Xu Zhang
Earth System Ice Sheet Modeller
Biography
Scientist, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK (2024- )
Scientist, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, CAS, CN (2021-2024)
Professor, Lanzhou University, CN (2018-2021)
Postdoc, Paleoclimate Dynamics group, Alfred Wegener Institute, DE (2014-2018)
Ph.D. in Climate Dynamics (summa cum laude), University of Bremen, DE (2014)
M.Sc. in Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean University of China, CN (2010)
B.Sc. in Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean University of China, CN (2007)
Research interests
- Abrupt climate change
- Quaternary climate change and variability
- Climate – Ice sheet – carbon interactions
- Paleoclimate Date Assimilation
Collaborations
Professional (collaborative) activities
- 2024 – Steering Committee: PAGES Climate Variability Across Scales (CVAS)
- 2023 – Steering Committee: CMIP-PMIP Interglacials Work Group
- 2023 – Associate Editor of Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology
- 2021 – Editorial board member of Science China – Earth Sciences
- 2019 – Editorial board member of Science Bulletin
- 2018 – Guest Scientist in Paleoclimate Dynamics group of the Alfred Wegener Institute
- 2018 – 2019 Editor of Past Global Changes (PAGES) Magazine “Ocean Circulation and Carbon Cycling“
Recent publications:
Wang D., Y. Chen, Y. Liu, A. P. Roberts, E. J. Rohling, X. Zhao, X. Zhang, J. Li, W. Yao, X. Qu, X. Tan & Q. Liu, 2024: Bacterial magnetofossil evidence for enhanced Pacific Ocean respired carbon storage during buildup of Antarctic glaciation. Geology, doi: 10.1130/G52016.1
Zhang K., Y. Sun, Z. Zhang, C. Stepanek, R. Feng, D. Hill, G. Lohmann, A. Dolan, A. Haywood, A. Abe-Ouchi, B. Otto-Bliesner, C. Contoux, D. Chandan, G. Ramstein, H. Dowsett, J. Tindall, M. Baatsen, N. Tan, W. R. Peltier, Q. Li, W. Chan, X. Wang & X. Zhang, 2024: Revisiting the physical processes controlling the tropical atmospheric circulation changes during the Mid-Piacenzian Warm Period, Quatern. Int., 682, 46-59, doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2024.01.001
Selected Publications:
Abrupt climate change/millennial-scale climate variability:
Zhang X., Barker, G. Knorr, G. Lohmann, R. Drysdale, Y. B. Sun, D. Hodell and F. H. Chen, 2021: Direct astronomical influence on abrupt climate variability, Nature Geosci., 14, 819-826, doi: 10.1038/s41561-021-00846-6
Knorr G., S. Barker, X. Zhang, G. Lohmann, X. Gong, P. Gierz, C. Stepanek and L. Stap, 2021: A salty deep ocean as a prerequisite for glacial termination, Nature Geosci. 14, 930-936, doi:10.1038/s41561-021-00857-3
Sun Y.B., J. M McManus, S. Clemens, X. Zhang, H. Vogel, F. Guo, T. Wang, X.X. Liu, and Z.S. An. 2021: Persistent orbital influence on millennial climate variability, Nature Geosci., 14, 812-818, doi: 10.1038/s41561-021-00794-1
Gao, P., J. Nie, Q. Yan, X. Zhang, Q. Liu, B. Cao, and B. Pan, 2021: Millennial resolution late Miocene northern China precipitation record spanning astronomical analogue interval to the future. Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2021GL093942. doi: 10.1029/2021GL093942
Wu S. Z., L. Lembke-Jene, F. Lamy, H. W. Arz, N. Nowaczyk, W. S. Xiao, X. Zhang, H. C. Hass, J. Titschack, X. F. Zheng, J. B. Liu, L. Dumm, B. Diekmann, D. Nürnberg, R. Tiedemann, G. Kuhn, 2021: Orbital- and Millennial-scale varaiblity of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current over the past 140,000 years, Nature Comm., 12, 3948, doi:10.1038/s41467-021-24264-9
Corrick E. C., R. N. Drysdale, J. C. Hellstrom, E. Capron, S. O. Rasmussen, X. Zhang, D. Fleitmann, I. Couchoud, E. Wolff, 2020: Synchronous timing of abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period, Science, 369, 963-969
Maier E., X. Zhang, A. Abelmann, R. Gersonde, S. Mulitza, M. Werner, M. Méheust, B. Chapligin, J. Ren, H. Meyer, R. Stein, R. Tiedemann, and G. Lohmann, 2018: North Pacific freshwater events linked to glacial ocean circulation changes, Nature, 559, 241-245, doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0276-y
Zhang X., Knorr, G. Lohmann, and S. Barker, 2017: Abrupt North Atlantic circulation changes in response to gradual CO2 forcing in a glacial climate state, Nature Geosci., 10, 518-523, doi:10.1038/ngeo2974
Zhang X., Lohmann, G. Knorr and C. Purcell, 2014: Abrupt glacial climate shifts controlled by ice sheet changes, Nature, 512, 290-294, doi: 10.1038/nature13592.
Weber M. E., P. U. Clark, G. Kuhn, A. Timmermann, D. Sprenk, R. Gladstone, X. Zhang, G. Lohmann, L. Menviel, M. O. Chikamoto, T. Friedrich, and C. Ohlwein, 2014: Millennial-scale variability in Antarctic ice-sheet discharge during the last deglaciation, Nature, 510, 134-138, doi:10.1038/nature13397
Glacial cycle and Deglacial climates:
Nuber S., J. W. B. Rae, X. Zhang, M. B. Andersen, M. D. Dumont, Y.C. Sun, H.T. Mithan, B. de Boer, I. Hall and S. Barker, 2023: Indian Ocean Salinity build-up primes Deglacial Ocean Circulation Recovery, Nature, 617, 306-311, doi:10.1038/s41586-023-05866-3
Starr A., I. R. Hall, S. Barker, T. Rackow, X. Zhang, S. R. Hemming, H.J.L. van der Lubbe, G. Knorr, M. A. Berke, G. R. Bigg, A. Cartagena, F. J. Jimenez- Espejo, X. Gong, J. Gruetzner, N. Lathika, L. J. LeVay, R. S. Robinson, M. Ziegler and Exp. 361 Science Party, 2021: Melting Antarctic Icebergs Reorganize Ocean Circulation During Pleistocene Glacials, Nature, 589, 236-241, doi:10.1038/s41586-020-03094-7
Sun Y., Knorr, X. Zhang, L. Tarasov, S. Barker, M. Werner and G. Lohmann: Ice sheet decline and rising atmospheric CO2 control AMOC sensitivity to deglacial meltwater discharge, 2022: Glob. Planet. Change, 210, 103755, doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.103755
Du J. L., Y. Ye, X. Zhang, C. Voelker and J. Tian, 2022: Southern Control of Interhemispheric Synergy on Glacial Marine Carbon Sequestration, Geophys. Res. Lett., 49, e2022GL099048
Catunda, M.C.A., A.Bahr, S. Kaboth-Bahr, X. Zhang, N. P. Foukal and O. Friedrich. 2021: Subsurface heat channel drove sea surface warming in the high-latitude North Atlantic during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. Geophys. Res. Lett.,47, e2020GL091899, doi: 10.1029/2020GL091899
Barker, S., X. Zhang, L. Jonkers, S. Lordsmith, S. Conn and G. Knorr. 2021: Strengthening Atlantic Inflow across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 36, e2020PA004200, doi: 10.1029/2020PA004200
Dong L., X. Zhang, G. D. Jia, Y. Du, L. Li and Q. Y. Li, 2020: CO2-induced decoupling of Tropical Surface and Thermocline Water Temperature at the onset of interglacials,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, e2020GL088805
Abelmann A., Gersonde, R., Knorr, G., X. Zhang, Chapligin, B., Maier, E., Esper, O., Friedrichsen, H., Lohmann, G., Meyer, H., Shemesh, A., and Tiedemann, R., 2015: The seasonal sea-ice zone in the glacial Southern Ocean as a carbon sink, Nature Comm., 6, 8136, doi: 10.1038/ncomms9136.
Zhang, X., Lohmann, G. Knorr and X. Xu, 2013: Different ocean states and transient characteristics in Last Glacial Maximum simulations and implications for deglaciation. Clim. Past, 9, 2319-2333, doi:10.5194/cp-9-2319-2013
Holocene climate:
Chen T.Y., L. Robinson, T. Li, A. Burke, X. Zhang, J. Stewart, N White and T. Knowles, 2023: Radiocarbon evidence for the stability of polar ocean overturning during the Holocene, Nature Geosci. 16,631-636, doi: 10.1038/s41561-023-01214-2
Zhang X., B. Liu, S. Chen, Z. Fu, T. Xie and F. Chen, 2022: Increased water vapor supply in winter and spring leading to the arid Central Asian wetting in last 6000 years, Science China – Earth Sciences, 65, 1353-1367. doi: 10.1360/SSTe-2021-0194
Zhang X. and H. Chen, 2021: Non-trivial role of internal climate feedbacks on interglacial temperature evolution. Nature, 600, E1–E3.doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03930-4
Liu Z., J. Zhu, Y. Rosenthal, X. Zhang, B.-L. Otto-Bliesner, A. Timmermann, R. S. Smith, G. Lohmann, W. P. Zheng and O. Timm, O., 2014: The Holocene temperature conundrum. PNAS, 111, E350-E3505, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1407229111
Monsoon/Tropical Hydroclimate:
Shi X.F., S.F. Liu, X. Zhang, Y.C. Sun, P. Gao, H. Zhang, X.Y. Li, S. Xu, S.Q. Qiao, S. Khokiattiwong, N. Kornkanitnarn and G. Lohmann, 2022: Millennial-scale hydroclimate changes in Indian monsoon realm during the last deglaciation. Quat. Sci. Rev., 292, 107702, doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107702
Zhang H.W., X. Zhang, Y. Cai, A. Sinha, C. Spötl, J. Baker, G. Kathayat, Z. Liu, Y. Tian, J, Lu, Z. Wang, J. Zhao; X. Jia; W. Du; Y. Ning; Z. An; L. R. Edwards and H. Cheng, 2021: A data-model comparison pinpoints Holocene spatiotemporal pattern of East Asian summer monsoon, Quat. Sci. Rev., 261, 106911, doi:1 0.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106911
Zhang, Y., X. Zhang, C. Chiessi, S. Mulitza, X. Zhang, G. Lohmann, M. Prange, H. Behling, M. Zabel, A. Govin, A. Sawakuchi, F. Cruz and G. Wefer, 2016: Equatorial Pacific forcing of western Amazonian precipitation during Heinrich Stadial 1, Scientific Reports, doi:10.1038/srep35866
Miscellaneous:
Hinck S., E. Gowan, X. Zhang and G. Lohmann, 2022: PISM-LakeCC: Implementing an adaptive proglacial lake boundary in an ice sheet model, The Cryosphere, 16, 941–965, doi:10.5194/tc-16-941-2022
Gowan E., X. Zhang, S. Khosravi, A. Rovere, P. Stocchi, A. L. C. Hughes, R. Gyllencreutz, J. Mangerud, J. I. Svendsen and G. Lohmann, 2021: A new global ice sheet reconstruction for the past 80000 years, Nature Comm., 1-9, doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21469-w
Chen F. H., S. Q. Chen, X. Zhang, J. Chen, X. Wangg, E. Gowan, M. Qiang, G. Dong, Z. Wang, Y. Li, Q. Xu, Y. Xu, J. Smol, J. Liu, 2020: Asian dust-storm activity dominated by Chinese dynasty changes since 2000 BP, Nature Comm., 11, 992, doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-14765-4
Werner, M., B. Haese, X. Xu, X. Zhang, M. Butzin and G. Lohmann, 2015: Glacial–interglacial changes of H218O, HDO and deuterium excess – results from the fully coupled Earth System Model ECHAM5/MPI-OM, Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 647-670, doi:10.5194/gmd-9-647-2016