Modelling of climatic changes caused by rift-flank uplift

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This project applies climate models to simulate the effect of uplifted rift flanks on global and African regional climate. Two types of models will be used for these experiments. The coupled threedimensional atmosphere ocean general circulation model ECHO-G will be used to test the sensitivity of the global general circulation to several external factors, like topography, the distribution of the continents and orbital parameters. In particular, experiments with rift-flank height at minimum and maximum values will reveal the significance of this feature. Additionally, the regional climate model CLM, which is based on the Lokal-Modell of the German Weather Service, will be used to give more detailed information about precipitation patterns and other local features. The regional simulations will also consider changes in vegetation and lake distribution. The models will be validated against the data obtained from the collaborating projects. The simulations will be performed in close co-operation with the dynamic modelling Project D2, which will provide information of the temporal development of the topography at different times and which will use simulated precipitation rates to estimate erosion rates. An important task in the analysis of the results will be the attribution of observed regional climate changes to regional and non-regional causes as well as the comparison of the relevance of different causes.