Model simulations of early westward flow across the Tasman Gateway during the early Eocene
Willem P. Sijp1,Anna S. von der Heydt2,and Peter K. Bijl3Willem P. Sijp et al. Willem P. Sijp1,Anna S. von der Heydt2,and Peter K. Bijl3
1ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, University of New South
Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
2Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Centre for Extreme Matter and Emergent Phenomena, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, the Netherlands
3Marine Palynology and Paleoceanography, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geoscience, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, the Netherlands
1ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, University of New South
Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
2Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Centre for Extreme Matter and Emergent Phenomena, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, the Netherlands
3Marine Palynology and Paleoceanography, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geoscience, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, the Netherlands
Correspondence: Willem P. Sijp (w.sijp@unsw.edu.au)
Received: 10 Jul 2015 – Discussion started: 29 Oct 2015 – Revised: 17 Feb 2016 – Accepted: 06 Mar 2016 – Published: 05 Apr 2016
Abstract. The timing and role in ocean circulation and climate of the opening of Southern Ocean gateways is as yet elusive. Recent micropalaeontological studies suggest the onset of westward throughflow of surface waters from the SW Pacific into the Australo-Antarctic Gulf through a southern shallow opening of the Tasman Gateway from 49–50 Ma onwards, a direction that is counter to the present-day eastward-flowing Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Here, we present the first model results specific to the early-to-middle Eocene where, in agreement with the field evidence, southerly shallow opening of the Tasman Gateway indeed causes a westward flow across the Tasman Gateway. As a result, modelled estimates of dinoflagellate biogeography are in agreement with the recent findings. Crucially, in this situation where Australia is still situated far south and almost attached to Antarctica, the Drake Passage must be sufficiently restricted to allow the prevailing easterly wind pattern to set up this southerly restricted westward flow. In contrast, an open Drake Passage, up to 517 m deep, leads to an eastward flow, even when the Tasman Gateway and the Australo-Antarctic gulf are entirely contained within the latitudes of easterly wind.
The timing and role in ocean circulation and climate of the opening of Southern Ocean gateways is as yet elusive. Here, we present the first model results specific to the early-to-middle Eocene where, in agreement with the field evidence, a southerly shallow opening of the Tasman Gateway does indeed cause a westward flow across the Tasman Gateway, in agreement with recent micropalaeontological studies.
The timing and role in ocean circulation and climate of the opening of Southern Ocean gateways...
