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Paleoclimate Reconstruction
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Paleoclimate Reconstruction

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Climatology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (24 March 2023) | Viewed by 12017

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jason T. Ortegren

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL 32514, USA
Interests: North Atlantic climate variability; paleoclimatology; eastern USA hydroclimate; drought variability; tropical cyclones
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Change is the one constant in the Earth’s climate history. Contemporary changes in the climate system—driven in part by human activities—continue to raise important questions regarding how ‘unusual’ the observed climate changes of the last century were, relative to a longer view of Earth’s climate. Advances in paleoclimatic reconstruction have already provided some valuable context for the Earth’s natural climate variability during the pre-instrumental period. However, open questions remain surrounding many paleoclimate issues, including, for example, solar irradiance, atmospheric composition, and the specific mechanisms of certain internal feedbacks such as volcanism, among others. Further work is needed in the area of paleoclimate reconstructions using preserved biological and/or geological proxy data sources to enhance our understanding of the climate system in general, and specifically of ongoing changes in the system.   

This Special Issue will focus on paleoclimate research that furthers our knowledge of prehistoric climatic variability—both spatial and temporal—and improves our understanding of regional- or global-scale patterns of prehistoric climate change, especially as they relate to contemporary planetary warming. Papers will reconstruct and analyze (some aspects of) prehistoric climate from the perspective of proxy data sources, such as tree rings, preserved pollen records, ice cores, speleothems, ocean floor sediments, or any other paleoclimate indicators and may include indirect reconstructions (e.g., reconstruction of large-scale atmospheric flow such as ENSO variability using tree rings, based on the observed relationship between tree growth and large-scale atmospheric variability). Papers may also present specific methodological improvements in paleoclimate reconstruction.

Prof. Dr. Jason T. Ortegren
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • proxy climate data
  • paleoclimatic variability
  • climate reconstruction
  • paleoclimatic change
  • The Holocene

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

13 pages, 7066 KiB  
Article
Quantitative Reconstruction of Paleoclimatic Changes in the Late Miocene Eastern Zhejiang Based on Plant Fossils
by Liang Xiao, Jian Wang, Deshuang Ji, Liyan Guo, Xing Wang, Jiaqi Liang, Xiaoyuan Xia, Wenxiu Ren and Xiangchuan Li
Atmosphere 2023, 14(6), 986; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14060986 - 6 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1841
Abstract
With a series of Cenozoic climate fluctuations, the global paleoclimate shifted from a warm climate to a cold climate, causing Arctic ice caps to be formed. The Late Miocene is a critical time in this transition period, in which the climate was rapidly [...] Read more.
With a series of Cenozoic climate fluctuations, the global paleoclimate shifted from a warm climate to a cold climate, causing Arctic ice caps to be formed. The Late Miocene is a critical time in this transition period, in which the climate was rapidly cooling. Plant fossils from this epoch could be used as ideal indicators for reconstructing climate change throughout this time interval. In this study, plant fossils were collected from the Shengxian Formation in Ninghai and Tiantai of eastern Zhejiang. We divided the fossiliferous strata of the Shengxian Formation into five layers according to different lithology and chronological order, which were named: JHU0, DLX, JHU1, JHUW, and JHU3 from old to new geological times, respectively. We used Leaf Margin Analysis and Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program to reconstruct paleoclimatic changes in eastern Zhejiang during the Late Miocene. The paleoclimatic information of the five stages from old to new times was obtained based on the plant fossils of each layer. The mean annual temperature values in eastern Zhejiang were reconstructed using the Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program and Leaf Margin Analysis at the same time. However, the former mean annual temperature values are lower than the latter values. After comparing the two sets of mean annual temperature data with previously reported values, it is found that the results obtained by Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program are more reliable, whose values are 18.05 °C, 16.03 °C, 17.96 °C, 16.57 °C, and 15.52 °C from old to new times, respectively. Moreover, 11 climatic parameters were reconstructed using the Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program PhysgAsia2 calibration, among which the growing season precipitation was found to be 195.54 cm, 181.25 cm, 207.99 cm, 180.7 cm, and 165.07 cm; while the difference between the coldest and warmest months was found to be 22.14 °C, 23.4 °C, 22.07 °C, 21.36 °C, and 23.37 °C. The relatively low difference between the coldest and warmest months values and the growing season precipitation values during the Late Miocene might be due to a weaker East Asian monsoon system in the Late Miocene than in modern times. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Paleoclimate Reconstruction)
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14 pages, 3082 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Relationship between Hydroclimate and Lake Area in Source Area of the Yellow River: Implications for the Paleoclimate Studies
by Shuying Bai, Jixi Gao, Yang Pu, Da Zhi and Jiaojiao Yao
Atmosphere 2023, 14(5), 897; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14050897 - 21 May 2023
Viewed by 1610
Abstract
The large tectonic lake is one of the most important water bodies in the source area of the Yellow River (SAYR), northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). It plays a key role in decelerating climatic change and regulating regional climate patterns. In this study, we [...] Read more.
The large tectonic lake is one of the most important water bodies in the source area of the Yellow River (SAYR), northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). It plays a key role in decelerating climatic change and regulating regional climate patterns. In this study, we used Landsat images (MSS, TM, ETM+ and OLI) of Lake Gyaring and Lake Ngoring (the Two Sisters Lakes), which are the two largest tectonic lakes in the SAYR, to determine annual lake area fluctuations from 1986 to 2020. The results show that lake area increases were generally consistent with a warming trend in the SAYR. The temperature signals were separated from the lake area changes by using a detrending analysis and found that the processed data are closely correlated with variations of precipitation and streamflow in the SAYR, and the previously reported paleoclimate records, which include the δ18O record from stalagmite, A/C (Artemisia/Chenopodiaceae) ratio from lake sediment and scPDSI (self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index) from the tree ring on the northeastern margin of the QTP. The phase of relatively large lake areas typically coincides with a negative excursion in δ18O, a high A/C ratio, and elevated scPDSI values, while the opposite is true for smaller lake areas. It is suggested that the total area of the Two Sisters Lakes is closely associated with hydroclimatic conditions in the SAYR. Furthermore, an association of high TSI anomalies with the water area expansion of the Two Sisters Lakes is also observed, implying that solar activity is the key driving factor for the hydrologic variability in the SAYR on decadal timescales. The findings of our study highlight the validity of previous paleoclimate archives in the northeastern QTP and demonstrate the potential of using remote sensing techniques to investigate paleoclimate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Paleoclimate Reconstruction)
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14 pages, 7731 KiB  
Article
Responses of Picea meyeri to Climatic Factors Revealed by Tree Ring Isotopes and Water Use Efficiency on Luya Mountain of North-Central China
by Yijie Han, Shuheng Li, Jiachuan Wang, Yili Guo, Rong Fan, Huan Zhang, Qi Liu and Yiqi Zhao
Atmosphere 2023, 14(4), 615; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14040615 - 24 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1404
Abstract
Along with tree ring width, carbon isotopes are also good proxies for climate change. Water use efficiency (WUE) can be calculated more quickly and accurately based on carbon isotopes. In this study, according to the principle of dendroclimatology, the sequence of δ13 [...] Read more.
Along with tree ring width, carbon isotopes are also good proxies for climate change. Water use efficiency (WUE) can be calculated more quickly and accurately based on carbon isotopes. In this study, according to the principle of dendroclimatology, the sequence of δ13C and WUE of tree rings of Picea meyeri are built. Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis are used to explore the response of carbon stable isotopes of Picea meyeri to climate change, which revealed the relationship between δ13C of Picea meyeri and climatic factors. Based on δ13C, we calculated the WUE of Picea meyeri and analyzed its response to climate change. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The δ13C of Picea meyeri decreases year-by-year from 1957 to 2020, in the range from −23.89‰~−21.67‰, and the average value is −22.67‰. The water use efficiency of Picea meyeri increases in the range from 17.26~61.31, with an average of 39.45. (2) The δ13C of Picea meyeri is negatively correlated with temperature, which has the highest correlation with the temperature of the growing season (c5–c9), and its coefficient is higher than that of the mean temperature of each month. (3) There is a significant positive correlation between WUE sequence and temperature. Meanwhile, due to the effect of precipitation and temperature, the Picea meyeri is subject to drought stress to some extent. Above all, temperature is the main climatic factor affecting the δ13C and WUE of Picea meyeri on Luya mountain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Paleoclimate Reconstruction)
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12 pages, 6027 KiB  
Article
Teleconnection between the Surface Wind of Western Patagonia and the SAM, ENSO, and PDO Modes of Variability
by Carolina Gómez-Fontealba, Valentina Flores-Aqueveque and Stephane Christophe Alfaro
Atmosphere 2023, 14(4), 608; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14040608 - 23 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1872
Abstract
The Southern Westerly Wind (SWW) belt is one of the most important atmospheric features of the Southern Hemisphere (SH). In Patagonia, these winds control the precipitation rates at the windward side of the southern Andes, and rainfall is very sensitive to any change [...] Read more.
The Southern Westerly Wind (SWW) belt is one of the most important atmospheric features of the Southern Hemisphere (SH). In Patagonia, these winds control the precipitation rates at the windward side of the southern Andes, and rainfall is very sensitive to any change (strength and/or latitudinal position) in the wind belt. The present-day behavior of the SWW, also known as westerlies, is characterized by remarkable seasonality. This wind belt also varies at interannual-to-decadal time scales, associated with the influence of atmospheric phenomena such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), respectively. Moreover, during the past few decades, the westerlies have shown an increase in their core strength influenced by changes in the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). However, what controls the long-term variability of the SWW at the high latitudes of the SH is still a matter of debate. This work statistically analyzes the influence of large-scale modes of variability, such as ENSO and PDO on the SAM and the frequency of the strong SWW from ERA5 reanalysis data of southwestern Patagonia (~51°S), where the current core of this belt is located. Our results confirm the relation between strong wind anomalies and the SAM. In addition, the temporal variations of strong winds are also significantly affected by the PDO, but there is no detectable influence of the ENSO on their frequency. This shows that future studies focused on reconstructing wind history from aeolian particles of lake sediments from southwestern Patagonia could also provide information about the modes of variability that influence strong wind frequency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Paleoclimate Reconstruction)
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10 pages, 1887 KiB  
Communication
Radial Growth Responses of Four Southeastern USA Pine Species to Summertime Precipitation Event Types and Intense Rainfall Events
by Tyler J. Mitchell and Paul A. Knapp
Atmosphere 2022, 13(10), 1731; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13101731 - 21 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1805
Abstract
Previous dendroclimatic studies have examined the relationship between total precipitation amounts and tree radial growth in the southeastern USA, yet recent studies indicate that specific precipitation event types and rainfall intensities influence longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) radial growth unequally. It remains [...] Read more.
Previous dendroclimatic studies have examined the relationship between total precipitation amounts and tree radial growth in the southeastern USA, yet recent studies indicate that specific precipitation event types and rainfall intensities influence longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) radial growth unequally. It remains unknown if other pine species respond similarly regarding specific precipitation types and intensities as most dendroclimatic studies have focused on precipitation amounts on monthly-to-annual scales without examining either the event type or intensity nor focusing on daily data. Here, we examine summertime climate–radial growth relationships in the southeastern USA for four native pine species (longleaf, shortleaf, Virginia, pitch) during 1940–2020. We examine and compare each species’ response to precipitation event types and intense rainfall events (IREs) and address if the temporal sensitivity to these events is species specific. Distinct temporal sensitivities exist among species, and there is a consistent association between convective, stationary front, and quasi-stationary precipitation and radial growth. All species except Virginia pine have significant (p < 0.001) associations between IREs and radial growth, even though IREs account for ~49% of summertime rainfall. These results suggest precipitation-type sensitivity to radial growth may have dendroclimatic implications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Paleoclimate Reconstruction)
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Review

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23 pages, 5712 KiB  
Review
Landscape and Climate Changes in Southeastern Amazonia from Quaternary Records of Upland Lakes
by José Tasso Felix Guimarães, Prafulla Kumar Sahoo, Pedro Walfir Martins e Souza-Filho, Marcio Sousa da Silva, Tarcísio Magevski Rodrigues, Edilson Freitas da Silva, Luiza Santos Reis, Mariana Maha Jana Costa de Figueiredo, Karen da Silva Lopes, Aline Mamede Moraes, Alessandro Sabá Leite, Renato Oliveira da Silva Júnior, Gabriel Negreiros Salomão and Roberto Dall’Agnol
Atmosphere 2023, 14(4), 621; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14040621 - 24 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2217
Abstract
The upland lakes (ULs) in Carajás, southeastern Amazonia, have been extensively studied with respect to their high-resolution structural geology, geomorphology, stratigraphy, multielement and isotope geochemistry, palynology and limnology. These studies have generated large multiproxy datasets, which were integrated in this review to explain [...] Read more.
The upland lakes (ULs) in Carajás, southeastern Amazonia, have been extensively studied with respect to their high-resolution structural geology, geomorphology, stratigraphy, multielement and isotope geochemistry, palynology and limnology. These studies have generated large multiproxy datasets, which were integrated in this review to explain the formation and evolution of the ULs. These ULs evolved during the Pliocene–Pleistocene periods through several episodes of a subsidence of the lateritic crust (canga) promoted by fault reactivation. The resulting ULs were filled under wet/dry and warm/cool paleoclimatic conditions during the Pleistocene period. The multielement geochemical signature indicates that the detrital sediments of these ULs were predominantly derived from weathered canga and ferruginous soils, while the sedimentary organic matter came from autochthonous (siliceous sponge spicules, algae, macrophytes) and allochthonous (C3/C4 canga and forest plants and freshwater dissolved organic carbon) sources. Modern pollen rain suggests that even small ULs can record both the influence of canga vegetation and forest signals; thus, they can serve as reliable sites to provide a record of vegetation history. The integrated data from the sedimentary cores indicate that the active ULs have never dried up during the last 50 ka cal BP. However, subaerial exposure occurred in filled ULs, such as the Tarzan mountain range during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the Bocaína and S11 mountain ranges in the mid-Holocene period, due to the drier conditions. Considering the organic proxies, the expansion of C4 plants has been observed in the S11 and Tarzan ULs during dry events. Extensive precipitation of siderite in UL deposits during the LGM indicated drier paleoenvironmental conditions, interrupting the predominantly wet conditions. However, there is no evidence of widespread forest replacement by savanna in the Carajás plateau of southeastern Amazonia during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Paleoclimate Reconstruction)
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