The Miocene: The Future of the Past
2020/12/24 by Margret Steinthorsdottir, Helen K. Coxall, Agatha M. de Boer +20 · 33 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
paper · pdf · doi:10.1029/2020pa004037
openalex publication_date 2020/12/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Abstract
Abstract The Miocene epoch (23.03–5.33 Ma) was a time interval of global warmth, relative to today. Continental configurations and mountain topography transitioned toward modern conditions, and many flora and fauna evolved into the same taxa that exist today. Miocene climate was dynamic: long periods of early and late glaciation bracketed a ∼2 Myr greenhouse interval—the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO). Floras, faunas, ice sheets, precipitation, p CO 2 , and ocean and atmospheric circulation mostly (but not ubiquitously) covaried with these large changes in climate. With higher temperatures and moderately higher p CO 2 (∼400–600 ppm), the MCO has been suggested as a particularly appropriate analog for future climate scenarios, and for assessing the predictive accuracy of numerical climate models—the same models that are used to simulate future climate. Yet, Miocene conditions have proved difficult to reconcile with models. This implies either missing positive feedbacks in the models, a lack of knowledge of past climate forcings, or the need for re‐interpretation of proxies, which might mitigate the model‐data discrepancy. Our understanding of Miocene climatic, biogeochemical, and oceanic changes on broad spatial and temporal scales is still developing. New records documenting the physical, chemical, and biotic aspects of the Earth system are emerging, and together provide a more comprehensive understanding of this important time interval. Here, we review the state‐of‐the‐art in Miocene climate, ocean circulation, biogeochemical cycling, ice sheet dynamics, and biotic adaptation research as inferred through proxy observations and modeling studies.
Cited by
- The possible adaption of the human respiratory system to past atmospheres
- Shaping the mid-Miocene warmth: a sensitivity study on paleogeography, CO 2 and model physics
- Phylogenomics establishes an Early Miocene reconstruction of reef vertebrate diversity
- A cosmogenic 10Be anomaly during the late Miocene as independent time marker for marine archives
- Climatic swings triggered incipient postglacial speciation of flightless Calosoma beetles in Western Balkan sky islands
- The Origin and Diversification of Turmerics ( Curcuma L.: Zingiberaceae) in Paleotropical Biodiversity Hotspots: The Role of Ancient Hybridisation and Historical Climate Change
- First anguid record (Anguidae, Squamata) from the Late Miocene Konservat-Lagerstätte Libros (Teruel, Spain) and its palaeoenvironmental implications
- Genomic evidence for the phylogeny, evolution, and classification of Orostachys s.l. (Crassulaceae): One, two, or three genera?
- Multiple molecular data provide new insights into phylogeny and historical biogeography of East Asian Artemisia L. (Asteraceae)
- Late Miocene greening of the Peruvian Desert
- Would Adding the Anthropocene to the Geologic Time Scale Matter?
- Estimates of late Early Cretaceous atmospheric CO2 from Mongolia based on stomatal and isotopic analysis of Pseudotorellia
- Pleistocene Transitions From the Proto‐Congo to Adjacent Rivers Uncovered by Phylogenetics and Biogeography of Bryconaethiops (Teleostei: Alestidae)
- MEDITERRANEAN IMPRINT ON CORAL DIVERSITY IN THE INCIPIENT RED SEA (BURDIGALIAN, SAUDI ARABIA)
- Evolution of East Asian subtropical evergreen broad‐leaved forests: When and how?
- Phylogenomics and biogeography of Guadua: Insights into a neotropical woody bamboo genus
- Mesozoic and Cenozoic oceanic gateway evolution and global tectonics: palaeoceanographic and sedimentary implications
- The Early–Middle Miocene climate as reflected by a mid‐latitude lacustrine record in the Ebro Basin, north‐east Iberia
- A new genus and species of Pliohyracidae (Hyracoidea, Mammalia) from the Pliocene of Jradzor, Armenia
- Reviewing the Great American Biotic Interchange: climate change as a trigger for biodiversity dispersal
- Global Assessment of Marine Reptiles and Mammals Using a Taxonomic Distinctness Tool: Implications for Their Conservation
- New evidence of Miocene forest grasses (Poaceae: Pharoideae L.G. Clark & Judz.) from Ethiopia and Kenya: Implications for biogeography, evolution, and paleoecology
- Rodneyellus feldmanni n. gen. n. sp., a new hexapodid crab from tropical America (Crustacea, Brachyura)
- hespdiv: an R package for spatially constrained, hierarchical and contiguous regionalization in palaeobiogeography
- Trait networks reveal turnover in Caribbean corals and changes in community resilience through the Cenozoic
- Palaeoenvironmental dynamics of an Early Miocene palaeolake in eastern Iberia: vegetation, climate, and hydrology
- Coccolith clumped isotopes reveal modest rather than extreme northern high latitude amplification during the Miocene
- ‘Dispersification’ of Agalinis (Orobanchaceae) into South America is associated with hummingbird pollination and perennial life history shifts
- Drivers of episodic carbonate cementation during the Miocene Climatic Optimum in a paleolake of the Eger Rift
- The Miocene Climatic Optimum at the interface of epicontinental sea and large continent: A case study from the Middle Miocene of the Eastern Paratethys
- Family-level ecometrics reveal functional trait stability in Miocene artiodactyls despite environmental change in the Mojave region
- Chromosome-level genome assembly of Pinus massoniana provides insights into conifer adaptive evolution
- Miocene [wikipedia]
Related