Jump to main content
US EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Search
Search
Main menu
Environmental Topics
Laws & Regulations
About EPA
Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)
Contact Us
Print
Feedback
Export to File
Search:
This record has one attached file:
Add More Files
Attach File(s):
Display Name for File*:
Save
Citation
Tags
HERO ID
7462618
Reference Type
Journal Article
Title
Geology, age and origin of the Mount Willing area (Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica)
Author(s)
Mikhalsky, EV; Laiba, AA; Beliatsky, BV; Stuwe, K
Year
1999
Is Peer Reviewed?
Yes
Journal
Antarctic Science
ISSN:
0954-1020
EISSN:
1365-2079
Volume
11
Issue
3
Page Numbers
338-352
Language
English
DOI
10.1017/S0954102099000437
Web of Science Id
WOS:000086753000009
URL
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0954102099000437/type/journal_article
Exit
Abstract
Mount Willing in the Prince Charles Mountains (East Antarctica) is part of the Fisher Volcanoplutonic complex which formed as part of the global-scale Grenvillian mobile belt system. Mount Willing is composed of four rock complexes: 1) a metamorphic sequence, 2) gabbro intrusions, 3) deformed felsic intrusives, and 4) abundant post-metamorphic dykes and veins. Three rock types constitute the metamorphic sequence: amphibole-biotite felsic plagiogneiss, mafic to intermediate biotite-amphihole schist, and biotite paragneiss. The bulk composition of the mafic schists classifies them as tholeiitic basalts, and rarely as basaltic andesites or andesites. Index mg ranges widely from 47 to 71. Concentrations of TiO(2), P(2)O(5), and high-field strength elements are high in some rocks. These rocks are thought to have been derived from enriched (subcontinental) mantle sources. Sm-Nd and U-Pb isotopic data indicate a series of Mesoproterozoic thermal events between 1100 and 1300 Ma. In particular, these events occurred at 1289 +/- 10 Ma (volcanic activity), at 1177 +/- 16 Ma (tonalite intrusion), at 1112.7 +/- 2.4 and at 1009 +/- 54 Ma (amphibolite facies metamorphic events). Rb-Sr systematics also indicates a thermal overprint at 636 +/- 13 Ma. Mafic schists show low initial (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios between 0.7024 and 0.7030. Felsic rocks show higher Sr(1) values between 0.7037 and 0.7061. Basaltic andesite metavolcanic and plutonic rocks form a calc-alkaline evolutionary trend, and probably originated from subduction-modified mantle sources in a convergent plate margin environment. An oceanic basin may have existed in central Prince Charles Mountains about 1300 Ma ago and was closed as a result of continental collision around 1000 to 800 Ma.
Keywords
Antarctica; geochemistry; metamorphism; Proterozoic; volcanic rocks
Home
Learn about HERO
Using HERO
Search HERO
Projects in HERO
Risk Assessment
Transparency & Integrity