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Citation
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HERO ID
1287487
Reference Type
Journal Article
Title
Glaciation and deglaciation of the uplifted margins of the Cenozoic West Antarctic rift system, Ross Sea, Antarctica
Author(s)
van Der Wateren, FM; Verbers, ALLM; Luyendyk, BP; Smith, CH; Hoefle, HC; Vermeulen, FJM; de Wolf, H; Herpers, U; Klas, W; Kubik, PW; Suter, M; Dittrich-Hannen, B; Roland, NW
Year
1996
Is Peer Reviewed?
Yes
Journal
Geologisches Jahrbuch. Reihe B: Regionale Geologie Ausland
ISSN:
0341-6402
Publisher
Schweizerbart in Komm.
Location
Germany (DEU)
Volume
89 (1996)
Page Numbers
123-155
Abstract
The West Antarctic rift system started to become active during the early to mid-Cenozoic, roughly at the same time that the East Antarctic ice sheet developed. Geological and geophysical investigations in the Transantarctic Mountains and western Marie Byrd Land link the glacial histories and tectonic/volcanic evolution of the two rift margins. The parallel evolutions of the East and West Antarctic ice sheets and the rift system have produced landscapes of a markedly uniform topography, despite differences in bedrock geology. In regions of low to moderate tectonic uplift the landscapes comprise summit plateaus up to 800 m above the present ice surface, erosion terraces several hundred metres below these, and cirques and ice-cored moraines. Regions of very rapid uplift have an alpine topography of very high relief, lacking plateaus and terraces. The summit plateaus are remnants of an uplifted and strongly dissected (Cretaceous to Early Tertiary) erosion surface of low relief. Erosion of valleys in this surface is interpreted to be the result of tectonic uplift. Different fault blocks appear to have quite different uplift histories and this is reflected in the contrasting glaciation histories. Tectonic uplift may have had a strong influence on accumulation and ablation patterns and may have repeatedly led to nucleation of regional ice sheets in uplifted fault blocks. Landscape evolution histories are reconstructed for different regions based on degrees of weathering, till provenance, (super 10) Be exposure ages of striated bedrock surfaces and volcanic (super 40) Ar/ (super 39) Ar dating.
Keywords
metals; plateaus; Antarctica; glaciation; noble gases; plate tectonics; Southern Ocean; uplifts; isotope ratios; landform description; faults; erosion features; alkaline earth metals; erosion surfaces; beryllium; systems; Ross Sea; stable isotopes; weathering; argon; deglaciation; absolute age; radioactive isotopes; glacial geology; isotopes; Be-10; rifting; age; grabens; Ar-40/Ar-39; Cenozoic; glacial features
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