Slideshow summary of: Strengthened African Summer Monsoon in the Mid-Piacenzian Ran ZHANG (1), Zhongshi ZHANG (2,3,4), Dabang JIANG (1,3), Qing YAN (3), Xin ZHOU (5), and Zhigang CHENG (6) (1) Climate Change Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029 (2) Department of Atmospheric Science, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences , Wuhan 430074 (3) Nansen–Zhu International Research Centre, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029 (4) Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Uni Research, Bergen 5007, Norway (5) School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 (6) Plateau Atmosphere and Environment Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu 610225 Full paper (Early Online Release): http://159.226.119.58/aas/EN/10.1007/s00376-016-5215-y Full paper (once finalised and assigned to an issue): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00376-016-5215-y Abstract: Using model results from the first phase of the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP) and four experiments with CAM4, the intensified African summer monsoon (ASM) in the mid-Piacenzian and corresponding mechanisms are analyzed. The results from PlioMIP show that the ASM intensified and summer precipitation increased in North Africa during the mid-Piacenzian, which can be explained by the increased net energy in the atmospheric column above North Africa. Further experiments with CAM4 indicated that the combined changes in the mid-Piacenzian of atmospheric CO2 concentration and SST, as well as the vegetation change, could have substantially increased the net energy in the atmospheric column over North Africa and further intensified the ASM. The experiments also demonstrated that topography change had a weak effect. Overall, the combined changes of atmospheric CO2 concentration and SST were the most important factor that brought about the intensified ASM in the mid-Piacenzian.

• published: 06 Jun 2016
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