Metadata: Identification_Information: Citation: Citation_Information: Originator: John A. Barron Originator: Thomas M. Cronin Originator: Harry J. Dowsett Originator: R. Farley Fleming Originator: Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. Originator: Scott E. Ishman Originator: Richard Z. Poore Originator: Robert S. Thompson Originator: Debra A. Willard Publication_Date: 1994 Title: PRISM 8°x10° Northern Hemisphere Paleoclimate Reconstruction: Digital Data Series_Information: Series_Name: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report Issue_Identification: 94-281 Publication_Information: Publication_Place: Reston, VA Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey Online_Linkage: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/ Description: Abstract: The PRISM 8°x10° data set represents several years of investigation by PRISM (Pliocene Research, Interpretation, and Synoptic Mapping) Project members. One of the goals of PRISM is to produce time-slice reconstructions of intervals of warmer than modern climate within the Pliocene Epoch. The first of these was chosen to be at 3.0 Ma (time scale of Berggren et al., 1985) and is published in Global and Planetary Change (Dowsett et al., 1994). This document contains the actual data sets and a brief explanation of how they were constructed. For paleoenvironmental interpretations and discussion of each data set, see Dowsett et al., in press. The data sets includes sea level, land ice distribution, vegetation or land cover, sea surface temperature and sea-ice cover matrices. This reconstruction of Middle Pliocene climate is organized as a series of datasets representing different environmental attributes. The data sets are designed for use with the GISS Model II atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) using an 8°x10° resolution (Hansen et al., 1983). The first step in documenting the Pliocene climate involves assigning an appropriate fraction of land versus ocean to each grid box. Following grid cell by grid cell, land versus ocean allocations, winter and summer sea ice coverage of ocean areas are assigned and then winter and summer sea surface temperatures are assigned to open ocean areas. Average land ice cover is recorded for land areas and then land areas not covered by ice are assigned proportions of six vegetation or land cover categories modified from Hansen et al. (1983). Purpose: PRISM is a multidisciplinary effort to document climate variability during the Pliocene from about 2 to 4 Ma and to map on a global scale environmental conditions during Pliocene warm intervals representing conditions significantly warmer than modern climates. This work represents a preliminary result of this effort. Time_Period_of_Content: Time_Period_Information: Single_Date/Time: Calendar_Date: 1994 Currentness_Reference: publication date Status: Progress: Complete Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: Update is currently in review. Spatial_Domain: Bounding_Coordinates: West_Bounding_Coordinate: -180.0 East_Bounding_Coordinate: 180.0 North_Bounding_Coordinate: 90.0 South_Bounding_Coordinate: -90.0 Keywords: Theme: Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: USGS Thesaurus Theme_Keyword: sea-level change Theme_Keyword: sea surface temperature Theme_Keyword: sea ice concentration Theme_Keyword: vegetation Theme_Keyword: geospatial datasets Place: Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: none Place_Keyword: Northern Hemisphere Temporal: Temporal_Keyword_Thesaurus: None Temporal_Keyword: Pliocene Theme: Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: National Geologic Map Database Catalog themes, augmented Theme_Keyword: 1700 - Paleontology Theme_Keyword: 0100 - Oceanography Theme_Keyword: 1800 - Paleobotany Theme_Keyword: 0200 - Meteorology Theme: Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Categories Theme_Keyword: geoscientificInformation Place: Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: Augmented FIPS 10-4 and FIPS 6-4 Place_Keyword: LD10 = North America Place_Keyword: LD40 = Europe Place_Keyword: LD70 = Asia Place_Keyword: OC10 = Arctic Place_Keyword: OC41 = Northeast Pacific Place_Keyword: OC42 = Northwest Pacific Place_Keyword: OC13 = North Atlantic Access_Constraints: none Use_Constraints: none Point_of_Contact: Contact_Information: Contact_Person_Primary: Contact_Person: Harry J. Dowsett Contact_Address: Address_Type: mailing address Address: Mail Stop 970 National Center U.S. Geological Survey 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive City: Reston State_or_Province: VA Postal_Code: 20192 Country: USA Contact_Voice_Telephone: (703) 648-5282 Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (703) 648-5420 Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: hdowsett@usgs.gov Data_Quality_Information: Logical_Consistency_Report: This reconstruction represents a compilation of the authors' observations and other published data. The quality of environmental estimates, age control, and geographic coverage vary greatly from different sources and between data types. Completeness_Report: There are not enough Southern Hemisphere data at this time to provide middle Pliocene sea-surface temperature (SST) or vegetation estimates. However, the state of the cryosphere (particularly in the Southern Hemisphere) during the middle part of the Pliocene is of first order importance for understanding the changes depicted in the Northern Hemisphere. The volume of ice contained on Antarctica has major implications for global sea level. In addition the distribution of Antarctic ice (land and sea) governs albedo, and sea ice plays an important part in the production of bottom water. Therefore Pliocene seasonal reconstructions of sea ice and mean land ice configurations are included for both hemispheres. Lineage: Source_Information: Source_Citation: Citation_Information: Originator: Harry Dowsett Originator: Robert Thompson Originator: John Barron Originator: Thomas Cronin Originator: Farley Fleming Originator: Scott Ishman Originator: Richard Poore Originator: Debra Willard Originator: Thomas Holtz Jr. Publication_Date: 1994 Title: Joint investigations of the Middle Pliocene climate I: PRISM paleoenvironmental reconstructions Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: map Series_Information: Series_Name: Global and Planetary Change Issue_Identification: 9 Publication_Information: Publication_Place: Netherlands Publisher: Elsevier Science B.V. Other_Citation_Details: pages 169-195 Type_of_Source_Media: paper Source_Time_Period_of_Content: Time_Period_Information: Single_Date/Time: Calendar_Date: 1994 Source_Currentness_Reference: publication date Source_Citation_Abbreviation: Global and Planetary Change 9 (1994) 169-195 Source_Contribution: This scientific journal article describes in detail the origin of the information contained in the present data set, along with details about data quality and precision, and references to published literature. Process_Step: Process_Description: Create an integrated synoptic reconstruction of Pliocene Northern Hemisphere climatic conditions, chosen to coincide with the warm interval centered on 3.0 Ma (time scale of Berggren et al., 1985), documented primarily in mid to high latitude marine and terrestrial deposits of the North Atlantic region, but also observed in marine records from the North Pacific. The various paleoclimate parameters were converted into a digital data set which was used in an initial general circulation model experiment by Chandler et al. (1994). Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: Naval Oceanography Command Detachment, 1985. Sea Ice Climate Atlas, vol. 1, Antarctica. NAVAIR 50-1C-540. Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office, 1958. Oceanographic Atlas of the Polar Seas, Part II: Arctic. Process_Date: 1994 Source_Produced_Citation_Abbreviation: Global and Planetary Change 9 (1994) 169-195 Process_Contact: Contact_Information: Contact_Person_Primary: Contact_Person: Harry J. Dowsett Contact_Organization: U.S. Geological Survey Contact_Address: Address_Type: mailing address Address: Mail Stop 970 National Center 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive City: Reston State_or_Province: VA Postal_Code: 20192 Country: USA Contact_Voice_Telephone: (703) 648-5282 Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (703) 648-5420 Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: hdowsett@usgs.gov Spatial_Data_Organization_Information: Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Raster Raster_Object_Information: Raster_Object_Type: Grid Cell Row_Count: 24 Column_Count: 36 Spatial_Reference_Information: Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition: Geographic: Latitude_Resolution: 8 Longitude_Resolution: 10 Geographic_Coordinate_Units: Decimal degrees Entity_and_Attribute_Information: Overview_Description: Entity_and_Attribute_Overview: This reconstruction of middle-Pliocene climate is organized as a series of grids representing different environmental attributes. The grids are designed for use with the GISS Model II atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) using an 8°x10° resolution (Hansen et al., 1983). Following grid cell by grid cell, land versus ocean allocations, winter and summer sea ice coverage of ocean areas are assigned and then winter and summer sea surface temperatures are assigned to open ocean areas. Average land ice cover is recorded for land areas and then land areas not covered by ice are assigned proportions of six vegetation or land cover categories modified from Hansen et al. (1983). Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: Dowsett, H., Thompson, R., Barron, J., Cronin, T., Fleming, F., Ishman, S., Poore, R., Willard, D., and Holtz, T. Jr., Joint investigations of the Middle Pliocene climate I: PRISM paleoenvironmental reconstructions: Global and Planetary Change, v. 9, p. 169-175. Distribution_Information: Distributor: Contact_Information: Contact_Person_Primary: Contact_Person: Peter N. Schweitzer Contact_Address: Address_Type: mailing address Address: Mail Stop 918 National Center U.S. Geological Survey 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive City: Reston State_or_Province: VA Postal_Code: 20192 Country: USA Contact_Voice_Telephone: (703) 648-6533 Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (703) 648-6560 Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: pschweitzer@usgs.gov Resource_Description: USGS Open-File Report 94-281 Distribution_Liability: This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards (or with the North American Stratigraphic Code). Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Standard_Order_Process: Digital_Form: Digital_Transfer_Information: Format_Name: ASCII Format_Specification: tab-delimited Format_Information_Content: Climate and vegetation grids Transfer_Size: 0.135 Digital_Transfer_Option: Online_Option: Computer_Contact_Information: Network_Address: Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/lndice.txt Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/sealvl.txt Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/siceaug.txt Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/sicefeb.txt Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/sstaug.txt Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/sstfeb.txt Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation.txt Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation/modern.dec Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation/modern.des Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation/modern.eve Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation/modern.gra Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation/modern.rai Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation/modern.tun Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation/pliocene.dec Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation/pliocene.des Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation/pliocene.eve Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation/pliocene.gra Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation/pliocene.rai Network_Resource_Name: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/of94-281/Core/raw/vegetation/pliocene.tun Fees: none Metadata_Reference_Information: Metadata_Date: 20150204 Metadata_Contact: Contact_Information: Contact_Person_Primary: Contact_Person: Peter N. Schweitzer Contact_Position: Collection manager, USGS Geoscience Data Clearinghouse, http://geo-nsdi.er.usgs.gov/ Contact_Address: Address_Type: mailing address Address: Mail Stop 918 National Center U.S. Geological Survey 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive City: Reston State_or_Province: VA Postal_Code: 20192 Country: USA Contact_Voice_Telephone: (703) 648-6533 Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (703) 648-6560 Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: pschweitzer@usgs.gov Metadata_Standard_Name: Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998