Middle Miocene to Pliocene history of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean

This chapter explores the Middle Miocene to Pliocene terrestrial and marine records of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The structure of the chapter makes a clear distinction between terrestrial and marine records as well as proximal (on or around Antarctica) and more distal records (Southern Ocean). Particular geographical regions are identified that reflect the areas for which the majority of palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic information exist. Specifically, the chapter addresses the terrestrial sedimentary and fjordal environments of the Transantarctic Mountains and Lambert Glacier region, the terrestrial fossil record of Antarctic climate, terrestrial environments of West Antarctica, and the marine records of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS), the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS), as well as the marine record of the Southern Ocean. Previous and current studies focusing on modelling Middle Miocene to Pliocene climate, environments and ice sheets are discussed.