This study will demonstrate the usefulness of strontium, carbon, and oxygen isotopic ratios of biogenic carbonate for dating sediments from glaciomarine environments and interpreting paleoclimatic conditions in Antarctic continental shelves. The award will support an isotopic (strontium, oxygen and carbon) study of foraminifera and bivalves from sediments of Oligocene to Recent age recovered from several drillholes and outcrops on Antarctica. Age estimates based on Sr isotope analyses will provide useful information about sedimentary and glacial processes in Antarctica, as well as permit correlation of glaciomarine sequences and assist in their correlation to lower latitude sedimentary successions. It is the goal of this study to provide direct information about the Cenozoic climate of Antarctic marginal seas, which is presently lacking. Paleoceanography will be inferred from oxygen and carbon isotope ratios. Isotopic data from Antarctic bivalves and foraminifera will be compared with published records for Cenozoic surface and deep waters at low and high latitudes. This will clarify the sources of bottom water formation in the world in the world ocean and the relation between high and low latitude climates.
