Antarctica

Permo-Triassic rift nucleation in East Antarctica revealed by low-temperature thermochronology

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Palaeoreconstruction map of East Gondwana at 265 Ma showing the East Antarctic margin, study area and sample locations.

Researchers collected new apatite fission-track and (U-Th)/He data across more than 5000 km of the East Antarctic margin to reconstruct its rifting history. The results show that an earlier, failed rifting episode in the Permo-Triassic period cooled and shaped the crust more strongly than the later Jurassic-Cretaceous breakup of Gondwana itself. This multi-phase rifting appears … Read more…

Geol. Soc. London Mem.: Effects of melt-percolation, refertilization and deformation on upper mantle seismic anisotropy: constraints from peridotite xenoliths, Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica

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We report on the petrology, microstructure and seismic properties of 44 peridotite xenoliths extracted from the upper mantle beneath Marie Byrd Land (MBL), West Antarctica. The aim of this work is to understand how melt-rock reaction, refertilization, and deformation affected the seismic properties (velocities, anisotropy) of the West Antarctic upper mantle, in the context of … Read more…