Impact of Cenozoic Antarctic continent-ocean configuration patterns on global climate change

Abstract

Antarctica recorded a Cenozoic geologic history of continental growth, breakup and dispersal, global cooling and the development of continental-scale Antarctic ice sheet. Despite the importance of Antarctica, there has not been an integrated view of the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the region as a whole. In this Review, we identify the Tasmania gateway and Drake Passage, and present their overlapping and interconnected tectonic, magmatic and sedimentary history of Antarctica, South America and Australia. Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), which occurred in the late Eocene to early Oligocene, was most impacted by the opening history of Drake Passage and the Tasmania gateway. Our comprehensive analysis and contrastive study show that the beginning of ACC corresponds to the transition from "warmhouse" to "coolhouse" phase at 34 Ma, indicating the development of ACC was controlled by the tectonic gateways, which in turn affected global climate. We conclude by briefly summarizing the Cenozoic geologic history of the Antarctic system as a whole, and how it provides insight into continent-ocean configuration patterns and what key topics must be addressed by future research are disscussed as well.

Keywords

• antarctica
• cenozoic
• continent-ocean configuration patterns
• global climate change
• ice sheet