Bijl, Peter

Brinkhuis, Henk

Escutia, Carlotta

Passchier, Sandra

Pross, Jorg

Salzmann, Ulrich

Sangiorgi, Francesca

Schouten, Stefan

English

Northumbria Research Link

Northumbria Research Link
Citation: Sangiorgi, Francesca, Bijl,  Peter, Passchier, Sandra, Salzmann, Ulrich, Schouten, Stefan, 
Pross, Jorg, Escutia, Carlotta and Brinkhuis, Henk (2015) Middle Miocene environmental and climatic  
evolution at the Wilkes Land margin, East Antarctica. In: EGU General Assembly 2015, 12-17 April  
2015, Vienna. 
URL: 
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Geophysical Research Abstracts
Vol. 17, EGU2015-15194, 2015
EGU General Assembly 2015
© Author(s) 2015. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
Middle Miocene environmental and climatic evolution at the Wilkes Land
margin, East Antarctica
Francesca Sangiorgi (1), Peter Bijl (1), Sandra Passchier (2), Ulrich Salzmann (3), Stefan Schouten (4), Jörg Pross
(5), Carlota Escutia (6), Henk Brinkhuis (1,4)
(1) Marine Palynology, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geology, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology,
Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584CD Utrecht, The Netherlands, (2) Department of Earth and Environmental Studies,
Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave, 252 Mallory Hall, Montclair, NJ 07043, (3) Geography and Environment, School of
Built and Natural Environment, Northumbria University, Ellison Building Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK, (4) NIOZ
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Landsdiep 4, 1797 SZ ’t Horntje (Texel), The Netherlands, (5) Institute of Earth
Sciences, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany, (6) Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias
de la Tierra, CSIC-Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 318 successfully drilled a Middle Miocene (∼ 17 –
12.5 Ma) record from the Wilkes Land Margin at Site U1356A (63◦18.6138’S, 135◦59.9376’E), located at the
transition between the continental rise and the abyssal plain at 4003 mbsl.
We present a multiproxy palynological (dinoflagellate cyst, pollen and spores), sedimentological and or-
ganic geochemical (TEX86, MBT/CBT) study, which unravels the environmental and climate variability across
the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO, ∼17-15 Ma) and the Mid Miocene Climate Transition (MMCT).
Several independent lines of evidence suggest a relatively warm climate during the MCO. Dinocyst and
pollen assemblage diversity at the MCO is unprecedented for a Neogene Antarctic record and indicates a
temperate, sea ice-free marine environment, with woody sub-antarctic vegetation with elements of forest/shrub
tundra and peat lands along the coast. These results are further confirmed by relatively warm TEX86-derived Sea
Surface Temperatures and mild MBT-derived continental temperatures, and by the absence of glacially derived
deposits and very few ice-rafted clasts. A generally colder but highly dynamic environment is suggested for the
interval 15-12.5 Ma.


Middle Miocene environmental and climatic evolution at the Wilkes Land margin, East Antarctica

Northumbria University Research Portal

Citation: Sangiorgi, Francesca, Bijl, Peter, Passchier, Sandra, Salzmann, Ulrich, Schouten, Stefan,  Pross,  Jorg,  Escutia,  Carlotta  and  Brinkhuis,  Henk  (2015)  Middle  Miocene environmental and climatic evolution at the Wilkes Land margin, East Antarctica. In: EGU General Assembly 2015, 12-17 April 2015, Vienna. URL: This  version  was  downloaded  from  Northumbria  Research  Link: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/21498/Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University’s research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners.  Single copies of full items can be reproduced,  displayed or  performed,  and given to  third parties in  any format  or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given, as well  as a hyperlink and/or URL to the original metadata page. The content must  not  be changed in any way. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without  formal  permission  of  the  copyright  holder.   The  full  policy  is  available  online: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/policies.htmlThis document may differ from the final, published version of the research and has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies. To read and/or cite from the published version of the research, please visit the publisher’s website (a subscription may be required.)Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 17, EGU2015-15194, 2015EGU General Assembly 2015© Author(s) 2015. CC Attribution 3.0 License.Middle Miocene environmental and climatic evolution at the Wilkes Landmargin, East AntarcticaFrancesca Sangiorgi (1), Peter Bijl (1), Sandra Passchier (2), Ulrich Salzmann (3), Stefan Schouten (4), Jörg Pross(5), Carlota Escutia (6), Henk Brinkhuis (1,4)(1) Marine Palynology, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geology, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology,Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584CD Utrecht, The Netherlands, (2) Department of Earth and Environmental Studies,Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave, 252 Mallory Hall, Montclair, NJ 07043, (3) Geography and Environment, School ofBuilt and Natural Environment, Northumbria University, Ellison Building Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK, (4) NIOZRoyal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Landsdiep 4, 1797 SZ ’t Horntje (Texel), The Netherlands, (5) Institute of EarthSciences, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany, (6) Instituto Andaluz de Cienciasde la Tierra, CSIC-Universidad de Granada, Granada, SpainIntegrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 318 successfully drilled a Middle Miocene (∼ 17 –12.5 Ma) record from the Wilkes Land Margin at Site U1356A (63◦18.6138’S, 135◦59.9376’E), located at thetransition between the continental rise and the abyssal plain at 4003 mbsl.We present a multiproxy palynological (dinoflagellate cyst, pollen and spores), sedimentological and or-ganic geochemical (TEX86, MBT/CBT) study, which unravels the environmental and climate variability acrossthe Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO, ∼17-15 Ma) and the Mid Miocene Climate Transition (MMCT).Several independent lines of evidence suggest a relatively warm climate during the MCO. Dinocyst andpollen assemblage diversity at the MCO is unprecedented for a Neogene Antarctic record and indicates atemperate, sea ice-free marine environment, with woody sub-antarctic vegetation with elements of forest/shrubtundra and peat lands along the coast. These results are further confirmed by relatively warm TEX86-derived SeaSurface Temperatures and mild MBT-derived continental temperatures, and by the absence of glacially deriveddeposits and very few ice-rafted clasts. A generally colder but highly dynamic environment is suggested for theinterval 15-12.5 Ma.

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Middle Miocene environmental and climatic evolution at the Wilkes Land margin, East Antarctica

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