Variation of atmospheric dust loading and its climate impacts in different geological periods

doi:10.13745/j.esf.sf.2021.9.51

Abstract

Abstract:

Dust in the atmosphere can affect the Earth's surface temperature by absorbing and scattering sunlight, and thus further affects the atmospheric circulation and precipitation. However, the mechanism of atmospheric dust loading variability and its effects on the climate during different geological periods, especially the deep time, remain unclear. This paper investigates the change of atmospheric dust loading and its climate effects during four different geological periods via numerical modeling. The four periods are the Precambrian when there was no terrestrial vegetation; the Pangea supercontinent period with terrestrial vegetation and a global temperature significantly higher than the present day; the Last Glacial Maximum with continental configuration close to the modern one but a much colder climate than the present day; and the mid-Holocene with a slightly warmer climate than the present day. Compared to the present day, the Precambrian atmospheric dust loading was nearly 10 times as much due to larger dust source area, which led to a decrease in global surface temperature by about 10 ℃. In the Pangea supercontinent period, the dust loading was slightly higher because of slightly larger land area in the subtropical zone, and its impact on the global mean temperature was small. During the Last Glacial Maximum, dust loading was about twice as much due to a colder and drier climate, yet dust had a strong warming effect—without it, the global temperature would have decreased by about 2.5 ℃. In the mid-Holocene, global dust loading was much less as shown by observational evidence, while simulation results suggest that the effect of removing global dust on the global mean temperature can be ignored for this period even as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation changed significantly.

Key words: dust, paleoclimate, vegetation, Atlantic meridional ocean circulation, supercontinent

CLC Number:

P467

LIU Yonggang, ZHANG Ming, LIN Qifan, LIU Peng, HU Yongyun. Variation of atmospheric dust loading and its climate impacts in different geological periods[J]. Earth Science Frontiers, 2022, 29(5): 285-299.

Figures/Tables 13

Fig.1 Annual mean atmospheric dust loading during the pre-industrial obtained from model simulations

Table 1 Boundary conditions and soil erodibility factors for all experiments

时期	轨道参数对应年份	CO₂含量/ 10^-6	太阳常数/ (W·m^-2)	海陆分布	沙尘设置	地表侵蚀系数k
中全新世	6 ka	280	1 361	现代	固定为现代观测值
中全新世	6 ka	280	1 361	现代	全球无沙尘
末次盛冰期	21 ka	185	1 361	ICE-6G	在线模拟	同现代
末次盛冰期	21 ka	185	1 361	ICE-6G	全球无沙尘	全球设为0
盘古超大陆时期	1990	7 000	1 334	据[48]	在线模拟	全球均一(0.013)
盘古超大陆时期	1990	7 000	1 334	据[48]	全球无沙尘	全球设为0
前寒武纪	1990	2 000	1 285	据[49]	在线模拟	全球均一(0.30)
	1990	2 000	1 285	据[49]	在线模拟	全球均一(0.15)
	1990	2 000	1 285	据[49]	在线模拟	全球均一(0.075)
	1990	2 000	1 285	据[49]	在线模拟	全球均一(0.037 5)
	1990	2 000	1 285	据[49]	全球无沙尘	全球设为0

Fig.2 Changes of surface temperature after dust removal for 4 seasons during the mid-Holocene

Fig.3 Changes of precipitation rate after dust removal for 4 seasons during the mid-Holocene

Fig.4 Changes of annual mean and seasonal mean surface temperature after dust removal during the last glacial maximum

Fig.5 Changes of annual mean and seasonal mean precipitation rates after dust removal during the last glacial maximum

Fig.6 Model simulated fraction of vegetation cover during the Pangea supercontinent era

Fig.7 Atmospheric dust loading for 4 seasons during the Pangea supercontinent era

Fig.8 Changes of annual mean and seasonal mean surface temperature when considering dust during the Pangea supercontinent era

Fig.9 Changes of annual mean and seasonal mean precipitation rates when considering dust during the Pangea supercontinent era

Fig.10 Seasonal distribution of atmospheric dust loading in the Precambrian era (k=0.15)

Fig.11 Annual mean surface temperature under different erodibilities

Fig.12 Annual mean precipitation rate under different erodibilities

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