Antarctic Bottom Water: Major Change in Velocity during the Late Cenozoic between Australia and Antarctica

Paleomagnetic and micropaleontological studies of deep-sea sedimentary cores between Australia and Antarctica define an extensive area centered in the south Tasman Basin, where sediment as old as Early Pliocene has been systematically eroded by bottom currents. This major sedimentary disconformity has been produced by a substantial increase in velocity of Antarctic bottom water, possibly associated with late Cenozoic climatic cooling and corresponding increased glaciation of Antarctica.