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Decompensative Gravity Anomalies Reveal the Structure of the Upper Crust of Antarctica

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Abstract

As Antarctica is almost entirely covered by thick ice shields impeding in situ measurements, information about upper crustal structures and sedimentary basins is still sparse and the analysis of the gravity anomalies offers new insights. Isostatic gravity anomalies are often used to investigate upper crust structures. However, compensating masses significantly reduce the gravity effect of unknown sedimentary and upper crustal structures. To separate these effects, we apply so-called decompensative corrections to the isostatic anomalies for the Antarctic continent, which reach values of up to ± 70 mGal. The obtained decompensative anomalies well correspond to the known sedimentary basins, such as in the areas of the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf and Lambert Graben, and also suggest the existence of other large sedimentary deposits both in West and East Antarctica, which are not or only sparsely mapped by existing seismic surveys, e.g. in coastal Dronning Maud Land and Enderby Land. A dipole-like structure exists at the Transantarctic Mountains and the Wilkes Subglacial Basin, suggesting the presence of isostatic disturbances linked to the dynamic uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains and thick sedimentary accumulations in the east. Extended positive anomalies in East Antarctica are likely related to the old and dense cratonic crust as well as to isostatic disturbances caused by the transition from local to regional compensation around the Lambert Graben.

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Acknowledgements

We thank three anonymous reviewers and the editor Carla Braitenberg for their valuable comments that have greatly improved the manuscript. This study was supported by DFG (German Research Foundation), SPP-1788 Dynamic Earth (Grants KA2669/4-1 and KA2669/4-2). The results of this study are available in digital form from the authors upon request.

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  1. Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A20, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Carina Haeger & Mikhail K. Kaban

  2. Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Carina Haeger

  3. Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Moscow, Russia

    Mikhail K. Kaban

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Haeger, C., Kaban, M.K. Decompensative Gravity Anomalies Reveal the Structure of the Upper Crust of Antarctica. Pure Appl. Geophys. 176, 4401–4414 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-019-02212-5

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