The present-day morpho-stratigraphy of the Ross Sea is the result of Cenozoic tectonic and cryospheric events, and constitutes a key record of Antarctica's cryospheric evolution. An enduring problem in interpreting this record in a broader regional context is that the correlation between eastern and western Ross Sea stratigraphy has remained uncertain due to the limited number of drill sites. We correlate the glacial-related features observed on a dense network of seismic reflection profiles in McMurdo Sound with those identified in the Nordenskjöld and Drygalski Basins, as well as the basins farther east in the central Ross Sea. We present an improved correlation of the regional patterns of early to middle Miocene ice-sheet variance across the Ross Sea constrained by new evaluation of seismic facies and age models from one site recovered by the Antarctic Drilling Project (ANDRILL) in the southwestern most part of McMurdo Sound. We also integrate this correlation with the recently published seismic framework in the central Ross Sea. The formation of U-shaped valleys during the early Miocene in McMurdo Sound, together with prograding sedimentary wedges in the western-most basins, and the central Ross Sea, suggest two major phases of overall advance of a marine-terminating ice sheet between ~18 Ma and ~17.4 Ma. Widespread formation of turbiditic channel-levee systems in McMurdo Sound and rapid sediment deposition in Nordernskjöld Basin point to subsequent ice-sheet retreat between ~17.4 Ma and ~15.8 Ma, coinciding with the onset of the Miocene Climate Optimum (MCO; ~17–14.5 Ma). However, the carving of troughs and formation of irregular morphologic features suggest that an extensive ice sheet still remained along the western Ross margin at ~17.4 Ma and a brief episode of ice-sheet advance occurred at ~16.8 Ma in the earliest interval of the MCO. Subsequent marine-based ice sheet advance during the Middle Miocene Climate Transition (MMCT, ~14.0–13.8 Ma) is indicated by widespread erosional features. Our results reconcile the semi-continouous seismic and drill core stratigraphy of the offshore Ross Sea continental shelf with inferences of ice sheet dynamics from continuous far-field deep sea and sea level records, as well as the highly discontinous (and heavily debated) onshore records of pre-MMCT glaciation and aridification of the Transantarctic Mountains at 14 Ma.

现今罗斯海的形态地层学是新生代构造和冰冻圈事件的结果，是南极冰冻圈演化的重要记录。在更广泛的区域背景下解释这一记录的一个持久问题是，由于钻探地点数量有限，罗斯海东部和西部地层之间的相关性仍然不确定。我们将在 McMurdo Sound 的密集地震反射剖面网络上观察到的与冰川相关的特征与在 Nordenskjöld 和 Drygalski 盆地以及罗斯海中部更远东的盆地中发现的特征相关联。我们提出了罗斯海早期到中期中新世冰盖变化区域模式的改进相关性，该模型受到对南极钻探项目 (ANDRILL) 西南部大部分地区恢复的一个地点的地震相和年龄模型的新评估的限制。麦克默多声音。我们还将这种相关性与最近发表的罗斯海中部地震框架相结合。中新世早期在麦克默多海峡形成的 U 形山谷，连同最西部盆地和罗斯海中部的前移沉积楔，表明海洋终止冰盖在约 18 年之间整体推进的两个主要阶段马和~17.4 马。McMurdo Sound 广泛形成的浊积水道-堤坝系统和 Nordernskjöld 盆地的快速沉积物沉积表明随后的冰盖在~17.4 Ma 和~15.8 Ma 之间撤退，与中新世气候最佳期（MCO；~17-14.5嘛）。然而，槽的雕刻和不规则形态特征的形成表明，在约 17.4 Ma 时，沿西部罗斯边缘仍然存在广泛的冰盖，并且在 MCO 最早间隔的约 16.8 Ma 发生了短暂的冰盖推进。 . 广泛的侵蚀特征表明在中中新世气候过渡（MMCT，~14.0-13.8 Ma）期间随后的海洋冰盖推进。