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Abstract
We describe a set of early Eocene (~ 55 Ma) climate model boundary conditions constructed in a self-consistent reference frame and incorporating recent data and methodologies. Given the growing need for uniform experimental design within the Eocene climate modelling community and the challenges faced in simulating the prominent features of Eocene climate, we make publicly available our data sets of Eocene topography, bathymetry, tidal dissipation, vegetation, aerosol distributions and river runoff. Major improvements in our boundary conditions over previous efforts include the implementation of the ANTscape palaeotopography of Antarctica, more accurate representations of the Drake Passage and Tasman Gateway, as well as an approximation of sub grid cell topographic variability. Our boundary conditions also include for the first time modelled estimates of Eocene aerosol distributions and tidal dissipation, both consistent with our palaeotopography and palaeobathymetry. The resolution of our data sets is unprecedented and will facilitate high resolution climate simulations. In light of the inherent uncertainties involved in reconstructing global boundary conditions for past time periods these data sets should be considered as one interpretation of the available data and users are encouraged to modify them according to their needs and interpretations. This paper marks the beginning of a process for reconstructing a set of accurate, open-access Eocene boundary conditions for use in climate models.
Publication Date
9-16-2014
Publisher
EGU
Journal Title
Geoscientific Model Development
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Herold, N., Buzan, J., Seton, M., Goldner, A., Green, J. A. M., Müller, R. D., Markwick, P., and Huber, M.: A suite of early Eocene (~ 55 Ma) climate model boundary conditions, Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 2077–2090, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-2077-2014, 2014.
Rights
© Author(s) 2014.
Comments
This is an Open Access article published by EGU in Geoscientific Model Development in 2014, available online: https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-2077-2014