Xu Zhang

Earth System Ice Sheet Modeller

Xu Zhang

Team

General enquiries

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Xu Zhang

Biography

I study dynamics and mechanisms of past abrupt/nonlinear climate changes (e.g. Dansgaard-Oeschger events, glacial cycles, etc.), aiming to provide valuable knowledge to improve model performance on climate stability for more reliable future projections. Involving extensive interdisciplinary collaborations, my research leverages proxy records, numerical models, mathematical statistics and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning to gain a more comprehensive understanding of governing dynamics of these changes and their impacts and feedback in the climate system.

I started my role as Earth system ice sheet modeller at the BAS at the beginning of 2024. Before this, I was a tenured professor (full) in China since 2018 after  a 4-year postdoc at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany (2014-2018). I obtained a PhD in Environmental Physics (summa cum laude) from the University of Bremen, Germany (in 2014) after gaining a MSc and BSc from Ocean University of China in 2010 and 2007, respectively.

Research interests and opportunities:

I openly welcome inquiries from prospective PhD students and visiting scholars interested in the following research topics:

  • Global core climate tipping elements and cascade effects (e.g. Atlantic ocean circulation)
  • Quaternary millennial-to-orbital time scale climate variability (i.e. Dansgaard-Oeschger events, glacial cycles)
  • Antarctic forcing and feedbacks in past and current climate changes
  • Tropical hydroclimate variability (e.g. monsoon dynamics, water isotopes)
  • Paleoclimate Date Assimilation
  • Marine carbon cycle

Current postgraduate students :

  • Mr Yu’ao Zhang, PhD candidate (ITPCAS/UCAS, CN).
  • Ms Siqi Li, Master student (ITPCAS/UCAS, CN).

Previous PhD candidates:

  • Dr. Shuo Hao (2021-2024) (ITPCAS/UCAS, CN)
  • Dr. Øyvind Flataker Lien (2019-2023),  co-supervised with Prof. Berit Oline Hjelstuen (University of Bergen, NO).
  • Dr. Zhenqian Wang (2018-2022) (Uni Lanzhou, CN)
  • Dr. Yuchen Sun (2018-2022) (AWI, DE)

Current major projects: 

  • Co-PI, National Key Research and Development Projects of China, institute and WP lead,  “Mechanism, impacts and feedback of global core tipping elements”  [Ongoing]

Professional activities

Research interests

Collaborations

Guest Scientist, ITP-CAS, CN  (2024- )

Honorary Scientist, Paleoclimate Dynamics, Alfred Wegener Institute, DE (2018- )

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

2024

Li, Siqi, Zhang, Xu ORCIDORCID record for Xu Zhang, Lu, Zhengyao, Ni, Jian, Lu, Jianhua. (2024) Progress of vegetation modelling and future research prospects. Science China Earth Sciences, 67 (). 21 pp. 10.1007/s11430-023-1367-1

An, Zhisheng, Zhou, Weijian, Zhang, Zeke, Zhang, Xu ORCIDORCID record for Xu Zhang, Liu, Zhonghui, Sun, Youbin, Clemens, Steven C., Wu, Lixin, Zhao, Jiaju, Shi, Zhengguo, Ma, Xiaolin, Yan, Hong, Li, Gaojun, Cai, Yanjun, Yu, Jimin, Sun, Yuchen, Li, Siqi, Zhang, Yu’ao, Stepanek, Christian, Lohmann, Gerrit, Dong, Guocheng, Cheng, Hai, Liu, Yu, Jin, Zhangdong, Li, Tao, Hao, Yifei, Lei, Jing, Cai, Wenju. (2024) Mid-Pleistocene climate transition triggered by Antarctic Ice Sheet growth. Science, 385 (). 6 pp. 10.1126/science.abn4861

Gao, Qinggang, Capron, Emilie, Sime, Louise C. ORCIDORCID record for Louise C. Sime, Rhodes, Rachael H., Sivankutty, Rahul, Zhang, Xu ORCIDORCID record for Xu Zhang, Otto-Bliesner, Bette L., Werner, Martin. (2024) Assessment of the southern polar and subpolar warming in the PMIP4 Last Interglacial simulations using paleoclimate data syntheses [in review]. Climate of the Past: Discussions, (). pp. 10.5194/egusphere-2024-1261

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Recent papers (* indicates corresponding author):

Yan X.W., X. Zhang*, B. Liu, H.T. Mithan, J. Hellstrom, S. Nuber, R. Drysdale et al., Asynchronicity of deglacial permafrost thawing controlled by millennial-scale climate variability. Nature Communications, in press

Wang, H., Z. An., X. Zhang, et al. Westerly and Laurentide ice sheet fluctuations during the last glacial maximum. npj Clim Atmos Sci 7, 213 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-024-00760-9

An Z., W. Zhou, Z. Zhang, X. Zhang*, Z. Liu, et al : Mid-Pleistocene climate transition triggered by Antarctic ice sheet growth, Science, 385, 560-565 (2024)  doi:10.1126/science.abn4861

Selected Publications:

Abrupt climate change/millennial-scale climate variability:

Zhang X.*, S, 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

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.

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

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

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

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:
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

Tropical hydroclimate:

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

Ice sheet and sea level:

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