Abstract
This topic is discussed in Section 2.3.2. About 55 million years ago, Australia began to drift northward away from Antarctica. By 34 million years ago, a circumpolar ocean current developed around Antarctica which thermally isolated it, allowing glaciation to proceed. In addition, there may have been a reduction in atmospheric CO2. Mountain building may have hastened glaciation. Since about 34 million years ago, the temperature of the Earth has been on a generally downward path, permeated by significant oscillations.
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© 2009 Praxis Publishing Ltd, Chichester, UK
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(2009). Summary of climate variations. In: Ice Ages and Interglacials. Springer Praxis Books. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89680-7_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89680-7_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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