Colloquium: Peter Clift

"The Asian monsoon: Its links to Cenozoic orogenesis and global climate change"

Peter Clift, Professor, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University

Ocean Leadership Distinguished Lecturer Series

Abstract: The Asian monsoon represents one of the most dramatic examples of how the Earth causes changes in atmospheric and oceanic circulation, triggering climate change on a regional, or even global, scale. Scientists have suggested that uplift of the Tibetan Plateau caused the monsoon to strengthen, but modeling also suggests the regional climate has been shaped by the Himalayan barrier and the retreat of shallow seas from central Asia. Are models or observations correct? As the world’s largest mountains for over 500 million years and the most intensity climatic phenomenon on Earth, understanding the linkages between the Tibetan Plateau and the Asian monsoon represent a major goal for the scientific community.