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USGS · ofr20071047SRP074

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

T.I. Wilch·W. C. McIntosh
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Abstract

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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T.I. Wilch, W. C. McIntosh. 2007. Miocene-Pliocene ice-volcano interactions at monogenetic volcanoes near Hobbs Coast, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20071047srp074

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