An East Asian Monsoon in the Mid-Pliocene

Abstract

In this study, the authors simulate the East Asian climate changes in the mid-Pliocene (~3.3 to 3.0 Ma BP) with the Community Atmosphere Model version 3.1 (CAM3.1) and compare the simulated East Asian monsoon with paleoclimate data. The simulations show an obvious warming pattern in East Asia in the mid-Pliocene compared with the pre-industrial climate, with surface air temperature increasing by 0.5-4.0°C. In the warm mid-Pliocene simulation, the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) becomes stronger, while the East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) is similar relative to the pre-industrial climate. Compared with the paleoclimate data, our simulations depict the intensified EASM well but cannot reproduce the weakened EAWM. This model-data discrepancy may be attributed to the uncertainty in the reconstructed mid-Pliocene sea surface temperature.

Key Words:

• East Asian monsoon
• mid-Pliocene warm period
• paleoclimate data