ERC MAGIC

Monsoonsin Asia caused Greenhouse to Icehouse Cooling?

Unraveling the cause for Cenozoic global climate cooling is one of the most important unresolved questions challenging the Earth and Environmental sciences community today. Increased erosion and weathering of the uplifted Tibetan Plateau and Himalayas, is advocated as the primary cause for the enigmatic pCO2 drawdown, that led to global cooling 50 to 34 Myrs ago from the warm ice‐free Greenhouse world to the bi‐polar Icehouse conditions still prevailing today.

Asian Monsoons are genetically linked to high orography associated with the India‐Asia collision starting ca. 50 Myrs ago, however, the relation between Greenhouse to Icehouse cooling and Asian Monsoons remains to be explore as they were previously thought to intensify only much later ca. 25 Myrs ago.

Our findings of monsoonal activity in Asia since at least 45 Myrs ago raises the fascinating possibility that Asian Monsoons may have triggered global cooling from Greenhouse to Icehouse conditions. Testing this novel hypothesis and exploring its implications on feedback mechanisms between regional environments, Asian Monsoons and global climate, constitute the stimulating objectives of MAGIC.

What is MAGIC?

Scientific Goals & Background

Ideal International Collaboration

Geo-Web Tool

Three field areas explored by doctoral students

Mustafa Kaya on the Paratethys sea

Niels Meijer on Tibet climate archives

Jan Westerwel SE Asia Geology

Environmental Proxies of Climate change

Amber Woutersen: Plant Paleobiology

Phillip Jardine : Plant Biochemistry

Alexander Rohrmann : Plant Geochemistry

Natasha Barbolini : Plant Evolution

Huasheng Huang: Myanmar Pollen Records

Climate Models

Agathe Toumoulin : Climate Models

Delphine Tardif : Climate Models

2020. Horizon Magazine

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