Late Miocene Onset of Tasman Leakage and Southern Hemisphere Supergyre Ushers in Near-Modern Circulation

Abstract

This study provides a Miocene-to-recent history of Tasman Leakage (TL), driving surface-to-intermediate waters from the Pacific into the Indian Ocean. TL, in addition to Indonesian ThroughFlow (ITF), constitutes an important part of the Southern Hemisphere Supergyre. Here, we employ deep-sea benthic δ13C timeseries from the southwestern Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans to identify the history of Tasman Leakage. The δ13C results combined with sedimentary evidence show that an inter-ocean connection south of Australia existed from 7 Ma onward. A southward shift in Westerlies combined with a northward movement of Australia created the oceanic corridor necessary for Tasman Leakage (between Australia and the sub-Antarctic Front) at this time. Furthermore, changes in the northern limb of the Supergyre (ITF) are evident in the sedimentary record on Broken Ridge from ∼3 to 2 Ma when Banda Sea intermediate waters started originating from the North Pacific.