Constraining the palaeodepth evolution of the South Tasman Rise and determining its role in development of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC)

This project aims to determine the palaeodepth evolution of the South Tasman Rise, a tectonically-thinned and submerged continental block formerly part of the Tasmanian Land Bridge which connected Australia and Antarctica until the Eocene. This will provide important constraints on the opening of the Tasmanian oceanic gateway to deep water circulation, hypothesised to be a primary control on the Eocene-Oligocene climate transition, arguably the most profound climatic re-organisation of the Cenozoic. A multiproxy sediment geochemistry approach developed and validated by the authors during recent work on the East Tasman Plateau will be employed to 1) determine the palaeodepth evolution of the South Tasman Rise during the Eocene and 2) to identify the timing of initial submergence of the continental blocks in this critical region of Eocene-Oligocene tectonics.