Sites 1096 and 1101 are located on the continental rise of the northwest Pacific margin of the Antarctic Peninsula at 67°34.0´S, 76°57.8´W (3152 m water depth), and 64°22.3´S, 70°15.7´W (3279 m water depth), respectively (Fig. F1). Both are situated on hemipelagic sediment drifts, providing extended sections with increased possibility for biostratigraphic resolution. Three holes were drilled at Site 1096, with a total depth of 607.7 meters below seafloor (mbsf) cored. The age of this site extended from the Holocene to the early Pliocene. At Site 1101, a single hole was cored to 217.7 mbsf with 99.1% recovery. The age at the bottom of the hole was late Pliocene, slightly younger than Site 1096, extending up to the Holocene at the top. These continental rise sites were the only ones that contained a calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy, in addition to those produced by other fossil groups. Both sites had well-defined paleomagnetic ages, giving good age control to the observed biostratigraphic events.
Calcareous nannofossils from the Antarctic Pliocene-Pleistocene have been previously reported from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Legs 113, 114, and 120 (Barker, Kennett, et al., 1988; Barron, Larson, et al., 1989; Barron et al., 1991; Wei and Wise, 1990, 1992a, 1992b). Burckle and Pokras (1991) observed Holocene nannofossils from near the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula. Villa and Wise (1998) noted Thoracosphaera spp. from the Cape Roberts Project hole CRP-1. They also report calcareous nannofossils from various other sites around Antarctica. These will be discussed in greater detail in "General Discussion."