Mixed biosiliceous-terrigenous sedimentation under the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, Scotia Sea

Sediment supply to the Scotia Sea is controlled by the east-flowing Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) with some Weddell Gyre influence in the south. Near-bottom flow is unsteady with frequent changes in flow direction and episodic benthic storms. Near the North Scotia Ridge, mounds of sediment up to 1 km thick have accumulated on lower Miocene ocean floor. The basins farther south contain up to 2 km of sediment which is flat-lying or draped rather than mounded. Sediment cores exhibit a biogenic-terrigenous cyclicity related to glacial-interglacial cycles. Grain-size data suggest that ACC flow was stronger during glacials than interglacials