Paleobathymetry and sediment thickness of the Southern Ocean since 34 Ma

Paleobathymetric models and sediment thickness estimations give insight into the development of the Antarctic Ice Sheets, Southern Ocean current systems and opening of the Southern Ocean Gateways since the Eocene/Oligocene Boundary. A more sophisticated assessment of the paleobathymetry and the sediment deposition in the Southern Ocean are essential for robust reconstructions of paleoclimate and paleooceanographic scenarios. For this reconstruction, we used all available reflection seismic data (refer to Hochmuth et al. (2020) Fig. 1 for data coverage) and borehole information within the Southern Ocean. Paleobathymetric grids are calculated using the backstripping method as implemented in the BalPal code (Wold et al. 1992). Plate tectonic reconstruction follows Müller et al. (2018). The following paleobathymetric reconstruction time slices are available: Eocene/Oligocene Boundary (34 Ma), early Oligocene (27 Ma), Oligocene/Miocene Transition (24 Ma), early Miocene (21 Ma), middle Miocene (14 Ma), late Miocene (10.5 Ma), early Pliocene (5 Ma), Pliocene/Pleistocene Boundary (2.6 Ma) and middle Pleistocene (0.65 Ma). The sediment thickness maps presented here include pre- and post-34 Ma sediment deposition as well as the specific time intervals of the early Oligocene (34 Ma – 27 Ma), late Oligocene to early Miocene (27 Ma – 24 Ma), early Miocene (24 Ma – 21 Ma), early to middle Miocene (21 Ma – 14 Ma), middle to late Miocene (14 Ma – 10.5 Ma), late Miocene (10.5 Ma – 5 Ma), Pliocene (5 Ma – 2.65 Ma) and Pleistocene (2.6 Ma to recent).