Persistent eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean upwelling since the warm Pliocene

Upwelling generates a nutrient-rich "cold tongue" in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean (EEP), with impacts on global climate, oceanic biological productivity, and the carbon cycle. The cold tongue was reduced during the Pliocene Epoch, a feature attributed to weaker upwelling and an associated deepening of the surface mixed layer in the EEP. Here, we report nitrogen-isotope evidence that modern-like upwelling occurred in the EEP during the Pliocene and has persisted over the past 5 million years. We explain the reduced Pliocene cold tongue as an expression of the reduced temperature difference between surface and subsurface waters in the tropical Pacific. The attendant reduction in the vertical density gradient may have maintained EEP upwelling despite the expected slackening of the trade winds under Pliocene warmth.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2025-10-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ads8720
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.90

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article

Persistent eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean upwelling since the warm Pliocene

Kristopher B. Karnauskas, Jesse R. Farmer, Alexandra Auderset, Gerald H. Haug et al.
3 citations
Science
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
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article

Persistent eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean upwelling since the warm Pliocene

Kristopher B. Karnauskas, Jesse R. Farmer, Alexandra Auderset, Gerald H. Haug, Patrick A. Rafter, Daniel M. Sigman, Haojia Ren, F. C. Batista, Stefano M. Bernasconi, Ana Christina Ravelo, Alfredo Martínez‐García
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Upwelling generates a nutrient-rich "cold tongue" in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean (EEP), with impacts on global climate, oceanic biological productivity, and the carbon cycle. The cold tongue was reduced during the Pliocene Epoch, a feature attributed to weaker upwelling and an associated deepening of the surface mixed layer in the EEP. Here, we report nitrogen-isotope evidence that modern-like upwelling occurred in the EEP during the Pliocene and has persisted over the past 5 million years. We explain the reduced Pliocene cold tongue as an expression of the reduced temperature difference between surface and subsurface waters in the tropical Pacific. The attendant reduction in the vertical density gradient may have maintained EEP upwelling despite the expected slackening of the trade winds under Pliocene warmth.

ScienceVol. 390(6768)
Planetary Science Institute (US), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (US), National Taiwan University (TW), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), University of Colorado Boulder (US), Princeton University (US), University of California, Irvine (US), University of Massachusetts Boston (US), ETH Zurich (CH), Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (DE), University of Southampton (GB), University of South Florida St. Petersburg (US), College of Marin (US)
National Science Foundation, Princeton University, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, University of California, Irvine
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
3.90
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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