OBJECTIVES:

• What can we learn from new and emerging records of past AIS, Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and Southern Hemisphere Westerly Winds dynamics?
• What is the role of changing winds, sea ice as well as surface, intermediate and deep-water circulation of the ACC on the past growth and decay of the AIS?
• How do recent findings for the geologic past relate to future development of global mean sea level, AIS mass loss and global thermohaline circulation? How can we make use of these findings in numerical modeling?
• How do we integrate these findings with records from the Antarctic continent (e.g., shallow-marine cores, ice cores, glacial erratics) and the Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes (Australia, New Zealand, Patagonia)?