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Filtering of Milankovitch Cycles by Earth's Geography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

David A. Short ,
John G. Mengel ,
Thomas J. Crowley ,
William T. Hyde  and
Gerald R. North
David A. Short
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Atmospheres, Code 913, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
John G. Mengel
Affiliation:
Applied Research Corporation, 8201 Corporate Drive, Landover, Maryland 20785
Thomas J. Crowley
Affiliation:
Applied Research Corporation, 8201 Corporate Drive, Landover, Maryland 20785
William T. Hyde
Affiliation:
Applied Research Corporation, 305 Arguello Drive, College Station, Texas 77840
Gerald R. North
Affiliation:
Climate System Research Program, Department of Meteorology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
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Abstract

Earth's land-sea distribution modifies the temperature response to orbitally induced perturbations of the seasonal insolation. We examine this modification in the frequency domain by generating 800,000-yr time series of maximum summer temperature in selected regions with a linear, two-dimensional, seasonal energy balance climate model. Previous studies have demonstrated that this model has a sensitivity comparable to general circulation models for the seasonal temperature response to orbital forcing on land. Although the observed response in the geologic record is sometimes significantly different than modeled here (differences attributable to model limitations and feedbacks involving the ocean-atmosphere-cryosphere system), there are several results of significance: (1) in mid-latitude land areas the orbital signal is translated linearly into a large (>10°C) seasonal temperature response; (2) although the modeled seasonal response to orbital forcing on Antarctica is 6°C, the annual mean temperature effect (<2°C) is only about one-fifth that inferred from the Vostok ice core, and primarily restricted to periods near 41,000 yr; (3) equatorial regions have the richest spectrum of temperature response, with a 3000-yr phase shift in the precession response, plus some power near periods of 10,000–12,000 yr, 41,000 yr, 100,000 yr, and 400,000 yr. Peaks at 10,000–12,000 yr and 100,000 and 400,000 yr result from the twice-yearly passage of the sun across the equator. The complex model response in equatorial regions has some resemblance to geologic time series from this region. The amplification of model response over equatorial land masses at the 100,000-yr period may explain some of the observed large variance in this band in geologic records, especially in pre-Pleistocene records from times of little or no global ice volume.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , March 1991 , pp. 157 - 173
Copyright
University of Washington

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