The Initial Opening of the Drake Passage Occurred During ca. 62‐59 Ma
Abstract Although the Drake Passage has been considered a critical component of ocean circulation and climate, its initial opening age remains controversial due to the weak constraints on the paleoposition of the Antarctic Peninsula. Here, new zircon U‐Pb geochronological studies are conducted on the Barchans Islands, providing a critical age constraint on the paleopole (Latitude = 76.9°S, Longitude = 332.1°E, A 95 = 5.9°) of the peninsula at ca. 59 Ma. Geochronological and paleomagnetic studies on Anagram Island and King George Island provide a new paleopole (Latitude = 77.4°S, Longitude = 23.5°E, A 95 = 4.4°) of the Antarctic Peninsula at ca. 55 Ma. When combined with existing evidence, the initial separation between the Antarctic Peninsula and the Patagonian Andes is restricted to be between ca. 62 and 59 Ma, caused by the clockwise rotation of the Antarctic Peninsula. The separation induced the initial opening of the Drake Passage and the formation of the shallow proto‐Antarctic circumpolar current, as well as Paleocene global cooling.
Authors
- Tian Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1796-0107)
- Xiaoqian Guo
- Meinan Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4162-2389)
- Zhiliang He
- Ruoshuang Li
- Yabo Tong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4220-3423)
- Zhenyu Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1388-2519)
- Junling Pei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4046-3432)
- Javier N. Gelfo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9989-5902)
- Zhen Sun
- Xinwei Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1365-5738)
- Yunying Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7856-8129)
- Sha Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1268-5364)
- Liang Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3741-9377)
- Yue Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4647-4610)
- Fang Gu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8181-2822)
- Xuelian You
Institutions
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Ministry of Natural Resources (CN)
- China Geological Survey (CN)
- China University of Geosciences (CN)
- China University of Geosciences (Beijing) (CN)
- Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey (CN)
- Institute of Oceanology (CN)
- South China Sea Institute Of Oceanology (CN)
- Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology (CN)
- East China University of Technology (CN)
- Universidad Nacional de La Plata (AR)
- Capital Normal University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2025-04-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gl111455
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Geological and Geochemical Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.73
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration
- Universidad de Magallanes
- Institut chilien de l'Antarctique
- Polar Research Institute of China