We use cookies to improve your experience, some are essential for the operation of this site.

How Antarctica Got Its Ice Sheets

How Antarctica Got Its Ice Sheets
How Antarctica Got Its Ice Sheets
How Antarctica Got Its Ice Sheets
How Antarctica Got Its Ice Sheets
Comments (0)
596924
Cook, John E.
How Antarctica Got Its Ice Sheets
Illustration
01/01/2004
Drake Passage.jpg
Date is approximate.
Caption from Oceanus magazine, Vol. 42, No. 2, Pg. 95:
In the continual movement of Earth’s tectonic plates, Antarctica was severed from the southern tip of South America about 34 million years ago, creating the Drake Passage. Antarctica became completely surrounded by ocean. The powerful Antarctic Circumpolar Current began to sweep around the continent, isolating Antarctica from the warmth of the global oceans and provoking large scale cooling.
Illustration by Jack Cook
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Labels
This item includes these files
Collections