The short-term climate variability of shallow marine environments in Central Europe during the Oligocene

Abstract

The Oligocene epoch was the last time in the Earth history during which a unipolar glaciated world occurred. While the Northern Hemisphere remained substantially ice free, the land-ocean distribution as well as large scale circulation patterns broadly resembled the modern configuration. Atmospheric CO2 levels fluctuated between 400 ppm and 560 ppm. Such boundary conditions resemble those predicted for the near future by numerical climate models. Therefore, the Oligocene world can serve as natural laboratory to study the possible effects of anthropogenic global warming on the climate of the next centuries. In this context, the present research project focuses on the short-term (seasonal to decadal) climate variability of Central Europe during the Oligocene, reconstructed from the sclerochronological records of fossil marine organisms, i.e., bivalves, sirenians and sharks. Given the overall similarities between the Oligocene world and the climate scenarios predicted for the Earth during the next centuries, the results of this research give a hint of possible climate developments in Central Europe in the near future.