The Pliocene climatic and environmental evolution of southeastern Australia: Evidence from the marine and terrestrial realm

Abstract

During the Pliocene the global climate fluctuated markedly with the expansion and contraction of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere ice sheets. The signals of this change are well preserved in the thick (up to 1 km) Seaspray Group cool-water carbonate sediments in the Gippsland region and associated thin terrestrial deposits in southeastern Australia. This study uses seismic, facies, foraminiferal proxy data and palaeobotanical data to chart the Pliocene climate and environmental change in the marine and terrestrial realms of southeastern Australia. Complex submarine canyoning occurred at the shelf/upper bathyal transition during the Pliocene in Gippsland. Low-energy pelagic marl (wackesto..