Abstract
Tarling1 suggested that ice ages may occur when continental blocks occupy polar positions, isolating the pole from oceanic influences, and when nearby seas are available to provide moisture for the build-up and maintenance of polar ice caps. Such conditions gradually became established in the Southern Hemisphere where the present ice age began 13 Myr ago2. The Cenozoic circum-Antarctic geographic and oceanographic evolution has been recently summarised by Kennett3. I report here that circum-Antarctic palaeogeography and palaeoceanography alone were insufficient to lead to the Antarctic glaciation. A model is presented that suggests that the final triggering events took place in the North Atlantic.
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Schnitker, D. North Atlantic oceanography as possible cause of Antarctic glaciation and eutrophication. Nature 284, 615–616 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/284615a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/284615a0
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