(Table 2) Distribution of phytoliths in selected samples from DSDP Site 90-591

• Main Authors: Locker, Sigurd, Martini, Erlend
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 1986
• Subjects: 90-591; 90-591A; 90-591B; Deep Sea Drilling Project; DRILL; Drilling/drill rig; DSDP; DSDP/ODP/IODP sample designation; Epoch; Event label; Glomar Challenger; Leg90; Nannofossil zone; Phytoliths; Sample code/label; South Pacific/Tasman Sea/CONT RISE; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Pacific; Antarc*; Ice cap
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.804035; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.804035

Phytoliths are described from deep sea sediments at Site 591 in the southwestern Pacific. Their regional distribution is related to the arid and semiarid regions of Australia, from where they were blown by westerly winds into the Tasman Sea area. The stratigraphic record ranges from the middle Miocene, at about 14.4 m.y., until the early Pleistocene. A distinct increase in frequencies observed during the Pliocene and a maximum at about 2.5 m.y. coincide with important trends in paleogeography and paleoclimatology: the development of the Antarctic ice cap, the northward drift of the Australian Plate, and the generation of arid conditions on the Australian continent.