Late Cenozoic sea-surface-temperature evolution of the  South Atlantic Ocean

Hoem, Frida S.; López-Quirós, Adrián; van de Lagemaat, Suzanna; Etourneau, Johan; Sicre, Marie-Alexandrine; Escutia, Carlota; Brinkhuis, Henk; Peterse, Francien; Sangiorgi, Francesca; Bijl, Peter K.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1931-2023

Articles | Volume 19, issue 10

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1931-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1931-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 10

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

13 Oct 2023

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 13 Oct 2023

Late Cenozoic sea-surface-temperature evolution of the South Atlantic Ocean

Frida S. Hoem, Adrián López-Quirós, Suzanna van de Lagemaat, Johan Etourneau, Marie-Alexandrine Sicre, Carlota Escutia, Henk Brinkhuis, Francien Peterse, Francesca Sangiorgi, and Peter K. Bijl

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1931-2023-supplement

Data sets

Late Cenozoic Sea Surface Temperature evolution of the South Atlantic Ocean (Data sets) Frida S. Hoem, Adrián López-Quirós, Suzanna van de Lagemaat, Johan Etourneau, Marie-Alexandrine Sicre, Carlota Escutia, Henk Brinkhuis, Francien Peterse, Francesca Sangiorgi, and Peter K. Bijl https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8279466

Co-editor-in-chief

This paper presents two new long-term SST records from the south Atlantic Ocean. This region is marked by the strong ocean baroclinicity and associated SST gradient, and is key to understanding late Cenozoic Antarctic glaciation and deep ocean circulation. These records have the potential to significantly contribute to address those questions.

Short summary

We present two new sea surface temperature (SST) records in comparison with available SST records to reconstruct South Atlantic paleoceanographic evolution. Our results show a low SST gradient in the Eocene–early Oligocene due to the persistent gyral circulation. A higher SST gradient in the Middle–Late Miocene infers a stronger circumpolar current. The southern South Atlantic was the coldest region in the Southern Ocean and likely the main deep-water formation location in the Middle Miocene.