Cenozoic evolution of earth’s strongest geoid low illuminates mantle dynamics beneath Antarctica

Constraining the long-term evolution of geoid anomalies is essential for unraveling Earth’s internal dynamics. While most studies focus on present-day geoid snapshots, we reconstruct the time-dependent evolution of Earth’s strongest geoid depression, the Antarctic Geoid Low (AGL), over the Cenozoic. Unlike geodetic reference frames that place the deepest geoid low in the Indian Ocean, a geodynamic perspective – relative to a hydrostatic ellipsoid – reveals the strongest nonhydrostatic geoid depression resides over Antarctica. Using a back-and-forth nudging technique for time-reversed mantle convection modeling, we leverage 3-D mantle density structures derived from seismic tomography and geodynamic constraints. Our results show that the AGL has persisted for at least ~70 Myr, undergoing a major transition in amplitude and position between 50 and 30 Ma. This transition coincides with an abrupt lateral shift in Earth’s rotation axis at ~50 Ma, independently validated through paleomagnetic constraints on True Polar Wander. Initially, the AGL was supported by stable lower mantle density anomalies, but over the past ~40 Myr, an increasing contribution from upper-mantle buoyancy – particularly above ~1300 km depth – amplified the AGL magnitude. This shift reflects the interplay between long-term deep subduction beneath the Northwest Antarctic margin and a broad, thermally driven upwelling of buoyant material sourced from the lowermost mantle. These results contrast with earlier interpretations by demonstrating the crucial role of time-dependent coupling between both positive and negative mantle buoyancy in shaping global geoid anomalies. By integrating seismic, geodynamic, and mineral-physics data, our reconstructions provide a dynamically consistent view of mantle flow beneath Antarctica and offer new insights into the coupling between deep and shallow mantle processes that govern Earth’s long-wavelength geoid evolution.