TOWARD A NEW MID-PIACENZIAN SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE RECONSTRUCTION

New data from the Pacific and Southern Oceans are now available that help refine the Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM3) sea surface temperature (SST) reconstruction. Alkenone and Mg/Ca paleothermometry data, combined with multivariate statistical analyses of faunal assemblages, are used to determine the position of important paleoceanographic fronts during a period of mid-Pliocene (3.29-2.97 Ma) and to infer the magnitude of the warming. These data are now incorporated into the existing PRISM3 v1.2 SST reconstruction. In general, all proxies show close agreement and confirm the global nature of mid-Piacenzian warmth. The PRISM3 reconstruction is the primary data source for the Pliocene Climate Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP).