Modelling Earth's cryosphere during peak Pliocene warmth
My PhD was undertaken at BAS, supervised by Alan Haywood (BAS/Leeds), Richard Hindmarsh (BAS) and Paul Valdes (Bristol). The mid-Pliocene (3.3 - 3 million years ago) was the last time in Earth History when temperatures were significant warmer than modern for a sustained period of geological time. Modelling shows that temperatures were similar to those predicted for 2100AD. The behaviour of the ice sheets and their climatic feedbacks are one of the greatest uncertainties in the predictions of future climate change and the behaviour in the Pliocene is also highly disputed. By taking existing models of the Pliocene climate and using them to drive BASISM, I was able to produce the first physically-based reconstructions of the Pliocene ice sheets, which have been incorporated in the latest PRISM3 mid-Pliocene palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.
A full resolution version of my thesis is available by contacting me, but the following are available to showcase what is included in the thesis.