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Despite the crucial role of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) westerlies in modulating modern and past climate evolution, little is known about their behavior and possible forcing mechanisms during the early Cenozoic. We probe changes in the hydroclimate of southwest Australia during 62–51 Ma, based on sedimentary proxy records from the International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1514 in the Mentelle Basin. Our results reveal a transition from a less humid climate to wetter conditions at mid–high latitudes starting from the early Eocene, which suggests poleward migration of the SH westerlies. This long‐term trend is punctuated by short‐lived events of aridification during the Mid‐Paleocene Biotic Event and wetter intervals during the Paleocene‐Eocene Thermal Maximum, indicating additional short‐term meridional shifting of the westerlies. We propose that the evolution of SH westerlies was driven by the equator‐to‐pole temperature gradient regulated by global warming and ephemeral growth of the Antarctic ice sheet. Plain Language Summary: The Southern Hemisphere (SH) westerlies, which are the dominant atmospheric circulation patterns in the middle latitudes, play a key role in regulating global and regional climate. Currently, the knowledge of past changes in SH westerlies relies mainly on the late Quaternary. Its dynamics over longer timescales, especially under early Cenozoic greenhouse climate states, remain poorly understood. The Mentelle Basin off southwest Australia was located at a more southerly location than at the present day, and was potentially under the influence of SH westerlies. To examine the long‐term hydroclimate changes in southwest Australia during the mid‐late Paleocene to the early Eocene (62–51 Ma), we measured neodymium and hafnium isotopic compositions of fine‐grained detrital sediments from a borehole (IODP Site U1514) drilled in the Mentelle Basin, in addition to clay mineralogy, and elemental abundances. Our results suggest a gradual wetting of southwest Australia since the early Eocene, which we relate to the poleward migration of SH westerlies in response to a reduced latitudinal temperature gradient. An abrupt northward shift of SH westerlies was observed during the short‐lived Middle Paleocene Biotic Event (∼59 Ma), possibly driven by ephemeral growth of the Antarctica ice sheet. Key Points: We reconstruct the hydroclimate evolution of southwest Australia during 62–51 MaThe Southern Hemisphere (SH) westerlies remained relatively stable during the mid‐late Paleocene and shifted poleward since the early EoceneProcesses related to variations of pole‐equator temperature gradients drove meridional migration of the SH westerlies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the seasonal melting and expansion of the Antarctic ice sheet affect the location and intensification of the westerlies, as well as the precipitation and continental weathering and erosion in southwest Australia. The Miocene was an important period when the Earth's climate state transitioned from a warmhouse to an icehouse and the East Antarctic Ice Sheet underwent large-scale melting and expansion. At that time, Australia was closer to the Antarctic region than it is now. This makes Australia an ideal target area for studying the coupling relationship among the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and cryosphere. Based on the comprehensive analysis of the siliciclastic mass accumulation rate, grain size, clay minerals, and elemental composition of the sediments at Site U1516 of the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 369, we reconstructed the Miocene climate evolution and the continental weathering and erosion history of southwest Australia on a tectonic time scale. Our indicators show that the climate was dry and that continental weathering and erosion were weak, with a small amount of terrestrial material transported to the ocean during the Early to Middle Miocene (22–12.7 Ma). However, as mentioned in previous studies of nearby sites, precipitation and river runoff increased prominently with enhanced continental weathering at 12.7–8 Ma, which was related to the northward migration or intensification of the westerlies, possibly due to increased sea ice in the Southern Ocean. In addition, we found that the evolution of the South Asian monsoon and the westerly belt were synchronized in the Miocene, which indicates that the South Asian monsoon system at that time may also have been affected by the high-latitude signals of the Southern Hemisphere. We speculate that the significant decrease in deep-sea temperature and the expansion of the surface sea temperature gradient in latitude and longitude until the permanent East Antarctic Ice Sheet formed (∼12.8 Ma) played an important role in the transmission of Antarctic signals to low latitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]