To understand the warm climate occurred during the late Pliocene (~ 3.205 Ma), several simulations with the PlioMIP2 boundary conditions based on the IPSL AOGCM are launched and analysed. It is found that the warming in mid-to-high latitudes enhanced due to the modifications of land sea mask and land ice configuration. The pCO₂ uncertainties within the records can affect this warm pattern asymmetrically. Moreover, the margin of Greenland ice sheet become more vulnerable under this warm climate.

We designed 5 experiments choosing different coccolithophore species that have been evolutionarily distinct for millions of years. If all species showed the same morphological response to an environmental driver, this could be indicative of a response pattern which is conserved over geological timescales. We found an increase in the percentage of malformed coccoliths under altered CO₂ that provides evidence that this response could be used as paleo-proxy for episodes of acute CO₂ perturbations.

We measured the chemical composition (trace element concentrations and stable isotope ratios) of a Belgian speleothem that deposited annual layers. Our sub-annual resolution dataset allows us to investigate how the chemistry of this speleothem recorded changes in the environment and climate in northwestern Europe. We then use this information to reconstruct climate change during the 16th and 17th century on the seasonal scale and demonstrate that environmental change drives speleothem chemistry.