Cenozoic palaeoenvironment of the Southern Ocean and East Antarctica : geological and paleontological evidence from the Kerguelen Plateau, Vestfold Hills and Prince Charles Mountains ...

• Main Author: Whitehead, Jason
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University Of Tasmania 2023
• Subjects: Antarctic; East Antarctic Ice Sheet; East Antarctica; Kerguelen; Prince Charles Mountains; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Vestfold; Vestfold Hills; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25959/23242400.v1; https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Cenozoic_palaeoenvironment_of_the_Southern_Ocean_and_East_Antarctica_geological_and_paleontological_evidence_from_the_Kerguelen_Plateau_Vestfold_Hills_and_Prince_Charles_Mountains/23242400/1

Southern Ocean and Antarctic sediments from the Kerguelen Plateau, Vestfold Hills and Prince Charles Mountains contain evidence that suggest climatic conditions and ice sheet volume have fluctuated during the Cenozoic. Geological and palaeontological data show that at certain intervals the Antarctic climate was significantly warmer, and the East Antarctic Ice Sheet smaller, than today. Marine fossils are used to date these intervals of ice sheet reduction and to reconstruct the associated climatic conditions. The findings are compared with previous geological and ice sheet computer modeling studies, to help reconstruct Antarctica's climate history and test predictive models for ice sheet response to future global warming. Fluctuating climatic conditions were identified in Quaternary and Pliocene marine sediments from the Southern Kerguelen Plateau. Unconformities formed during intense glacial intervals, when the velocity of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current increased. Deposition occurred during warmer ...