title: Response to Comment on "A 12-million-year temperature history of the tropical Pacific Ocean".
abstract: Contrary to our conclusions, Ravelo et al. argue that our TEX86-based sea surface temperature (SST) records do not conflict with the supposition of "permanent El Niño-like" conditions during the early Pliocene. We show that the way Ravelo et al. treat the existing temperature data perpetuates an inaccurate impression of cooler Pacific warm-pool SSTs and low equatorial temperature gradients in the past.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. yigezhang@fas.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Yi Ge
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pagani
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Zhonghui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu