Phytoliths at DSDP Site 591 in the southwest Pacific and the aridification of Australia

Phytoliths found in deep-sea sediments at DSDP Site 591 in the southwest Pacific reflect the onset and progress of aridification on the Australian continent from the middle Miocene to early Pleistocene (14.4.-1.0 Ma BP), including a maximum of aridity in the late Pliocene. The process can be attributed to the northward drift of the Australian Plate, the growth of Southern and Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, and related developments in the global wind system