Changing currents and climate in the Amundsen Sea

Little has been published on the oceanographic and climatic development of the Amundsen Sea during the Tertiary. The study of seismic reflection data has revealed that, in general, the continental margin is characterised by channel-levee complexes indicating episodic material input from the continent probably in close interconnection with the waxing and waning of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Still, several areas can be identified where the interplay of bottom currents with the turbiditic activity has led to the formation of so called levee-drift systems. A detailed analysis of those levee-drifts would lead to a better understanding of the oceanographic and climatic development in this region provided a better age-depth model existed.