ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the co-evolution of the Southern Ocean (SO) and Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) from the Eocene–Oligocene Transition (EOT, ~34 million years ago, Ma) through to the Pleistocene (the last 2.6 Ma). The EOT was a period of major tectonically-induced climatic change and development of the SO. The evolution of the topography of the Antarctic continent during the Oligocene and Miocene periods (34–35 Ma) played an important role in the establishment of polar conditions, the expansion of a continental-scale ice sheet, and its interplay with the SO. The subsequent Pliocene and Pleistocene periods (last 5.3 Ma) were times of marked global cooling and the evolution of the SO–Antarctic system during which the Earth transitioned towards bi-polar glaciation, with ice sheet expansion in both hemispheres. Lastly, we discuss the role of interhemispheric heat exchange via atmospheric and oceanic processes to explain warmer-than-preindustrial conditions within some warm interglacial periods and their impact on the SO and AIS.
