Dr Alan Haywood

Research

My research interests are multidisciplinary as well as holistic. They are focussed on the reconstruction of Earth's environmental/climatic history, the assessment of our ability to model it, and the use of this information to examine potential scenarios for future climate change. Some highlights of my research include:

• Exploration of the importance of vegetation climate feedbacks in palaeoclimate modelling exercises
• Examination of ocean temperature responses during past greenhouse climates
• Prediction of ENSO behaviour during past warm intervals
• Reconstruction of Cretaceous climate dynamics using a limited area climate model
• Assessment of equator to pole temperature gradients during the past and implied changes in atmospheric versus oceanic heat transport

My particular area of expertise is in the synthesis of global palaeoclimate proxy data and then the use of this data as prescribed boundary conditions within a model, or as a validation tool for model predictions. In essence my research niche is to provide an interface between climate modellers and earth scientists. Numerical climate models are currently at the forefront in the quest to predict accurately the dynamics and consequences of future climate change. It is necessary to test the robustness of output produced by such models through comparison to palaeoclimate proxy data. The importance of developing data sets of boundary conditions to initially force and then evaluate palaeoclimate modelling experiments has clearly been demonstrated by the CLIMAP, COHMAP, GLARMAP, PRISM & GEACEP initiatives. Data from one locality is of little use in evaluating model output or for developing a full understanding of past climate dynamics. However, once data has been properly synthesised across a region or globe its usefulness, in conjunction with climate model simulations, is immense.
This research field is dynamic and continuing to grow significantly in importance. The techniques used in data synthesis and data/model comparison studies are applicable to any time slice of the geological record. The international importance of research which investigates past climate history and aims to understand the interactive physical, chemical and biological processes that regulate the total Earth system, is underlined by global initiatives such as the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and Past Global Changes Core Project (PAGES).

Current Projects

• Integrated Multi-proxy Analyses of mid-Pliocene Ocean Temperatures for an Improved Palaeoclimate Reconstruction (Funded by the USGS)
• Biological Response to Global Environmental Change across the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary: the High Latitude Response from the James Ross Basin, Antarctica (Funded by the NERC AFI scheme)
• Dynamics of the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (Funded by the NERC/QUEST)
• Quantification of non-CO2 greenhouse gases to warm climates in Earth history (Funded by the Leverhulme Trust)

Current PhD Projects

• Dynamics of atmosphere & oceans during greenhouse climate states (Sarah Bonham, NERC funded)
• Greenhouse to ice-house climate change in the Arctic: climatic signals and biodiversity from Palaeogene fossil floras of Svalbard (Abigail Clifton, NERC funded)
• The role of climate feedbacks and the Earth's energy budget (Julia Crook, NERC funded)
• Sensitivity of Pliocene ice sheets to orbital cycles (Aisling Dolan, NERC funded)
• Modelling the Antarctic cryosphere under greenhouse Earth conditions (Steve Hunter, funded by the NERC-AFI scheme)
• Land cover in a warmer world: reconstructing global Miocene and Pliocene vegetation & climate distributions (Matthew Pound, Funded by BGS/NERC)

Publications

Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ; Dowsett, HJ (2009) Dedication: prof. Bruce william sellwood (1946-2007)., Philos Transact A Math Phys Eng Sci, 367(1886), pp19-20. doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0208

Bonham, SG; Haywood, AM; Lunt, DJ; Collins, M; Salzmann, U (2009) El Nino-Southern Oscillation, Pliocene climate and equifinality, PHILOS T R SOC A, 367(1886), pp127-156. doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0212

Haywood, AM; Dowsett, HJ; Valdes, PJ; Lunt, DJ; Francis, JE; Sellwood, BW (2009) Introduction. Pliocene climate, processes and problems., Philos Transact A Math Phys Eng Sci, 367(1886), pp3-17. doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0205

Gohl, K; Haywood, A (2009) IPY Project PLATES & GATES: Plate tectonics and polar gateways in the Earth system—tectonic control on long-term climate evolution, Environmental Geology, 56, pp1249-1250. doi:10.1007/s00254-008-1622-4

Williams, M; Haywood, AM; Harper, EM; Johnson, ALA; Knowles, T; Leng, MJ; Lunt, DJ; Okamura, B; Taylor, PD; Zalasiewicz, J (2009) Pliocene climate and seasonality in North Atlantic shelf seas, PHILOS T R SOC A, 367(1886), pp85-108. doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0224

Haywood, AM (2009) Pliocene Climates, In: Vivian Gornitz (Ed) Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient Environments, Earth Sciences Series, Springer.

Knowles, T; Taylor, PD; Williams, M; Haywood, AM; Okamura, B (2009) Pliocene seasonality across the North Atlantic inferred from cheilostome bryozoans, PALAEOGEOGR PALAEOCL, 277(3-4), pp226-235. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.04.006

Lunt, DJ; Haywood, AM; Foster, GL; Stone, EJ (2009) The Arctic cryosphere in the Mid-Pliocene and the future, PHILOS T R SOC A, 367(1886), pp49-67. doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0218

Salzmann, U; Haywood, AM; Lunt, DJ (2009) The past is a guide to the future? Comparing Middle Pliocene vegetation with predicted biome distributions for the twenty-first century, PHILOS T R SOC A, 367(1886), pp189-204. doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0200

Lunt, DJ; Flecker, R; Valdes, PJ; Salzmann, U; Gladstone, R; Haywood, AM (2008) A methodology for targeting palaeo proxy data acquisition: A case study for the terrestrial late Miocene, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 271, pp53-62.

Salzmann, U; Haywood, AM; Lunt, DJ; Valdes, PJ; Hill, DJ (2008) A New Global Biome Reconstruction and Data-Model Comparison for the Middle Pliocene , Global Ecology and Biogeography, 17(3), pp432-447. doi:10.1111/j.1466-8238.2008.00381.x

Lunt, DJ; Valdes, PJ; Haywood, AM; Rutt, I (2008) Closure of the Panama Seaway during the Pliocene: implications for climate and Northern Hemisphere Glaciation, Climate Dynamics, 30(1), pp1-18. doi:10.1007/s00382-007-0265-6

Haywood, AM; Chandler, MA; Valdes, PJ; Salzmann, U; Lunt, DJ; Dowsett, HJ (Submitted) Comparison of mid-Pliocene climate predictions produced by the HadAM3 and GCMAM3 General Circulation Models, Global and Planetary Change, .

Bonham, S; Haywood, AM; Lunt, DJ; Collins, M; Salzmann, U (Accepted) ENSO, Pliocene Climate and Equifinality, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, .

Lawrence, KT; Herbert, TD; Brown, CM; Raymo, ME; Haywood, AM (Submitted) High Amplitude Variations in North Atlantic sea surface temperature during the Early Pliocene Warm Period, Paleoceanography, .

Florindo, F; Nelson, AE; Haywood, AM (2008) Introduction to 'Antarctic cryosphere and Southern Ocean climate evolution (Cenozoic-Holocene)', PALAEOGEOGR PALAEOCL, 260(1-2), pp1-7. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.12.001

Lunt, DJ; Foster, GL; Haywood, AM; Stone, EJ (2008) Late Pliocene Greenland glaciation controlled by a decline in atmospheric CO2 levels, Nature, 454(7208), pp1102-1105. doi:10.1038/nature07223

Hunter, SJ; Valdes, PJ; Haywood, AM; Markwick, PJ (2008) Modelling Maastrichtian climate: Investigating the role of geography, atmospheric CO2 and vegetation, Climate of the Past, 4, pp1-39.

Smellie, JL; Haywood, AM; Hillenbrand, CD; Lunt, DJ; Valdes, PJ (Submitted) Nature of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet during the Pliocene: geological evidence & modelling results compared, Earth Science Reviews, .

Haywood, AM; Dowsett, HJ; Valdes, PJ; Lunt, DJ; Francis, JE; Sellwood, BW (Accepted) Pliocene climate: processes and problems, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, .

Araujo, MB; Nogues-Bravo, D; Diniz-Filho, JAF; Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ; Rahbek, C (2008) Quaternary climate changes explain diversity among reptiles and amphibians, Ecography, 31(1), pp8-15. doi:10.1111/j.2007.0906-7590.05318.x

Haywood, AM; Smellie, JL; Ashworth, A; Cantrill, DJ; Florindo, F; Hambrey, MJ; Hill, DJ; Hillenbrand, CD; Hunter, SJ; Larter, RD; Lear, CH; Passchier, S; van de Wal, R (2008) The Middle Miocene to Pliocene record of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, In: Florindo, F & Siegert, M. (Ed) Antarctic Climate Evolution, Developments in Earth & Environmental Science, 8, Elsevier.

Chandler, MA; Dowsett, HJ; Haywood, AM (2008) The PRISM Model-Data Cooperative: Mid-Pliocene Data-Model Comparisons, PAGES News, 16(2), pp24-25.

Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ; Peck, VL (2007) A permanent El Nino-like state during the Pliocene?, PALEOCEANOGRAPHY, 22(1), . doi:10.1029/2006PA001323

Hill, DJ; Haywood, AM; Hindmarsh, RCA; Valdes, PJ (2007) Characterising ice sheets during the mid Pliocene: evidence from data and models, In: M. Williams, A.M. Haywood, J. Gregory and D. Schmidt (Ed) Deep-time perspectives on climate change: marrying the signal from computer models and biological proxies, The Micropalaeontological Society, Special Publication, The Geological Society, London, pp517-538.

Williams, M; Haywood, AM; Gregory, J; Schmidt, D (2007) Deep time perspectives on climate change: an introduction, In: Williams, M., Haywood, A. M., Gregory, F. J. & Schmidt, D. N. (Ed) Deep-Time Perspectives on Climate Change: Marrying the Signal from Computer Models and Biological Proxies, The Micropalaeontological Society, Special Publication, The Geological Society, London, pp1-3.

Williams, M; Haywood, AM; Gregory, J; Schmidt, D (2007) Deep-time perspectives on climate change: marrying the signal from computer models and biological proxies, The Micropalaeontology Society, Special Publication, The Geological Society, London.

Hughes, JK; Haywood, AM; Mithen, SJ; Sellwood, BW; Valdes, PJ (2007) Investigating early hominin dispersal patterns: developing a framework for climate data integration, Journal of Human Evolution, 53, pp465-474. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.12.011

Williams, M; Haywood, AM; Vautravers, M; Sellwood, BW; Hillenbrand, CD; Wilkinson, IP; Miller, CG (2007) Relative effect of taphonomy on calcification temperature estimates from fossil planktonic foraminifera, GEOBIOS-LYON, 40(6), pp861-874. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2007.02.007

Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ; Hill, DJ; Williams, M (2007) The mid Pliocene Warm Period: a test-bed for integrating data and models, In: M. Williams, A.M. Haywood, J. Gregory and D. Schmidt (Ed) Deep-time perspectives on climate change: marrying the signal from computer models and biological proxies, The Micropalaeontological Society, Special Publication, The Geological Society, London, pp443-458.

Francis, JE; Haywood, AM; Ashworth, A; Valdes, P (2007) Tundra environments in the Neogene Sirius Group, Antarctica: evidence from the geological record and coupled atmosphere-vegetation models, Journal of the Geological Society, 164(2), pp317-322. doi:10.1144/0016-76492005-191

Haywood, AM; Williams, M (2006) Forecasting future weather from Rocks, Rockwatch, 42, pp8-9.

Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ (2006) Vegetation cover in a warmer world simulated using a dynamic global vegetation model for the Mid-Pliocene, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 237(2-4), pp412-427. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.12.012

Williams, M; Haywood, AM; Hillenbrand, CD; Wilkinson, IP (2005) Efficacy of delta18O data from Pliocene planktonic foraminifer calcite for spatial sea surface temperature reconstruction: comparison with a fully coupled ocean-atmosphere GCM and fossil assemblage data for the mid-Pliocene, Geological Magazine, 142(4), pp399-417. doi:10.1017/S0016756805000828

Williams, M; Haywood, AM; Taylor, SP; Valdes, PJ; Sellwood, BW; Hillenbrand, CD (2005) Evaluating the efficacy of planktonic foraminifer calcite delta18O data for sea surface temperature reconstruction for the Late Miocene, Geobios, 38(6), pp843-863. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2004.12.001

Haywood, AM; Cook, SR (2005) Evidence for stasis in the Regional Wind Pattern of the Western Mediterranean since the Mid Pleistocene, Quaternary Newsletter, 106, pp9-23.

Haywood, AM; Williams, M (2005) Exploring warmer worlds in Earth's geological past, None, .

Haywood, AM; Williams, M (2005) The climate of the future: clues from 3 million years ago, Geology Today, 21(4), pp138-143.

Haywood, AM; Dekens, P; Ravelo, AC; Williams, M (2005) Warmer tropics during the mid-Pliocene? Evidence from alkenone paleothermometry and a fully coupled ocean-atmosphere GCM, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 6(3), . doi:10.1029/2004GC000799

Taylor, SP; Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ; Sellwood, BW (2004) An evaluation of two spatial interpolation techniques in global sea-surface temperature reconstructions: Last Glacial Maximum and Pliocene case studies, Quaternary Science Reviews, 23(9-10), pp1041-1051. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.12.003

Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ; Markwick, PJ (2004) Cretaceous (Wealden) climates: a modelling perspective, Cretaceous Research, 25(3), pp303-311. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2004.01.005

Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ (2004) Modelling Pliocene warmth: contribution of atmosphere, oceans and cryosphere, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 218(3-4), pp363-377. doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00685-X

Haywood, AM; Williams, M (2004) Reconstructing the oceans of the Late Miocene: how the shell chemistry of fossils reveals ancient patterns of ocean circulation, Teaching Earth Sciences, 29, pp25-27.

Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ; Sellwood, BW; Kaplan, JO (2002) Antarctic climate during the middle Pliocene: model sensitivity to ice sheet variation, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 182(1-2), pp93-115. doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(01)00454-0

Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ; Sellwood, BW; Francis, JE; Kaplan, JO (2002) Global middle Pliocene biome reconstruction: a data/model synthesis, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 3(Article 1072), . doi:10.1029/2002GC000358

Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ; Sellwood, BW (2002) Magnitude of climate variability during middle Pliocene warmth: a palaeoclimate modelling study, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 188(1-2), pp1-24. doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(02)00506-0

Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ; Sellwood, BW; Kaplan, JO; Dowsett, HJ (2001) Modelling Middle Pliocene warm climates of the USA, Palaeontologia Electronica, 4(1), .

Haywood, AM; Valdes, PJ; Sellwood, BW (2000) Global scale palaeoclimate reconstruction of the middle Pliocene climate using the UKMO GCM: initial results, Global and Planetary Change, 25(3-4), pp239-256. doi:10.1016/S0921-8181(00)00028-X

Haywood, AM; Sellwood, BW; Valdes, PJ (2000) Regional warming: Pliocene (3 Ma) paleoclimate of Europe and the Mediterranean, Geology, 28(12), pp1063-1066. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2000)28<1063:RWPMPO>2.0.CO;2