Introduction to ‘Antarctic Cenozoic palaeoenvironments: geologic record and models’

Abstract

The Antarctic region has profoundly affected the global climates of the past 50 million years, influencing sea levels, atmospheric composition and dynamics, and ocean circulation. A greater understanding of this region and the Antarctic cryosphere is crucial to a broader understanding of the global climates and palaeoceanography at all scales. Much of the information obtained during the last two decades derives from studies of sedimentary sequences drilled in and around Antarctica. Eight Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) legs have contributed significantly to the understanding of this evolution. These legs include Leg 113 in the Weddell Sea (Barker et al., 1988, 1990), Leg 114 in the Subantarctic South Atlantic (Ciesielski et al., 1988, 1991), Leg 119 in Prydz Bay and on Kerguelen Plateau (Barron et al., 1989, 1991), Leg 120 on Kerguelen Plateau (Schlich et al., 1989; Wise et al., 1992), Leg 177 in the southeast Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean (Gersonde et al., 1999), Leg 178 on the Antarctic Peninsula (Barker et al., 2002), Leg 188 in Prydz Bay (O’Brien et al., 2001), and Leg 189 in the Tasmanian region (Exon et al., 2001). More recently, a series of three holes were drilled in McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, as part of the Cape Roberts Project (CRP; Cape Roberts Science Team, 1998 1999, 2000; Hambrey et al., 1998; Barrett et al., 2000, 2001). In spite of these efforts, which have significantly advanced our understanding of the Cenozoic tectonics and palaeoenvironments of the Antarctic region, important questions and problems remain unresolved. Chief amongst these are the timing of the onset of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS), the causes of the cooling events at around 24 and 14 Ma, and the warming events of the mid-Pliocene and Marine Isotope Stages 31 (1.07 Ma) and 11 (0.36 Ma) (Shackleton et al., 1995).