PRISM Land/Sea Mask and Gateways

[Alan Haywood]

PRISM Land/Sea Mask and Gateways

When interpolating the PRISM land/sea mask to local GCM resolution
small differences/discrepancies may occur, requiring minor manual
editing of the resulting files. It is particularly important for
coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations (e.g. Experiment 2) that you
preserve key geographic features that regulate ocean mixing.

Please ensure that the following 5 straits are open or closed as
indicated:

1. Isthmus of Panama (Central American Seaway) = CLOSED
2. Bering Strait = OPEN
3. Drake Passage = OPEN
4. Gibraltar Strait = OPEN
5. Indonesian Gateway = OPEN

The impact is smaller in atmosphere-only GCM experiments (e.g.
Experiment 1),
but groups should aim for consistent land/sea masking in all
experiments.

GCMs that must use modern land/sea masks should be OK in this case
because the geographic configuration of major gateways is essentially
the same between the mid-Pliocene and modern.

Thanks.

Plio-MIP Advisory Panel