Karl–Heinz Wyrwoll

School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, The University of Western Australia

Model Sensitivity of the Australian Summer Monsoon to Milankovitch Variations

Room 811 AOSS, Monday, Jan. 22, 2006, 3:30 PM

Abstract

The seminar will present the background and results of work that considered the response of the Australian summer monsoon to orbital forcing using a coupled General Circulation Model. It was found that unlike the Northern Hemisphere monsoons, which are dominated by precession forcing, the Australian monsoon can be enhanced significantly not only by precession forcing, but also by tilt forcing coupled to oceanic feedback. The new insights obtained from a series of experiments with differeing tilt–precession configurations allow an interpretation of the Australian Late Quaternary monsoon record in which insolation forcing plays a significant role.