Measurements of sediment core MD00-2361, ODP Hole 122-762B as well as land-based samples

New proxy records from deep‐sea sediment cores from the northwestern continental margin of Western Australian reveal a 5.3 million‐year (Ma) history of aridity and tropical‐monsoon activity in northwestern Australia. Following the warm and dry early Pliocene (~5.3 Ma), the northwestern Australian continent experienced a gradual increase in humidity peaking at about 3.8 Ma with higher than present‐day rainfall. Between 3.8 and about 2.8 Ma, climate became progressively more arid with more rainfall variability. Coinciding with the onset of the northern hemisphere glaciations and the intensificat... Mehr ...