Palaeogene Bioistratigraphy, Heard Island

From the abstract of one of the referenced papers:Recent discoveries in the Vestfold Hills, in the Larsemann Hills and near the South Pole, of fossil vertebrates, microfossils and wood in Pliocene sediments all indicate that Antarctica was considerably warmer at various times in the Pliocene than at present. However, data are sparse, the results very tentative, and there is conflict in places between onshore and offshore evidence. Results suggest that changes towards the present glacial regime were later and more rapid than had been envisaged earlier. While the above examples provide some firm data on Pliocene palaeoenvironments, other studies, for example of diatoms from sediments near Casey Station, provide tantalising glimpses of support for the concept of warm environments.