A model of oceanic development by ridge jumping: Opening of the Scotia Sea

The development of shallow gateways allowed for an initial connection between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and, hence, initiated the thermal isolation of Antarctica during the middle and late Eocene. Deep gateways that enhanced the full isolation of Antarctica developed in Drake Passage from the Eocene/Oligocene transition onward. A significant correlation is observed between the tectonics, stratigraphic units and major climate events, thereby indicating the influence of the local tectonic and paleoceanographic events of the Southern Ocean on global evolution.