to those we may see at the end of this century due to climate change. One way to seek a more accurate view of a warmer Earth is to look closely at that time. Paleoclimate studies of the mid-Pliocene are also emerging as a ground truth for tesAuthorsMarci M. RobinsonPliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP): experimental design and boundary conditions (Experiment 2)
The Palaeoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project has expanded to include a model intercomparison for the mid-Pliocene warm period (3.29 to 2.97 million yr ago). This project is referred to as PlioMIP (the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project). Two experiments have been agreed upon and together compose the initial phase of PlioMIP. The first (Experiment 1) is being performed with atmosphere-onAuthorsA.M. Haywood, Harry J. Dowsett, Marci M. Robinson, Danielle K. Stoll, A.M. Dolan, D.J. Lunt, B. Otto-Bliesner, M.A. ChandlerSea surface temperatures of the mid-Piacenzian Warm Period: A comparison of PRISM3 and HadCM3
It is essential to document how well the current generation of climate models performs in simulating past climates to have confidence in their ability to project future conditions. We present the first global, in-depth comparison of Pliocene sea surface temperature (SST) estimates from a coupled ocean–atmosphere climate model experiment and a SST reconstruction based on proxy data. This enables thAuthorsHarry J. Dowsett, A.M. Haywood, P.J. Valdes, Marci M. Robinson, D.J. Lunt, D.J. Hill, D.K. Stoll, Kevin M. Foley - Partners
Below are PRISM4D collaborating institutions.