Fig. 3: Palaeobathymetry and inferred palaeocirculation.
a Depth of seismic horizon ASS-u2 (in ms TWT below seafloor) and thickness of the imaged sediment drift lying on top of horizon ASS-u2 (in ms TWT). Dashed blue line shows inferred outline of the interpreted sediment drift. The red arrow shows the schematic deep water pathway inferred for the latest Eocene to earliest Oligocene. Thin blue lines show the location of seismic reflection profiles (for location of seismic lines shown in Figs. 2 and 5 see Fig. 1). Grey isolines and shaded area show the present day bathymetry with depths (m) labelled78. Magenta diamonds mark locations of Sites PS104_21-3, where Early Oligocene sediments were retrieved38,72, and PS104_20-2, where Late Cretaceous to Late Eocene (or younger) deposits were retrieved36. BI = Burke Island. b Minimum palaeotopography/palaeobathymetry for the ASE22,41,82. The box shows the area enlarged in (a). Magenta diamonds show the locations of Sites PS104_21-3 and PS104_20-2 in accordance with the palaeotopographic/palaeobathymetric reconstruction by Paxman, et al.22 and Hochmuth, et al.41. Arrows/lines schematically show the inferred pathways/location of deep water DW (red), potential slope front SF (dashed light blue), and the southern boundary of the proto-ACC (dashed yellow).
