Middle Miocene disruption

The Middle Miocene Climatic Transition (MMCT) was a relatively steady period of climatic cooling that occurred around the middle of the Miocene, roughly 14 million years ago (Ma), during the Langhian stage,[1] and resulted in the growth of ice sheet volumes globally, and the reestablishment of the ice of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS).[2] The term Middle Miocene disruption, alternatively the Middle Miocene extinction or Middle Miocene extinction peak, refers to a wave of extinctions of terrestrial and aquatic life forms that occurred during this climatic interval. This period was preceded by the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO), a period of relative warmth from 18 to 14 Ma.[3] Cooling that led to the Middle Miocene disruption is primarily attributed CO2 being pulled out of the Earth's atmosphere by organic material before becoming caught in different locations like the Monterey Formation.[4] These may have been amplified by changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation due to continental drift.[1] Additionally, orbitally paced factors may also have played a role.[5]

  1. ^ a b Hamon, N.; Sepulchre, P.; Lefebvre, V.; Ramstein, G. (28 November 2013). "The role of eastern Tethys seaway closure in the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition (ca. 14 Ma)". Climate of the Past. 9 (6): 2687–2702. Bibcode:2013CliPa...9.2687H. doi:10.5194/cp-9-2687-2013. ISSN 1814-9332. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference PearsonAndPalmer2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Scotese, Christopher R.; Song, Haijun; Mills, Benjamin J.W.; van der Meer, Douwe G. (1 April 2021). "Phanerozoic paleotemperatures: The earth's changing climate during the last 540 million years". Earth-Science Reviews. 215: 103503. Bibcode:2021ESRv..21503503S. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103503. S2CID 233579194. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  4. ^ Shevenell, Amelia E.; Kennett, James P.; Lea, David W. (17 September 2004). "Middle Miocene Southern Ocean Cooling and Antarctic Cryosphere Expansion". Science. 305 (5691): 1766–1770. Bibcode:2004Sci...305.1766S. doi:10.1126/science.1100061. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 15375266. S2CID 27369039.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference HolbournEtAl2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).