Paleoclimate Simulations for North America Over the Past 21,000 Years: Features of the Simulated Climate and Comparisons with Paleoenvironmental Data.  
P.J. Bartlein, K.H. Anderson, P.M. Anderson, M.E. Edwards, C.J. Mock, R.S. Thompson, R.S. Webb, T. Webb III, and C. Whitlock (1998), 
Quaternary Science Reviews 17(6-7): 549-585.

Abstract    Preprint .pdf file (13.7 MB), Text only (98 KB), Figures and Tables only (13.6MB)


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Figure 1
. Simulated January and July upper-level (500mb) winds. Wind directions are shown by arrows, and velocity by shading. The outline of the region covered by ice in the model is also shown. Polar stereographic projection, principal meridian 100 W.

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Figure 2
. Simulated January and July sea-level pressure and surface winds. Surface wind directions are shown by arrows, sea-level pressure by shading.

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Figure 3
. Simulated January and July near-surface air temperature (C).

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Figure 4
. Simulated January and July monthly total precipitation (mm).

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Figure 5
. Simulated January and July near-surface air temperature (C), generated by interpolating anomalies (paleoclimatic experiment minus present control) onto a 25km gridded data set of the present values of these variables. The "Present" map panels are those observed present values. Albers projection, standard parallels at 66.66 N and 33.33 N, principal meridian 120 W. Paleogeography from Dyke and Prest (1987) and Peltier (1994).

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Figure 6
. As in Fig. 5, only for January and July monthly total precipitation.

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Figure 7
. Observed distributions of Picea spp. (all North American species of spruce), Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir), and Artemisia tridentata (sagebrush), simulated probabilities of occurrence obtained using the response surfaces for these taxa and the observed present climate, and illustrations of the response surfaces for each.

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Figure 8
. Dimension of the climate space (i.e. number of climate variables) used in the evaluation of the response surfaces at each grid point and time.

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Figure 9
. Observed (top) and simulated (bottom) incidence and abundance of Picea spp.

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Figure 10
. As in Fig. 9, only for Pseudotsuga menziesii and Artemisia tridentata.

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Figure 11
. Proportions of sites with paleoecological data from the western United States correctly predicted present or absent for each taxon at each time (top), observed proportion of sites with each taxon present (middle), and predicted proportion of sites with each taxon present (bottom).

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Figure 12
. Anomalies (paleoclimatic experiment minus modern control simulations) of energy- and moisture-balance components (Table 2) for grid points representing the southeastern United States (Table 3). The similarity across experiments in the seasonal profiles of the anomalies of net SW radiation, latent and sensible heating rates, soil moisture and P-E reveal the influence of the surface energy- and water-balance processes in near-surface air temperatures that in summer were not significantly cooler than present.

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Figure 13
. As in Fig. 12, for grid points representing eastern Beringia. In contrast to the southeastern U.S. where surface energy- and water-balance components acted to increase near-surface temperatures relative to airmass temperatures (Fig. 12), the relatively high near-surface air temperatures after 16 ka in eastern Beringia seem related to increased LW radiation gain (or decreased loss) from warm airmasses advected into the region.

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Figure 14
. As in Fig. 12, for grid points representing western Beringia. The similarity across the 16 ka to 6 ka experiments in the seasonal profiles of the anomalies of near-surface and 850mb temperatures together with the small anomalies of sensible heating rate suggest that as in eastern Beringia, the relatively warm conditions in summer in western Beringia are related to the advection of warm airmasses into the region.

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Figure 15
. As in Fig. 12, for grid points representing the Pacific Northwest. In this region the similarity across simulations between the seasonal profiles of near-surface and 850mb temperatures suggest that the near-surface temperature anomalies are determined mainly by the advection of airmasses into the region, although the positive sensible heating anomalies in summer (apparently related to negative surface wetness anomalies) also suggest some modification of the advected airmass temperatures by surface energy- and water-balance processes.
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Figure 16
. As in Fig. 12, for grid points representing the southwestern United States. This region displays the greatest similarity across simulations between the seasonal profiles of near-surface and 850mb temperatures, which suggests little modification of the advected airmass temperatures by surface energy- and water-balance processes.

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Figure 17
. As in Fig. 12, for grid points representing Mexico. The greater-than-present anomalies in summer at 11 ka and 6 ka in rising motions, cloudiness, precipitation, and latent heating rate reflect the development of a stronger summer monsoon at those times.

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Table 1
. Comparison of climate features simulated by CCM 0 and CCM 1


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Table 2
. Simulated climate variables used in the process analysis (Figs. 12-17)


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Table 3
. Definitions of regions used in the process analysis (Figs. 12-17)


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