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Revisiting The Mid-Holocene Climate Of The Tropical Pacific Ocean

UTIG Seminars


Revisiting The Mid-Holocene Climate Of The Tropical Pacific Ocean

By:
Anthony Broccoli
Rutgers University

When: Friday, February 27, 2012, 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Join us for coffee beginning at 10:00 a.m.
Where: Seminar Conference Room, 10100 Burnet Road, Bldg 196-ROC, Austin, Texas 78758
Host: Charles Jackson, UTIG

Click for a Live Broadcast.

Abstract
image from Dr. Broccoli's talk

Changes in ENSO variability during the mid-Holocene epoch (~6,000 years ago) have been the subject of a number of papers in the past fifteen years, but changes in the mean climate of the tropical Pacific have not received as much attention. Results from a coupled atmosphere-ocean model indicate that changes in the earth's orbital configuration during the mid-Holocene led to a reduction in the amplitude of the annual cycle of sea surface temperature in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. The mechanisms underlying this change will be discussed along with implications for the interpretation of paleoclimatic data and the atmospheric circulation in distant regions.