From Australian Oceans Data Network
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High-resolution global bathymetry grids for key Cretaceous and early Cenozoic climate stages

Created 23/06/2025

Updated 23/06/2025

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Ocean currents are strongly controlled by seafloor topography. Recent studies have shown that small-scale features with slopes steeper than 0.05° significantly affect subsurface eddy velocities and the vertical structure of ocean circulation patterns. Such slope gradients represent the majority of the present-day oceanic basins. Modeling past oceanographic conditions for key climate stages requires similarly detailed paleo seafloor topography grids, in order to capture ocean currents accurately, especially for ocean models with sufficient resolution (<0.1°) to resolve eddies. However, existing paleobathymetry reconstructions use either a forward modeling approach, resulting in global grids lacking detailed seafloor roughness, or a backward modeling technique based on sediment backstripping, capturing realistic slope gradients, but for a spatially restricted area. Both approaches produce insufficient boundary conditions for high-resolution global paleo models. Here, we compute high-resolution global paleobathymetry grids, with detailed focus on the Southern Ocean, for key Cretaceous and early Cenozoic climate stages. We backstrip sediments from the modern global bathymetry, allowing the preservation of present-day seafloor slope gradients. Sediment isopach data are compiled from existing seismo-stratigraphic interpretations along the Southern Ocean margins, and expanded globally using total sediment thickness information and constant sedimentation rates. We also consider the effect of mantle flow on long-wavelength topography. The resulting grids contain realistic seafloor slope gradients and continental slopes across the continent-ocean transition zones that are similar to present-day observations. Using these detailed paleobathymetry grids for high-resolution global paleo models will help to accurately reconstruct oceanographic conditions of key climate stages and their interaction with the evolving seafloor.

Files and APIs

Additional Info

Field Value
Title High-resolution global bathymetry grids for key Cretaceous and early Cenozoic climate stages
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/en/dataset/7752c879-2882-459d-a186-a6833f11e4eb
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
Isabel.Sauermilch@utas.edu.au
Reference Period 30/04/2020 - 31/12/2020
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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Data Portal Australian Oceans Data Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Australian Oceans Data Network "High-resolution global bathymetry grids for key Cretaceous and early Cenozoic climate stages". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/high-resolution-global-bathymetry-grids-for-key-cretaceous-and-early-cenozoic-climate-stages