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Published Online June 23, 2005
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1112596

Reports

Submitted on March 22, 2005
Accepted on June 14, 2005

Permanent El Niño-Like Conditions During the Pliocene Warm Period

Michael W. Wara 1, Ana Christina Ravelo 1*, Margaret L. Delaney 1

1 Ocean Sciences Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Ana Christina Ravelo , E-mail: acr{at}es.ucsc.edu

During the warm early Pliocene (~4.5 to 3.0 Ma), the most recent interval with a climate warmer than today, the eastern Pacific thermocline was deep and the average west-to-east sea surface temperature difference across the equatorial Pacific was only 1.5 ± 0.9°C, much like it is during a modern El Niño event. Thus, the modern strong sea surface temperature gradient across the equatorial Pacific is not a stable and permanent feature. Sustained El Niño-like conditions, including relatively weak zonal atmospheric (Walker) circulation, could be a consequence of, and play an important role, in determining global warmth.


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