| Volumes and Issues Contents of Issue 3 Special Issue |
www.clim-past.net/5/481/2009/
doi:10.5194/cp-5-481-2009
© Author(s) 2009. This work is distributed
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Pleistocene glacial variability as a chaotic response to obliquity forcing
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA
Abstract. The mid-Pleistocene Transition from 40 ky to ~100 ky glacial cycles is generally characterized as a singular transition attributable to scouring of continental regolith or a long-term decrease in atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Here an alternative hypothesis is suggested, that Pleistocene glacial variability is chaotic and that transitions from 40 ky to ~100 ky modes of variability occur spontaneously. This alternate view is consistent with the presence of ~80 ky glacial cycles during the early Pleistocene and the lack of evidence for a change in climate forcing during the mid-Pleistocene. A simple model illustrates this chaotic scenario. When forced at a 40 ky period the model chaotically transitions between small 40 ky glacial cycles and larger 80 and 120 ky cycles which, on average, give the ~100 ky variability.
Final Revised Paper (PDF, 5729 KB) Discussion Paper (CPD)
Citation: Huybers, P.: Pleistocene glacial variability as a chaotic response to obliquity forcing, Clim. Past, 5, 481-488, doi:10.5194/cp-5-481-2009, 2009. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
Search CP
News
- EGU Position Statement on Discussion Papers
- June 2005-June 2010: Climate of the Past Fifth Birthday!
- CP co-editor in chief and co-founder Eric Wolff honored
- Two Editors of Climate of the Past among EGU 2009 medalists
- Publications by EGU Medalists
- Online textbook in climatology available
- TWO editors of Climate of the Past funded by ERC