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Science 1 May 1981:
Vol. 212. no. 4494, pp. 501 - 508
DOI: 10.1126/science.212.4494.501
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Articles

An Ice-Free Cretaceous? Results from Climate Model Simulations

Eric J. Barron 1, Starley L. Thompson 2, and Stephen H. Schneider 3

1 Postdoctoral fellow from the Department of Atmospheric Sciences of the University of Washington
2 Visiting graduate student from the Department of Atmospheric Sciences of the University of Washington
3 Deputy director of and a scientist in the Advanced Study Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado 80307

We have quantitatively investigated the mechanisms that could explain the warm, equable climate that is believed to have been typical of the mid-Cretaceous (100 million years ago). By performing simulations with a climate model based on zonal energy balance, we demonstrate that past changes in geography were important in bringing about climatic change. However, the meridional distribution of Cretaceous temperatures cannot be successfully simulated unless additional physical "feedback mechanisms" are included in the model. These mechanisms may involve cloud and meridional heat transport changes. We also conclude that paleoclimatologists should reexamine carefully both existing data and their interpretations with regard to reconstruction of Cretaceous tropical and polar surface temperatures.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Micropaleontological Evidence for Increased Meridional Heat Transport in the North Atlantic Ocean During the Pliocene.
H. J. Dowsett, H. J. Dowsett, T. M. Cronin, R. Z. Poore, R. S. Thompson, R. C. Whatley, and A. M. Wood (1992)
Science 258, 1133-1135
   Abstract »    PDF »
Global atmospheric circulation experiments on an Earth with polar and tropical continents.
W. W. HAY, E. J. BARRON, and S. L. THOMPSON (1990)
Journal of the Geological Society 147, 749-757
   Abstract »    PDF »
Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary palaeoclimates of northern high latitudes: a quantitative view.
R. A. SPICER and J. T. PARRISH (1990)
Journal of the Geological Society 147, 329-341
   Abstract »    PDF »
Role of Seasonality in the Evolution of Climate During the Last 100 Million Years.
T. J. Crowley, T. J. CROWLEY, D. A. SHORT, J. G. MENGEL, and G. R. NORTH (1986)
Science 231, 579-584
   Abstract »    PDF »
A review of Mesozoic climates.
A. Hallam (1985)
Journal of the Geological Society 142, 433-445
   Abstract »    PDF »
Climate and ice sheets.
J.G. Lockwood (1982)
Progress in Physical Geography 6, 101-107
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