Evidence for late Eocene to early Oligocene Antarctic glaciation and observations on late Neogene glacial history of Antarctica: results from Leg 119

Abstract

Although scientific evidence prior to that from ODP Leg 119 indicates the presence of an ice sheet on East Antarctica by at least the earliest Oligocene, the question as to the size and stability of that initial ice sheet is still contested. Principal results from Leg 119 suggest the presence of significant late middle and late Eocene glaciation in East Antarctica and the presence of a continental-size ice sheet in East Antarctica during the earliest Oligocene. Although the Leg 119 results provide only glimpses of the Neogene glacial history of East Antarctica, they do provide evidence of fluctuations in the extent of the ice sheet and the waxing and waning of glaciers across the Prydz Bay shelf during the later part of the Miocene and Pliocene. -from Authors