Beschreibung: Highlights • Core-log-seismic correlation allows to assign ages to the Scotia Sea seismic record. • Major implications are derived on the relation between regional and global events. • The main stratigraphic events are much younger than previously proposed. • Three major phases for the regional oceanography are observed from late Miocene. • These phases appear to be closely linked to the Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics. Scotia Sea and the Drake Passage is key towards understanding the development of modern oceanic circulation patterns and their implications for ice sheet growth and decay. The sedimentary record of the southern Scotia Sea basins documents the regional tectonic, oceanographic and climatic evolution since the Eocene. However, a lack of accurate age estimations has prevented the calibration of the reconstructed history. The upper sedimentary record of the Scotia Sea was scientifically drilled for the first time in 2019 during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 382, recovering sediments down to ∼643 and 676 m below sea floor in the Dove and Pirie basins respectively. Here, we report newly acquired high resolution physical properties data and the first accurate age constraints for the seismic sequences of the upper sedimentary record of the Scotia Sea to the late Miocene. The drilled record contains four basin-wide reflectors – Reflector-c, -b, -a and -a' previously estimated to be ∼12.6 Ma, ∼6.4 Ma, ∼3.8 Ma and ∼2.6 Ma, respectively. By extrapolating our new Scotia Sea age model to previous morpho-structural and seismic-stratigraphic analyses of the wider region we found, however, that the four discontinuities drilled are much younger than previously thought. Reflector-c actually formed before 8.4 Ma, Reflector-b at ∼4.5/3.7 Ma, Reflector-a at ∼1.7 Ma, and Reflector-a' at ∼0.4 Ma. Our updated age model of these discontinuities has major implications for their correlation with regional tectonic, oceanographic and cryospheric events. According to our results, the outflow of Antarctic Bottom Water to northern latitudes controlled the Antarctic Circumpolar Current flow from late Miocene. Subsequent variability of the Antarctic ice sheets has influenced the oceanic circulation pattern linked to major global climatic changes during early Pliocene, Mid-Pleistocene and the Marine Isotope Stage 11.

Beschreibung: International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 382 in the Scotia Sea’s Iceberg Alley recovered among the most continuous and highest resolution stratigraphic records in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica spanning the last 3.3 Myr. Sites drilled in Dove Basin (U1536/U1537) have well‐resolved magnetostratigraphy and a strong imprint of orbital forcing in their lithostratigraphy. All magnetic reversals of the last 3.3 Myr are identified, providing a robust age model independent of orbital tuning. During the Pleistocene, alternation of terrigenous versus diatomaceous facies shows power in the eccentricity and obliquity frequencies comparable to the amplitude modulation of benthic δ18O records. This suggests that variations in Dove Basin lithostratigraphy during the Pleistocene reflect a similar history as globally integrated ice volume at these frequencies. However, power in the precession frequencies over the entire ∼3.3 Myr record does not match the amplitude modulation of benthic δ18O records, suggesting Dove Basin contains a unique record at these frequencies. Comparing the position of magnetic reversals relative to local facies changes in Dove Basin and the same magnetic reversals relative to benthic δ18O at North Atlantic IODP Site U1308, we demonstrate Dove Basin facies change at different times than benthic δ18O during intervals between ∼3 and 1 Ma. These differences are consistent with precession phase shifts and suggest climate signals with a Southern Hemisphere summer insolation phase were recorded around Antarctica. If Dove Basin lithology reflects local Antarctic ice volume changes, these signals could represent ice sheet precession‐paced variations not captured in benthic δ18O during the 41‐kyr world.

Beschreibung: The Southern Ocean paleoceanography provides key insights into how iron fertilization and oceanic productivity developed through Pleistocene ice-ages and their role in influencing the carbon cycle. We report a high-resolution record of dust deposition and ocean productivity for the Antarctic Zone, close to the main dust source, Patagonia. Our deep-ocean records cover the last 1.5 Ma, thus doubling that from Antarctic ice-cores. We find a 5 to 15-fold increase in dust deposition during glacials and a 2 to 5-fold increase in biogenic silica deposition, reflecting higher ocean productivity during interglacials. This antiphasing persisted throughout the last 25 glacial cycles. Dust deposition became more pronounced across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) in the Southern Hemisphere, with an abrupt shift suggesting more severe glaciations since ~0.9 Ma. Productivity was intermediate pre-MPT, lowest during the MPT and highest since 0.4 Ma. Generally, glacials experienced extended sea-ice cover, reduced bottom-water export and Weddell Gyre dynamics, which helped lower atmospheric CO2 levels.

Beschreibung: Ice loss in the Southern Hemisphere has been greatest over the past 30 years in West Antarctica. The high sensitivity of this region to climate change has motivated geologists to examine marine sedimentary records for evidence of past episodes of West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) instability. Sediments accumulating in the Scotia Sea are useful to examine for this purpose because they receive iceberg-rafted debris (IBRD) sourced from the Pacific- and Atlantic-facing sectors of West Antarctica. Here we report on the sedimentology and provenance of the oldest of three cm-scale coarse-grained layers recovered from this sea at International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1538. These layers are preserved in opal-rich sediments deposited ∼1.2 Ma during a relatively warm regional climate. Our microCT-based analysis of the layer's in-situ fabric confirms its ice-rafted origin. We further infer that it is the product of an intense but short-lived episode of IBRD deposition. Based on the petrography of its sand fraction and the Phanerozoic 40Ar/39Ar ages of hornblende and mica it contains, we conclude that the IBRD it contains was likely sourced from the Weddell Sea and/or Amundsen Sea embayment(s) of West Antarctica. We attribute the high concentrations of IBRD in these layers to “dirty” icebergs calved from the WAIS following its retreat inland from its modern grounding line. These layers also sit at the top of a ∼366-m thick Pliocene and early Pleistocene sequence that is much more dropstone-rich than its overlying sediments. We speculate this fact may reflect that WAIS mass-balance was highly dynamic during the ∼41-kyr (inter)glacial world. Key Points - We present the first provenance data generated for Pleistocene-aged iceberg-rafted debris deposited in Iceberg Alley - We conclude that prominent iceberg-rafted debris layers deposited at Pirie Basin Site U1538 ∼1.2 Ma were sourced from West Antarctica - They represent intense suborbitally-paced episodes of iceberg discharge from tidewater glaciers, most likely in the Weddell Embayment