Abstract
The Ford Ranges and the Edward VII Peninsula, western Marie Byrd Land (MBL), form the flat eastern rift flank of the West Antarctic Rift System (WARS). Both areas were intruded by middle and late Cretaceous Byrd Coast Granites and experienced three distinct periods of low temperature cooling: from 100 to 85 Ma, from 75 to 60 Ma and since the Oligocene. The different cooling stages are related to a pulsing mantle plume, slowly wandering below MBL. They can be linked to the beginning of Gondwana break-up in the Pacific sector of Antarctica, the rifting of the New Zealand/ Campbell Plateau block from MBL and the onset of the Tertiary alkali volcanism in West Antarctica. The cumulative amount of uplift/ denudation since the late Cretaceous is ~3300 m and thus, significantly smaller than those of the western rift shoulder of the WARS (Transantarctic Mountains: up to 10 km).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Adams C.J. (1986): Geochronological studies of the Swanson Formation of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, and correlation with northern Victoria Land, East Antarctica, and South Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 29, 345–358.
Adams C.J. (1987): Geochronology of granite terranes in the Ford Ranges, Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 30, 51–72.
Adams C.J., Seward D. and Weaver S.D. (1995): Geochronology of Cretaceous granites and metasedimentary basement on Edward VII Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica. Antarctic Science 7, 265–277.
Behrendt J.C. and Cooper A. (1991): Evidence of rapid Cenozoic uplift of the shoulder scarpment of the Cenozoic West Antarctic rift system and a speculation on possible climate forcing. Geology 19, 315–319. Behrendt J.C., LeMasurier W.E., Cooper A.K., Tessensohn F., Trehu A. and Damaske, D. (1991): The West Antarctic Rift System: A review of geophysical investigations. Contributions to Antarctic Research II. Antarctic Research Series 53, 67–112.
Bentley C.R. and Robertson, J.D. (1982): Isostatic gravity anomalies in West Antarctica. In: Antarctic Geoscience (ed Craddock C. ), University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, pp. 949–954.
Borg S.G., Stump E., Chappell B.W., McCulloch M.T., Wyborn D., Armstrong R.L. and Holloway J.R. (1987): Granitoids of Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica: Implications of chemical and isotopic variations to regional crustal structure and tectonics. American Journal of Science 287, 127–169.
Bradshaw J.D. (1989): Cretaceous geotectonic patterns in New Zealand region. Tectonics 8, 803–820. Bradshaw J.D., Andrews P.B. and Field, B.D. (1983): Swanson Formation and related rocks of Marie Byrd Land and a comparison with the Robertson Bay Group of Northern Victoria Land. In: Antarctic Earth Science (eds Oliver R.L., James P.R. and Jago J.B. ), Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, pp. 663670.
Bradshaw J.Y. (1989): Origin and metamorphic history of an Early Cretaceous polybaric granulite terrane, Fiordland, southwest New Zealand. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 103, 346–360.
Dalziel I.W.D. and Elliot D.H. (1982): West Antarctica: Problem child of Gondwanaland. Tectonics 1, 319.
Dalziel J.W.D. and Brown R.L. (1989): Tectonic denudation of the Darwin metamorphic core complex in the Andes of Tierra del Fuego, southernmost Chile: Implications for Cordilleran orogenesis. Geology 17, 699–703.
Dumitru, T. (1993) FT Stage. Stanford University.
Fitzgerald P.G. and Stump E. (1991): Early Cretaceous uplift in the Ellsworth Mountains of West Antarctica. Science 254, 92–94.
Fitzgerald P.G. (1992): The Transantarctic Mountains of southern Victoria Land: the application of apatite fission track analysis to a rift shoulder uplift. Tectonics 11, 634–662.
Fitzgerald P.G., Sandiford M., Barrett P.J. and Gleadow A.J.W. (1986): Asymmetric extension associated with uplift and subsidence in the Transantarctic Mountains and Ross Embayment. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 81, 67–78.
Fitzgerald P.G., Sandiford M., Barrett P.J. and Gleadow A.J.W. (1986): Asymmetric extension associated with uplift and subsidence in the Transantarctic Mountains and Ross Embayment. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 81, 67–78.
Futa K. and LeMasurier W.E. (1983): Nd and Sr isotopic studies on Cenozoic mafic lavas from West Antarctica: Another source for continental alkali basalts. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 83, 38–44.
Gallagher K. (1995): Evolving temperature histories from apatite fission-track data. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 136, 421–435.
Gleadow A.J.W. and Fitzgerald P.G. (1987): Uplift history and structure of the Transantarctic Mountains: New evidence from fission track dating of basement apatites in the Dry Valleys area, southern Victoria Land. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 82, 1–14.
Gleadow A.J.W. (1981): Fission track dating methods: What are the real alternatives? Nuclear Tracks S, 314.
Gleadow A.J.W., McKelvey B.C. and Ferguson K.U. (1984): Uplift history of the Transantarctic Mountains in the Dry Valleys area, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, from apatite fission track ages. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 27, 457–464.
Green P.F. (1981): A new look at statistics in fission-track dating. Nuclear Tracks 5, 77–86.
Green P.F. (1985): Comparison of zeta calibration baselines for fission-track dating of apatite, zircon and sphene. Chemical Geology (Isotope Geoscience Section) 58, 1–22.
Green P.F., Duddy I.R., Gleadow A.J.W., Tingate P.R. and Laslett G.M. (1986): Thermal annealing of fission tracks in apatite 1. A Qualitative Description. Chemical Geology (Isotope Geoscience Section) 59, 237–253.
Grindley G.W. and Davey F.J. (1982): The reconstruction of New Zealand, Australia, and Antarctica. In: Antarctic Geoscience (ed Craddock C. ), University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, pp. 15–29.
Hurford A.J. and Green P.F. (1983): The zeta age calibration of fission-track dating. Chemical Geology (Isotope Geoscience Section) 1, 285–317.
Laslett G.M., Gleadow A.J.W. and Duddy, J.R. (1984): The relationship between fission track length and track density in apatite. Nuclear Tracks 9, 29–38.
Lawyer L.A. and Gahagan L.M. (1994): Constraints on timing of extension in the Ross Sea Region. Terra Antartica 1, 545–552.
Lawyer L.A., Royer J.Y., Sandwell D.T. and Scotese, C.R. (1991): Evolution of the Antarctic continental margins. In: Geological Evolution of Antarctica (eds Thomson M.R.A., Crame J.A. and Thomson J.W. ), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 533–540.
LeMasurier W.E. and Rex D.C. (1983): Rates of uplift and the scale of ice level instabilities recorded by volcanic rocks in Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica. In: Antarctic Earth Science (eds Oliver R.L., James P.R. and Jago J.B. ), Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, 663–670.
LeMasurier W.E. and Rex D.C. (1989): Evolution of linear volcanic ranges in Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research 94, 7223–7236.
LeMasurier W.E. and Rex D.C. (1994): Geologic events of the past 100 million years revealed by K-Ar dating of volcanic rocks from Marie Byrd Land: Implications for the offshore sedimentary record. Terra Antarctica 1, 449–451.
LeMasurier W.E. (1978): The Cenozoic West Antarctic Rift System and its associated volcanic and structural features. Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr. Programs 10, 443.
LeMasurier W.E. and Landis C.A. (1996): Mantle plume activity recorded by low relief erosion surface in West Antarctica and New Zealand. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., in press.
Luyendyk B.P. (1995): Hypothesis for Cretaceous rifting of east Gondwana caused by subduced slab capture. Geology 23, 373–376.
Luyendyk B.P., Richard S.M., Smith C.H. and Kimbrough D.L. (1992): Geological and geophysical exploration in the northern Ford Ranges, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. In: Recent Progress in Antarctic Earth Science (eds Yoshida Y., Kaminuma K. and Shiraishi K. ), Terrapub, Tokyo, pp. 279–288.
Mattinson J.M., Kimbrough D.L. and Bradshaw J.Y. (1986): Western Fiordland orthogneiss: Early Cretaceous arc-magmatism and granulite facies metamorphism, New Zealand. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 92, 383–392.
Mayes C.L., Lawyer L.A. and Sandwell D.T. (1990): Tectonic history and new isochron chart of the South Pacific. Journal of Geophysical Research 95, 8543–8567.
Mueller R.D., Royer J.-Y. and Lawyer L.A. (1993): Revised plate motions relative to the hotspots from combined Atlantic and Indian Ocean hot spot tracks. Geology 21, 555–558.
Mukasa S.B., Dalziel W.D. and Brueckner H.K. (1988): Zircon U-Pb constraints on the kinematic evolution of the northern Scotia Arc (abstract). Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr. Programs 20, Al2.
Richard S.M. (1992): Structure and cooling history of the Fosdick Metamorphic Complex, Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica. In: Recent Progress in Antarctic Earth Science (eds Yoshida Y., Kaminuma K. and Shiraishi K. ), Terrapub, Tokyo, pp. 289–294.
Richard S.M., Smith C.H., Kimbrough D.L., Fitzgerald P.G., Luyendyk B.P. and McWilliams M.O. (1994): Cooling history of the northern Ford Ranges, Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica. Tectonics 13, 837–857.
Rocholl A., Stein M., Molzahn M, Hart S.R. and Wörner G. (1995): Geochemical evolution of rift magmas by progressive trapping of stratified mantle source beneath the Ross Sea Rift, Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 131, 207–224.
Storey B.C., Dalziel I.W.D., Garrett S.W., Grunow A.M., Pankhurst R.J. and Vennum W.R. (1988): West Antarctica in Gondwanaland: Crustal blocks, reconstruction and break-up processes. Tectonophysics 155, 381–390.
Stowe K., White L. and Brown, R. (1994): The influence of eroding topography on steady-state isotherms. application to fission track analysis. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 124, 63–74.
Tessensohn F. (1994): The Ross Sea region, Antarctica: Structural interpretation in relation to the evolution of the southern ocean. Terra Antartica 1, 553–558.
Tulloch A.J. and Kimbrough D.L. (1989): The Paparoa metamorphic core complex, New Zealand: Cretaceous extension associated with fragmentation of the Pacific margin of Gondwana. Tectonics 8, 1217 1234.
Van den haute P. (1986): Apatite fission-track dating applied to Precambrian terranes. Chemical Geology (Isotope Geoscience Section) 57, 155–165.
Van der Wateren F.M., Luyendyk B.P., Verbers A.L.L.M. and Smith C.H. (1994): Landscape evolution model of the West Antarctic Rift System relating tectonic and climatic of the rift margins. Terra Antartica 1, 453–456.
Vetter U. and Tessensohn F. (1987): S- and I-type granitoids of North Victoria Land, Antarctica, and their inferred geotectonic setting. Geologische Rundschau 76, 233–243.
Wade F.A., Cathey C.A. and Oldham J.B. (1977a) Reconnaissance geologic map of the Alexandra Mountains quadrangle, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Washington D.C., U.S. Geological Survey/ National Science Foundation. A-5.
Wade F.A., Cathey C.A. and Oldham J.B. (1977b) Reconnaissance geologic map of the Guest Peninsula quadrangle, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Washington D.C., U.S. Geological Survey/ National Science Foundation. A-7.
Wade F.A., Cathey C.A. and Oldham J.B. (1977c) Reconnaissance geologic map of the Boyd Glacier quadrangle, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Washington D.C., U.S. Geological Survey/ National Science Foundation. A-6.
Wade F.A., Cathey C.A. and Oldham J.B. (1978) Reconnaissance geologic map of the Gutenko Nunataks quadrangle, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Washington D.C., U.S. Geological Survey/ National Science Foundation. A-11.
Wade F.A. and Couch D.R. (1982): The Swanson Formation, Ford Ranges, Marie Byrd Land. Evidence for and against a direct relationship with the Robertson Bay Group, northern Victoria Land. In: Antarctic Geoscience (ed Craddock C. ), University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, pp. 609–618.
Wagner G.A., Gleadow A.J.W. and Fitzgerald P.G. (1989): The significance of the partial annealing zone in apatite fission-track analysis: projected track length measurements and uplift chronology of the Transantarctic Mountains. Chemical Geology (Isotope Geoscience Section) 79 295–305.
Weaver S.D., Adams C.J., Pankhurst R.J. and Gibson I.L. (1992): Granites of Edward VII Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land: anorogenic magmatism related to Antarctic-New Zealand rifting. Transactions, Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 83 (1–2), 281–290.
Weaver S.D., Bradshaw J.D. and Adams, C.J. (1991): Granitoids of the Ford Ranges, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. In: Geological Evolution of Antarctica (eds Thomson M.R.A., Crame J.A. and Thomson J.W. ), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 345–352.
Weaver S.D., Storey B.C., Pankhurst R.J., Mukasa S.B., DiVenere V.J. and Bradshaw J.D. (1994): Antarctica-New Zealand rifting and Marie Byrd Land lithospheric magmatism linked to ridge subduction and mantle plume activity. Geology 22, 811–814.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lisker, F., Olesch, M. (1998). Cooling and Denudation History of Western Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica, Based on Apatite Fission-Tracks. In: van den Haute, P., de Corte, F. (eds) Advances in Fission-Track Geochronology. Solid Earth Sciences Library, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9133-1_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9133-1_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4977-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-9133-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive