Drilling Reveals Climatic Consequences of Tasmanian Gateway Opening

Neville Exon, Jim Kennett, Mitch Malone, Henk Brinkhuis, George Chaproniere, Atsuhito Ennyu, Patrick Fothergill, Michael Fuller, Marianne Grauert, Peter Hill, Amelia E. Shevenell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

One of the great stories of geoscience is how Gondwana broke up and the other southern continents drifted northward from Antarctica, which led to major changes in global climate.

The recent drilling of Ocean Drilling Project (ODP) Leg 189 addressed in detail what happened as Australia drifted away from Antarctica and the Tasmanian Gateway opened. The drifting contributed to the change in global climate, from relatively warm early Cenozoic “greenhouse” conditions to late Cenozoic “icehouse” conditions. It isolated Antarctica from warm gyral surface currents from the north and provided the critical deepwater conduits that eventually led to ocean conveyor circulation between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Original languageAmerican English
JournalEos, Transactions American Geophysical Union
Volume83
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2002
Externally publishedYes

Disciplines

  • Life Sciences

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