Fossil proxies of near-shore sea surface temperatures and seasonality from the late Neogene Antarctic shelf.

We evaluate the available palaeontological and geochemical proxy data from bivalves, bryozoans, silicoflagellates, diatoms and cetaceans for sea surface temperature (SST) regimes around the nearshore Antarctic coast during the late Neogene. These fossils can be found in a number of shallow marine sedimentary settings from three regions of the Antarctic continent, the northern Antarctic Peninsula, the Prydz Bay region and the western Ross Sea. Many of the proxies suggest maximum spring-summer SSTs that are warmer than present by up to 5 °C, which would result in reduced seasonal sea ice.