Antarctic Glacial History from Analyses of Ice-Rafted Deposits in Marine Sediments: New Model and Initial Tests

Contrasts between the latitudinal distributions of ice-rafted debris deposited in deep-sea sediments during Pleistocene glacial and interglacial periods are predicted by a new model. The model requires the existence of a restricted zone where rates of deposition of ice-rafted debris are essentially independent of glacial-interglacial cycles. Initial tests and published results show that the concept is valid in the Southern Ocean and that it provides a new means of diagnosing major migrations of climatic zones.