Geology topics

Research about Antarctica

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Antarctica.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

USGS2007

Thermochronologic constraints on Jurassic rift flank denudation in the Thiel Mountains, Antarctica

The Thiel Mountains are part of the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) and occupy a strategic position close to the East-West Antarctic boundary. They occur in a region of relatively subdued topography distal from high topography and high relief of most of the TAM adjacent to the West Antarctic rift system. Low-temperature thermochronology on samples collected from the Reed Ridge granite on the north flank of the Thiel Mountains constrain the thermal and hence tectonic history. Apatite fission track data plus thermal models indicate cooling from ca. 165-150 Ma. In conjunction with 40 Ar/ 39 Ar K-feldspar data, the results indicate cooling was due to relatively slow erosional denudation, and not thermal relaxation following Jurassic tholeiitic magmatism. Denudation was most likely associated with the formation of the Jurassic rift system across Antarctica that marked the initial breakup of Gondwana. This is the oldest episode of denudation associated with formation of the present day TAM

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USGS2007

Basal Adare volcanics, Robertson Bay, North Victoria Land, Antarctica: Late Miocene intraplate basalts of subaqueous origin

Late Cenozoic lavas and associated hyaloclastite breccias of the Adare volcanics (Hallett volcanic province) in Robertson Bay, North Victoria Land rest unconformably on Paleozoic greywackes. Abundant hyaloclastite breccias are confined to a paleovalley; their primary geological features, and the stable isotope ratios of secondary minerals, are consistent with eruption in a subaqueous environment with calcite formation probably involving seawater. In contrast, the lavas which stratigraphically overlie the hyaloclastites on Mayr Spur probably were erupted subaerially. K-Ar dating of eight samples from this basal sequence confirms the known older age limit (Late Miocene) of the Hallett volcanic province. Geochemical data reveal an ocean island basalt-like affinity, similar to other Cenozoic igneous rocks of the Hallett volcanic province. If a submarine eruptive paleoenvironment is accepted then there has been net tectonic or isostatic post-Late Miocene uplift of a few hundred metres in the Robertson Bay-Adare Peninsula area

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USGS2007

Cretaceous oblique detachment tectonics in the Fosdick Mountains, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica

The Fosdick Mountains form an E-W trending migmatite dome in the northern Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Pervasively folded migmatites derived from lower Paleozoic greywacke and middle Paleozoic plutonic rocks constitute the dome. New field research documents a transition from melt-present to solid-state deformation across the south flank of the dome, and a mylonitic shear zone mapped for 30 km between Mt. Iphigene and Mt Richardson. Kinematic shear sense is dextral normal oblique, with top-to-the-SW and -WSW transport. A U-Pb age of 107 Ma, from a leucosome-filled extensional shear band, provides a meltpresent deformation age, and a U-Pb age of 96 Ma, from a crosscutting granitic dike, gives a lower age limit for deformation. The shear zone, here named the South Fosdick detachment zone, forms the south flank of the migmatite dome and was in part responsible for the exhumation of mid-crustal rocks.

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USGS2007

Geophysical survey reveals tectonic structures in the Amundsen Sea embayment, West Antarctica

The Amundsen Sea embayment of West Antarctica is in a prominent location for a series of tectonic and magmatic events from Paleozoic to Cenozoic times. Seismic, magnetic and gravity data from the embayment and Pine Island Bay (PIB) reveal the crustal thickness and some tectonic features. The Moho is 24-22 km deep on the shelf. NE-SW trending magnetic and gravity anomalies and the thin crust indicate a former rift zone that was active during or in the run-up to breakup between Chatham Rise and West Antarctica before or at 90 Ma. NW-SE trending gravity and magnetic anomalies, following a prolongation of Peacock Sound, indicate the extensional southern boundary to the Bellingshausen Plate which was active between 79 and 61 Ma.

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USGS2007

Geology of the Terre Adélie Craton (135 – 146˚ E)

More than 15 years of field and laboratory investigations on samples from Terre Adélie to the western part of George V th Land (135 to 146°E) during the GEOLETA program allow a reassessment of the Terre Adélie Craton (TAC) geology. The TAC represents the largest exposed fragment of the East Antarctic Shield preserved from both Grenville and Ross tectono-metamorphic events. Therefore it corresponds to a well-preserved continental segment that developed from the Neoarchean to the Paleoproterozoic. Together with the Gawler Craton in South Australia, the TAC is considered as part of the Mawson continent, i.e. a striking piece of the Rodinia Supercontinent. However, this craton represents one of the less studied parts of the East Antarctic Shield. The three maps presented here clearly point out the extent of two distinct domains within the Terre Adélie Craton and suggest that the TAC was built up through a polyphased evolution during the Neoarchean-Siderian (c.a. 2.5Ga) and the Statherian (c.a. 1.7Ga) periods. These data support a complete re-assessment of the TAC geology and represent a valuable base for the understanding of global geodynamics changes during Paleoproterozoic times.

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USGS2007

Tectonic history of mid-Miocene to present southern Victoria Land Basin, inferred from seismic stratigraphy in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

New and existing seismic reflection data in southern McMurdo Sound have been used to investigate Neogene tectonic history of the Terror Rift adjacent to the Transantarctic Mountains and along the western margin of the West Antarctic Rift System. Seismic data image a young rifting episode that is largely unsampled by CRP and CIROS drill holes. Data reveal up to 3.5 km of post middle Miocene strata deposited in this part of the NNW- SSE trending Terror Rift basin. Mapped fault trends in the southern Terror Rift parallel the axis of the basin and are prominent in a 40 km wide zone north of Ross Island. Displacement on individual faults in this zone can exceed 100 m and faults collectively accommodate approximately 10-15 km of middle Miocene to recent extension.

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USGS2007

New magnetic anomaly map of East Antarctica and surrounding regions

More than 500,000 line-km of new airborne and shipborne data, recently acquired by the international community over East Antarctica and surrounding regions, significantly upgrade the Antarctic Digital Magnetic Anomaly Project (ADMAP) compilation and lead to substantial improvements in magnetic anomaly pattern recognition. New data have been matched in one inverse operation by minimizing the data differences for the areas of overlap. The aeromagnetic data show many previously unknown magnetic patterns, lineaments and trends, defining the spatial extent of Ferrar volcanics and plutonic Granite Harbour Intrusives in the Transantarctic Mountains and previously unknown tectonic trends of the East Antarctic craton. Regional aeromagnetic investigations have successfully delineated Early Paleozoic inherited crustal features along the flanks of the West Antarctic Rift System and the southern boundary of the Archean Ruker Terrane in the Prince Charles Mountains. Magnetic records along the East Antarctic continental margin provide new constraints on the breakup of Gondwana.

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USGS2007

Jurassic silicic volcanism in the Transantarctic Mountains: Was it related to plate margin processes or to Ferrar magmatism?

Silicic volcanism in the Transantarctic Mountains, represented by rhyolitic tuff that mainly precedes emplacement of the Ferrar Large Igneous Province, is important in interpretation of the tectonic evolution of the Antarctic sector of Gondwana. Sr and Nd isotope data indicate that the tuffs are not directly related to Ferrar magmatism nor to melting of the underlying Ross orogen crust yet zircon gives a U-Pb age of 182.7±1.8 Ma, similar to the U/Pb age for the Ferrar. Distribution of the silicic tuffs along 1400 km of the Transantarctic Mountains suggests, alternatively, a relationship to the Gondwana plate margin. Although West Antarctica comprises Mesoproterozoic crustal terrains, few analyzed rocks are compatible isotopically with the Lower Jurassic tuffs. The source of the tuffs must lie in unexposed Early Jurassic magmatic centers in West Antarctica or an unexposed crustal terrain beneath the Transantarctic Mountains.

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USGS2007

Break-up of Gondwana and opening of the South Atlantic: Review of existing plate tectonic models

The opening history of both the Weddell Sea and South Atlantic Ocean is critical to understanding the break- up of Gondwana and the evolution of Antarctica since Early Jurassic times. The dispersal of the Gondwanide fragments is important to understanding the development of past ocean circulation. Unfortunately the tectonics of the Weddell Sea region is difficult to resolve because of the paucity of data coverage and the region’s inherent complexity. Although considerable progress has been achieved in the past 20 years with new marine aeromagnetic data and satellite derived gravity anomaly maps, there are still several models in consideration which differ in crustal ages and schemes of opening. In this paper we present a review of four of those models. Focusing on poles of rotation, synthetic isochrons and flowlines, we proceed backward in time beginning at Chron 34 (83.5 Ma), as it is relatively well defined ocean wide, and present crustal age maps that display the estimated trace of the South America-Antarctica-Africa triple junction for each model. We also plot reconstructions at four selected epochs for all models using the same projection and scale to facilitate comparison. The diverse simplifying assumptions that need to be made in every case regarding plate fragmentation to account for the numerous syn-rift basins and periods of stretching are strong indicators that rigid plate tectonics is too simple a model for the present problem.

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USGS2007

Airborne geophysics as a tool for geoscientific research in Antarctica: some recent examples

The polar regions play an important role in Earth's geodynamic and climatic systems. Modern airborne geophysical surveys combine radio-echo sounding, aeromagnetic and aerogravity methods to explore the geology of these regions. This paper reviews some recent aerogeophysical investigations undertaken by the British Antarctic Survey to: 1) Image subglacial rifts of Jurassic age in western Dronning Maud Land, which were associated with early Gondwana break-up; 2) Investigate crustal growth over the Antarctic Peninsula by Cretaceous arc magmatism and terrane accretion along the paleo-Pacific margin of Gondwana; 3) Analyse geological boundary conditions for presentday ice dynamics over Coats Land.

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USGS2007

Geometrical analysis of structural data collected at high South latitude: A modular arithmetic method that addresses meridional convergence

The convergence of meridians toward the South Pole causes unique problems for geometrical comparison of structural geological and geophysical datasets from Antarctica. The true North reference direction ordinarily is used for measuring and reporting vector data (strike, trend) in Antarctica, as elsewhere. However, over a latitude distance of just 100 km at 85° South, the angular difference in the true North direction exceeds 10°. Consequently, when performing a regional tectonic analysis of vector data (strike, trend) for structures such as faults, dike arrays, or geophysical lineaments oriented with respect to North at different sites, it is necessary to rotate the data to a common reference direction. A modular arithmetic function, performed as a spreadsheet calculation, offers the means to unify data sets from sites having different longitude position, by rotation to a common reference direction. The function is S C ≡ S M + ∆L (mod 360), where SC = converted strike; SM = measured strike; ∆L = angle in degrees longitude between reference longitude and study site; and 360, the divisor, is the number of degrees in Earth’s circumference. The method is used to evaluate 1) paleomagnetic rotation of the Ellsworth-Whitmore Mountains with respect to the Transantarctic Mountains, and 2) orogenic curvature of the Ross Orogen

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USGS2007

The contribution of geomagnetic observatories and magnetic models to the study of secular variation and jerks in Antarctica

Some of the most interesting features of the geomagnetic field and its time variations are displayed in polar areas. Observatory monthly means usually provide an excellent opportunity to study the temporal changes of the magnetic field at a given location. Unfortunately, on the Antarctic continent the distribution of the permanent ground- based observatories does not permit a uniform coverage of the examined area. Furthermore, the magnetic records are characterized by intense external disturbances and noise that make the analysis of the magnetic field difficult. To improve our knowledge of the secular variation and detect the presence of secular variation impulses (geomagnetic jerks) in Antarctica, we use both observatory data and the CM4 quiet time magnetic field model. In particular CM4 improves our knowledge of geomagnetic jerks over Antarctica through the study of the sign changes of the secular acceleration maps.

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USGS2007

Elongate summit calderas as Neogene paleostress indicators in Antarctica

The orientations and ages of elongate summit calderas on major polygenetic volcanoes were compiled to document Miocene to Pleistocene Sh (minimum horizontal stress) directions on the western and northern flanks of the West Antarctic rift system. Miocene to Pleistocene summit calderas along the western Ross Sea show relatively consistent ENE long axis trends, which are at a high angle to the Transantarctic Mountain Front and parallel to the N77ºE Sh direction at Cape Roberts. The elongation directions of many Miocene to Pleistocene summit calderas in Marie Byrd Land parallel the alignment of polygenetic volcanoes in which they occur, except several Pleistocene calderas with consistent NNE to NE trends. The overall pattern of elongate calderas in Marie Byrd Land is probably due to a combination of structurally controlled orientations and regional stress fields in which Sh is oriented NNE to NE at a moderate to high angle to the trace of the West Antarctic rift system.

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USGS2007

Vertical motions in Northern Victoria Land inferred from GPS: A comparison with a glacial isostatic adjustment model

Following the densification of GPS permanent and episodic trackers in Antarctica, geodetic observations are playing an increasing role in geodynamics research and the study of the glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). The improvement in geodetic measurements accuracy suggests their use in constraining GIA models. It is essential to have a deeper knowledge on the sensitivity of GPS data to motionsrelated to long-term ice mass changes and the present-day mass imbalance of the ice sheets. In order to investigate the geodynamic phenomena in Northern Victoria Land (NVL), GPS geodetic observations were made during the last decade within the VLNDEF (Victoria Land Network for Deformation control) project. The processed data provided a picture of the motions occurring in NVL with a high level of accuracy and depicts, for the whole period, a well defined pattern of vertical motion. The comparison between GPS-derived vertical displacementsand GIA is addressed, showing a good degree of agreement and highlighting the future use of geodetic GPS measurements as constraints in GIA models. In spite of this agreement, the sensitivity of GPS vertical rates to non-GIA vertical motions has to be carefully evaluated.

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USGS2007

Miocene-Pliocene ice-volcano interactions at monogenetic volcanoes near Hobbs Coast, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica

Paleoenvironmental reconstructions and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology of seven eroded monogenetic volcanoes near the Hobbs Coast, Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica provide proxy records of WAIS paleo-ice-levels in Miocene-Pliocene times. Interpretations, based on lithofacies analysis, indicate whether the volcanoes erupted below, near, or above the level of the ice sheet. Our interpretations differ significantly from previous interpretations as they highlight the abundant evidence for ice-volcano interactions at emergent paleoenvironments but limited evidence of higher-than-present syn-eruptive ice-levels. Evidence for subglacial volcanic paleoenvironments is limited to Kennel Peak, a ~8 Ma volcano where a pillow lava sequence extending 25 m above current ice level overlies an inferred glacial till and unconformity. A major complication in the Hobbs Coast region is that the volcanism occurred on interfluves between regions of fast-flowing ice. Such a setting precludes establishing precise regional paleo-ice-levels although the presence or absence of ice at times of eruptions can be inferred.

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USGS2007

Aeromagnetic search for Cenozoic magmatism over the Admiralty Mountains Block (East Antarctica)

Cenozoic magmatic rocks of the Transantarctic Mountains provide an important window on the tectonic and magmatic processes of the West Antarctic Rift System. Previous aeromagnetic investigations in northern Victoria Land have delineated Cenozoic volcanic and intrusive complexes assigned to the McMurdo Volcanic Group and Meander Intrusives over the Transantarctic Mountains. We present a new aeromagnetic anomaly map for the region north of the Mariner Glacier to study the extent and spatial distribution of these Cenozoic rocks over the previously unexplored Admiralty Mountains. The new map shows that the Meander Intrusives are restricted to the coastal region between the Malta Plateau and the Daniell Peninsula. However, the McMurdo Volcanic Group rocks extend further inland, and may delineate a hitherto unrecognised volcano-tectonic rift zone, extending as far north as the Trafalgar Glacier.

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USGS2007

Organic carbon stocks in permafrost-affected soils from Admiralty Bay, Antarctica

Recent works show that organic matter accumulation in some soils from coastal Antarctica is higher than previously expected. The objective of the present work was to estimate the organic C stocks for soils from maritime Antarctica. Cryosols from subpolar desert landscapes presented the lowest organic C stocks. Ornithogenic soils are the most important C reservoirs in terrestrial ecosystems in this part of Antarctica. Although these soils correspond to only 2.5 % of the ice-free areas at Admiralty Bay, they contain approximately 20 % of the estimated C stock. Most of the organic C in the studied soils is stored in the active layer but in some cases the C is also stored in the permafrost.

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USGS2007

Observations of chlorine monoxide over Scott Base, Antarctica, during the ozone hole, 1996-2005

We report observations of chlorine monoxide, ClO, in the lower stratosphere, made from Scott Base (77.85º S, 166.77º E) in springtime during each year, 1996-2005. The ClO amounts in the atmosphere are retrieved from remote measurements of microwave emission spectra. ClO column densities of up to about 2.5 × 1015 cm-2 are recorded during September, when chlorine is present in chemically active forms due to reactions on the surface of Polar Stratospheric Cloud (PSC) particles. Maximum mixing ratios of ClO are approximately 2 ppbv. The annual average of ClO column density during the activation period is anticorrelated with similar averages of ozone column measured at nearby Arrival Heights, with correlation coefficient of –0.81, and with averages of ozone mass integrated over the entire polar region, with similar correlation coefficients. There was a substantial decrease in ClO amounts during 2002-2004. There has been no systematic change in the timing of chlorine deactivation attributable to secular change in the Antarctic vortex

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