Geology of Antarctica
The geology of Antarctica covers the
The geological study of Antarctica has been greatly hindered by the fact that nearly all of the continent is continuously covered with a thick layer of ice. However, techniques such as remote sensing have begun to reveal the structures beneath the ice.
Geologically, West Antarctica closely resembles the
The West Antarctic Rift System, a major active rift valley, lies between West and East Antarctica. Its major phase of rapid, broad extension occurred in Cretaceous time, and involved the action of both normal and strike slip faults within West Antarctica and contiguous Zealandia.[2] The rift is still active with slow movement of West Antarctica away from East Antarctica.[3]
East Antarctica is geologically very old, dating from the
More than 170 million years ago, Antarctica was part of the supercontinent Gondwana. Over time Gondwana broke apart and Antarctica as we know it today was formed around 35 million years ago.
History of study
The frozen continent of Antarctica was the last continent humanity set foot on. The first documented landings made below the Antarctic Circle took place in 1820, when Admiral Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and the crew of the Vostok and Mirny, as part of the Russian Antarctic Expedition, made land at Peter I Island and Alexander Island.[4]
Various explorers launched expeditions into the south polar region to assess its economic potential. Consequently, scientific research was a rather marginalized endeavour. The first person to report a fossil in the Antarctic was American naturalist James Eights in 1829, who landed probably on King George Island and found a fossilized log measuring 2.5 ft (0.76 m) in length and 4 in (100 mm) in diameter. Eights left the fossil where he found it, rather than collecting and formally describing it.[5] The Ross expedition led by Captain James Clark Ross, from 1839 to 1842, discovered several Antarctic islands which are now known to be incredibly rich in fossils, most notably Seymour Island and Cockburn Island. Though he or his crew may have stumbled upon fossil material, they did not make note of it.[6]
Much later, Captain
Though paleontological work continued thereafter, the scientific exploration of Antarctica would come to the forefront only after the Antarctic Treaty System was put into effect after 1961, establishing the continent as a nature preserve for solely scientific endeavours, barring all onland commercial activity. Antarctica's paleontology and geology have expanded since then, but studying them is fraught with danger from extreme weather, deep crevasses, and avalanches.[9]
Archean
The
Proterozoic
The
The
Deposition during the
Paleozoic
A
During the
During the
Mesozoic
Pangea began to break up during the Triassic, while Gondwana moved northward taking Antarctica way from the South pole region. Subduction continued along the Pacific margin, and Triassic strata was deposited along the Transantarctic Mountains and the Antarctic Peninsula, including the Trinity Peninsula Group, the Legoupil Formation, and continued deposition of the Victoria Group within the Beacon Supergroup.[11]: 48–51
Gondwana rifting in the
Cenozoic
Antarctica was separated from South America at the
See also
- Antarctic Plate
- Beacon Supergroup
- Beardmore orogeny
- Climate of Antarctica
- Dufek Intrusion
- East Antarctic Shield
- Erebus hotspot
- Geography of Antarctica
- Geology of Enderby Land
- Geology of the Antarctic Peninsula
- Gondwanide orogeny
- List of volcanoes in Antarctica
- Ross orogeny
- SWEAT (hypothesis)
- Tectonic evolution of the Transantarctic Mountains
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-471-98665-2.
- ^ Siddoway, 2008
- ^ Granot, 2013
- ^ Stilwell & Long 2012, p. 18.
- ^ Stilwell & Long 2012, p. 25.
- ^ Stilwell & Long 2012, pp. 20–21.
- ^ Stilwell & Long 2012, pp. 26–28.
- S2CID 130334778.
- ^ Stilwell & Long 2012, p. 12.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-37266-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-13168-1.
- ^ Fitzsimmons, 2003
- ISBN 978-0-521-37266-4.
- ISBN 978-0-521-37266-4.
- ISBN 978-0-521-37266-4.
- ISBN 978-0-521-37266-4.
- ISBN 978-0-521-37266-4.
- ISBN 978-0-521-37266-4.
- ISBN 978-0-521-37266-4.
- ISBN 978-0-521-37266-4.
- ISBN 978-0-521-37266-4.
- ISBN 978-0-521-37266-4.
Works cited
- Fitzsimmons, I.C.W (2003). "Proterozoic Basement Provinces of Southern and Southwestern Australia, and Their Correlation with Antarctica". In Masaru Yoshida, M.; B. F. Windley; S. Dasgupta (eds.). Proterozoic East Gondwana: Supercontinent Assembly and Breakup. Geological Society of London. pp. 93–130.
- Siddoway, Christine (2008). "Tectonics of the West Antarctic rift system: New light on the history and dynamics of distributed intracontinental extension". In Cooper, A.K.; Barrett, P.J.; Stagg, H.; Storey, B.; Stump, E.; Wise, W.; et al. (eds.). Antarctica: A Keystone in a Changing World, Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences. Washington DC: National Academy of Sciences. pp. 91–114.
- Granot, R. (2013). "Revised Eocene-Oligocene kinematics for the West Antarctic rift system". Geophysical Research Letters. 40 (2). American Geophysical Uniot: 279–284. S2CID 39685708.
- Stilwell, J.; Long, J. A. (2012). Frozen in Time: Prehistoric Life in Antarctica. CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 978-0-643-09635-6.
Further reading
- Elliot, David H (1975). "Tectonics of Antarctica: A Review" (PDF). American Journal of Science. 275-A: 45–106. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
- Jacobs, Joachim; Bauer, Wilfried; Schmidt, Rainer (2004). "Magnetic Susceptibilities of the different Tectono-Stratigraphic Terranes of Heimefrontfjella, Western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica" (PDF). Polarforschung. 72: 41–48. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
- Laird, M.G.; Mansergh, G.D.; Chappell, J.M.A. (1971). "Geology of the Central Nimrod Glacier area, Antarctica". . Retrieved 2018-05-22.
- Myrow, Paul M.; Pope, Michael C.; Goodge, John W.; Fischer, Woodward; Palmer, Alison R. (2002). "Depositional history of pre-Devonian strata and timing of Ross orogenic tectonism in the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica" (PDF). S2CID 17130391. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
- Palmer, A.R.; Rowell, A.J. (1995). "Early Cambrian trilobites from the Shackleton Limestone of the Central Mountains". Journal of Paleontology Memoir. 69: 1–28. S2CID 182206675. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
- Skovsted, Christian B.; Betts, Marissa J.; Topper, Timothy P.; Brock, Glenn A. (2015). "The early Cambrian tommotiid genus Dailyatia from South Australia". AAP Memoir. 48: 1–117. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
- Stump, Edmund; Gootee, Brian; Talarico, Franco (2006). Tectonic Model for Development of the Byrd Glacier Discontinuity and Surrounding Regions of the Transantarctic Mountains during the Neoproterozoic – Early Paleozoic (PDF). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York. pp. 45–54. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
External links
Maps
- Geological map of Antarctica – by Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research GeoMAP Action Group
- Geological map 1:25,000 - Heimefrontfjella / Dronning Maud Land Antarctica - Hanssonhorna (2008) - by Bauer, W; Jacobs, J.; Schmidt, R., RWTH Aachen University
- Geological map 1:25,000 - Heimefrontfjella / Dronning Maud Land Antarctica - Northern XU-Fjella (2008) - by Schmidt, R; Jacobs, J.; Bauer, W., Universität Bremen
- Geological map 1:50,000 - Ford Ranges, western Marie Byrd Land (2016) - by Siddoway, C., scar.org