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The Pliocene Epoch is a focus of scientific interest as a period of sustained global warmth, with reconstructed CO2 concentrations and a continent configuration similar to modern. Numerous studies suggest that the Pliocene was warmer and largely wetter than today, at least in the subtropics, which contrasts with the long-Term hydroclimatic response of drying conditions predicted by most climate model simulations. Two key features of Pliocene warmth established from sea surface temperature reconstructions could affect dynamic changes that influence the hydrologic cycle: (1) a weaker Pliocene zonal gradient in sea surface temperature (SST) between the western and eastern equatorial Pacific resembling El Niño-like conditions and (2) polar-Amplified Pliocene warmth, supporting a weaker Equator-To-pole temperature gradient. The distribution of wet conditions in western North America and the timing of late Pliocene-Quaternary aridification offer the potential to evaluate the relative roles of these two external forcings of the climate in western North America, with broader global implications for Mediterranean-Type climate (MTC) regions. We convened a virtual ICDP workshop that spanned a 2-week period in September 2021, to choose optimal drill sites and legacy cores to address the overall scientific goals, flesh out research questions, and discuss how best to answer them. A total of 56 participants from 12 countries (17 time zones), representing a wide range of disciplines, came together virtually for a series of plenary and working group sessions. We have chosen to study five basins (Butte Valley, Tule Lake, Lake Idaho, Searles Lake, and Verde Valley) that span 7g of latitude to test our hypotheses and to reconstruct the evolution of western North American hydroclimate with special focus on the time ranges of 4.5-3.5 and 3-2.5gMyr. Although individual Pliocene lake records occur in many areas of the world, the western North American basins are unique and globally signifi

AbstractOur understanding of the climatic teleconnections that drove ice-age cycles has been limited by a paucity of well-dated tropical records of glaciation that span several glacial–interglacial intervals. Glacial deposits offer discrete snapshots of glacier extent but cannot provide the continuous records required for detailed interhemispheric comparisons. By contrast, lakes located within glaciated catchments can provide continuous archives of upstream glacial activity, but few such records extend beyond the last glacial cycle. Here a piston core from Lake Junín in the uppermost Amazon basin provides the first, to our knowledge, continuous, independently dated archive of tropical glaciation spanning 700,000 years. We find that tropical glaciers tracked changes in global ice volume and followed a clear approximately 100,000-year periodicity. An enhancement in the extent of tropical Andean glaciers relative to global ice volume occurred between 200,000 and 400,000 years ago, during sustained intervals of regionally elevated hydrologic balance that modified the regular approximately 23,000-year pacing of monsoon-driven precipitation. Millennial-scale variations in the extent of tropical Andean glaciers during the last glacial cycle were driven by variations in regional monsoon strength that were linked to temperature perturbations in Greenland ice cores1; these interhemispheric connections may have existed during previous glacial cycles.

We reconstructed hydroclimate variability in the Yucatán Peninsula (YP) based on stalagmite oxygen and carbon isotope records from a well-studied cave system located in the northeastern YP, a region strongly influenced by Caribbean climate dynamics. The new stalagmite isotopic records span the time interval between 43 and 26.6 ka BP, extending a previously published record from the same cave system covering the interval between 26.5 and 23.2 ka BP. Stalagmite stable isotope records show dominant decadal and multidecadal variability, and weaker variability on millennial timescales. These records suggest significant precipitation declines in the broader Caribbean region during Heinrich events 4 and 3 of ice-rafted discharge into the North Atlantic, in agreement with the antiphase pattern of precipitation variability across the equator suggested by previous studies. On millennial timescales, the stalagmite isotope records do not show the distinctive saw-tooth pattern of climate variability observed in Greenland during Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) events, but a pattern similar to North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) variability. We propose that shifts in the mean position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), per se, are not the dominant driver of last glacial hydroclimate variability in the YP on millennial timescales but instead that North Atlantic SSTs played a dominant role. Our results support a negative climate feedback mechanism whereby large low latitude precipitation deficits resulting from AMOC slowdown would lead to elevated salinity in the Caribbean and ultimately help reactivate AMOC and Caribbean precipitation. However, because of the unique drivers of future climate in the region, predicted twenty-first century YP precipitation reductions are unlikely to be modulated by this negative feedback mechanism

Reconstructions of aeolian dust flux to West African margin sediments can be used to explore changing atmospheric circulation and hydroclimate over North Africa on millennial to orbital timescales. Here, we extend West African margin dust flux records back to 37 ka in a transect of sites from 19° to 27°N, and back to 67 ka at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 658C, in order to explore the interplay of orbital and high-latitude forcings on North African climate and make quantitative estimates of dust flux during the core of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The ODP 658C record shows a Green Sahara interval from 60 to 50 ka during a time of high Northern Hemisphere summer insolation, with dust fluxes similar to levels during the early Holocene African Humid Period, and an abrupt peak in flux during Heinrich event 5a (H5a). Dust fluxes increase from 50 to 35 ka while the high-latitude Northern Hemisphere cools, with peaks in dust flux associated with North Atlantic cool events. From 35 ka through the LGM dust deposition decreases in all cores, and little response is observed to low-latitude insolation changes. Dust fluxes at sites from 21° to 27°N were near late Holocene levels during the LGM time slice, suggesting a more muted LGM response than observed from mid-latitude dust sources. Records along the northwest African margin suggest important differences in wind responses during different stadials, with maximum dust flux anomalies centered south of 20°N during H1 and north of 20°N during the Younger Dryas.

The majority of studies investigating maturation in football have focused on the impact of maturity status or timing upon athletic performance. There is comparatively little research investigating the impact of the adolescent growth spurt, and few research articles that have focussed on injury incidence and burden rather than performance. The aim of this study was to explore and better understand how the adolescent growth spurt impacts youth football players within professional academies. This longitudinal mixed-methods study aimed to understand youth football coaches’ perceptions, experiences, and management of male adolescent football players. Players’ maturity status, growth velocities, and match performance were measured and interviews with coaches were conducted in parallel. The qualitative and quantitative data were combined to generate a deeper contextualised understanding. This study revealed that academy football coaches describe adolescent growth as a ‘condition’; players are diagnosed with growth through perceived signs and symptoms, which coaches must manage and treat. Growth was also seen to impact coaches’ perceptions and therefore had implications for selection and release decisions. The findings from this study emphasise the complexities of experiencing and managing adolescent growth and maturation in the context of elite youth football.

Our understanding of the climatic teleconnections that drove ice-age cycles has been limited by a paucity of well-dated tropical records of glaciation that span several glacial–interglacial intervals. Glacial deposits offer discrete snapshots of glacier extent but cannot provide the continuous records required for detailed interhemispheric comparisons. By contrast, lakes located within glaciated catchments can provide continuous archives of upstream glacial activity, but few such records extend beyond the last glacial cycle. Here a piston core from Lake Junín in the uppermost Amazon basin provides the first, to our knowledge, continuous, independently dated archive of tropical glaciation spanning 700,000 years. We find that tropical glaciers tracked changes in global ice volume and followed a clear approximately 100,000-year periodicity. An enhancement in the extent of tropical Andean glaciers relative to global ice volume occurred between 200,000 and 400,000 years ago, during sustained intervals of regionally elevated hydrologic balance that modified the regular approximately 23,000-year pacing of monsoon-driven precipitation. Millennial-scale variations in the extent of tropical Andean glaciers during the last glacial cycle were driven by variations in regional monsoon strength that were linked to temperature perturbations in Greenland ice cores1; these interhemispheric connections may have existed during previous glacial cycles.

Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved. Lake and cave records show that winter precipitation in the southwestern United States increased substantially during millennial-scale periods of Northern Hemisphere winter cooling known as Heinrich stadials. However, previous work has not produced a clear picture of the atmospheric circulation changes driving these precipitation increases. Here, we combine data with model simulations to show that maximum winter precipitation anomalies were related to an intensified subtropical jet and a deepened, southeastward-shifted Aleutian Low, which together increased atmospheric river–like transport of subtropical moisture into the western United States. The jet and Aleutian Low changes are tied to the southward displacement of the intertropical convergence zone and the accompanying intensification of the Hadley circulation in the central Pacific. These results refine our understanding of atmospheric changes accompanying Heinrich stadials and highlight the need for accurate representations of tropical-extratropical teleconnections in simulations of past and future precipitation changes in the region.

This study examined the simultaneous effects of relative age and biological maturity status upon player selection in an English professional soccer academy. A total of 202 players from the U9 to U16 age groups, over an eight-year period (total of 566 observations), had their relative age (birth quarter) and biological maturity (categorised as late, on-time or early maturing based upon the Khamis-Roche method of percentage of predicted adult height at time of observation) recorded. Players born in the first birth quarter of the year (54.8%) were over-represented across all age groups. A selection bias towards players advanced in maturity status for chronological age emerged in U12 players and increased with age; 0% of players in the U15 and U16 age group were categorised as late maturing. A clear maturity selection bias for early maturing players was, however, only apparent when the least conservative criterion for estimating maturity status was applied (53.8% early and 1.9% late maturing in the U16 age group). Professional football academies need to recognise relative age and maturation as independent constructs that exist and operate independently. Thus, separate strategies should perhaps be designed to address the respective selection biases, to better identify, retain and develop players.

Reconstructions of past Saharan dust deposition in marine sediments provide foundational records of North African climate over time scales of 103 to 106 years. Previous dust records show primarily glacial-interglacial variability in the Pleistocene, in contrast to other monsoon records showing strong precessional variability. Here, we present the first Saharan dust record spanning multiple glacial cycles obtained using 230Th normalization, an improved method of calculating fluxes. Contrary to previous data, our record from the West African margin demonstrates high correlation with summer insolation and limited glacial-interglacial changes, indicating coherent variability in the African monsoon belt throughout the late Pleistocene. Our results demonstrate that low-latitude Saharan dust emissions do not vary synchronously with high- and mid-latitude dust emissions, and they call into question the use of existing Plio-Pleistocene dust records to investigate links between climate and hominid evolution.