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Model simulations of Cretaceous climates: the role of geography and carbon dioxide

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Palaeoclimates and their Modelling

Summary

A general circulation model (GENESIS) with seasonally varying solar insolation and a mixed layer ocean is applied to assess the role of continental geometry and increased levels of carbon dioxide to explain the warmth of the Cretaceous period. Model experiments suggest that the role of geography is negligible, in contrast to early model studies with mean annual solar insolation and a simple energy balance ocean. Higher atmospheric carbon dioxide (4 times present) resulted in a 5.5°G globally averaged surface temperature increase, close to the lower limit required to explain the geologic record. Mid-Cretaceous carbon dioxide concentrations of 4–6 times the present day concentrations are a reasonable explanation of Cretaceous warmth if the GENESIS model provides an accurate estimate of climate sensitivity to geography and carbon dioxide.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth System Science Center, Penn State University, 248 Deike Building, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Eric J. Barron & Peter J. Fawcett

  2. National Center for Atmospheric Research, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, Colorado, 80307, USA

    David Pollard & Starley Thompson

Authors
  1. Eric J. Barron
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  2. Peter J. Fawcett
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  3. David Pollard
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  4. Starley Thompson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Postgraduate Research Institute for Sedimentology, University of Reading, UK

    J. R. L. Allen  & B. W. Sellwood  & 

  2. Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, UK

    B. J. Hoskins  & P. J. Valdes  & 

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford University, UK

    R. A. Spicer

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Barron, E.J., Fawcett, P.J., Pollard, D., Thompson, S. (1994). Model simulations of Cretaceous climates: the role of geography and carbon dioxide. In: Allen, J.R.L., Hoskins, B.J., Sellwood, B.W., Spicer, R.A., Valdes, P.J. (eds) Palaeoclimates and their Modelling. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1254-3_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1254-3_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4546-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-1254-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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