Abstract
Recent kinematic constraints for the region north of the western Ross Sea suggest that there was approximately 150 km of seafloor spreading in the Adare Basin, northeast of Cape Adare, between Chrons 20 and 8 (43 to 26 Ma). This kinematic history has important implications since the 150 km of extension in the Adare Basin occurred immediately north along strike from the Northern Basin of the Ross Sea, whose extensional history is not well known. This paper examines the transition from the structures in the Adare Basin to the structures of the Northern Basin and speculates on the manner in which the extension was accommodated in the Ross Sea. Magnetic anomaly data in the Adare Basin document a sequence of anomalies 18 to 12 formed during a period of very slow spreading. The easternmost part of this sequence, anomalies 16 to 18, coalesces into a single positive anomaly near 72° S, forming a distinct anomaly that can be traced southward from the Adare Basin across the continental margin and down the east side of the Northern Basin to a latitude of roughly 73° S. This observation has important implications for the tectonic history of the Ross Sea since it suggests that most of the extension in the Adare Basin continued into the Northern Basin. This, in turn, suggests that the Northern Basin was formed by a combination of crustal thinning and massive, narrowly focused intrusions.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Reference
Barrett PJ, Sarti M, Wise S (ed) (2000) Studies from the Cape Roberts Project, Ross Sea, Antarctica, Initial Report on CRP-3. Terra Antartica 7(1/2):1–209
Behrendt JC, LeMasurier WE, Cooper AK, Tessensohn F, Trehu A, Damaske D (1991) Geophysical studies of the West Antarctic rift system. Tectonics 10:1257–1273
Behrendt JC, Damaske D, Juergen F (1993) Geophysical characteristics of the Western Antarctic rift system. Geol Jb E47:49–101
Brancolini G, Cooper AK, Coren F (1995) Seismic facies and glacial history in the Western Ross Sea (Antarctica). In: Cooper AK, Barker PF, Brancolini G (eds) Geology and seismic stratigraphy of the Antarctic margin. Antarct Res Ser 68:209–233
Block L, Royden LH (1990) Core complex geometries and regional scale flow in the lower crust. Tectonics 9:557–567
Cande SC, Kent DV (1995) Revised calibration of the geomagnetic polarity timescale for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic. J Geophys Res 100:6093–6095
Cande SC, Stock J, Müller RD, Ishihara T (2000a) Cenozoic motion between East and West Antarctica. Nature 404:145–150
Cande SC, Stock JM, Müller RD, Ishihara T (2000b) Two stages of Cenozoic separation in the western Ross Sea embayment. EOS 48:F1131
Cooper AK, Davey FJ, Behrendt JC (1987) Seismic stratigraphy and structure of the Victoria Land Basin, western Ross Sea, Antarctica. In: Cooper AK, Davey FJ (eds) The Antarctic continental margin: geology and geophysics of the western Ross Sea. Earth Sci Ser Vol 5B, Circum-Pacific Res. Council, Houston, pp 27–76
Cooper AK, Barker PF, Brancolini G (eds) (1995) Geology and seismic stratigraphy of the Antarctic margin. Antarct Res Ser 68, Amer Geophys Union, Washington DC
Davey FJ (2004) Ross Sea bathymetry, 1:2000000, version 1.0. Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences geophys map 16. Inst Geol & Nuclear Sci Ltd., Lower Hutt
Davey FJ, Brancolini G (1995) The late Mesozoic and Cenozoic structural setting of the Ross Sea region. In: Cooper AK, Barker PF, Brancolini G (eds) Geology and seismic stratigraphy of the Antarctic nargin, Antarctic Res Ser 68, Amer Geophys Union, Washington DC, pp 167–182
Davey FJ, Cooper AK (1987) Gravity studies of the Victoria Land Basin and Iselin Bank. In: Cooper AK, Davey FJ (eds) The Antarctic continental margin: geology and geophysics of the western Ross Sea, Earth Sci Ser Vol 5B, Circum-Pacific Res. Council, Houston, pp 27–76
DiVenere VJ, Kent DV, Dalziel I (1994) Mid-Cretaceous paleomagnetic results from Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica: A test of post-100 Ma relative motion between East and West Antarctica. J Geophys Res 99:15115–15139
Fitzgerald PG (1992) The Transantarctic Mountains in Southern Victoria Land: the application of apatite fission track analysis to a rift-shoulder uplift. Tectonics 11:634–662
Fitzgerald P, Baldwin S (1997) Detachment fault model for the evolution of the Ross Embayment. In: Ricci CA (ed) The Antarctic region: geological evolution and processes, Terra Antartica Publication, Siena, pp 555–564
Hamilton RJ, Luyendyk BP, Sorlien CS (2001) Cenozoic tectonics of the Cape Roberts Rift Basin and Transantarctic Mountains front, southwestern Ross Sea, Antarctica. Tectonics 20:325–342
Lawver LA, Gahagan LM (1994) Constraints on the timing of extension in the Ross Sea region. Terra Antartica 1:545–552
Luyendyk B, Cisowski S, Smith C, Richard S, Kimbrough D (1996) Paleomagnetic study of the northern Ford Ranges, western Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica: motion between West and East Antarctica. Tectonics 15:122–141
McAdoo D, Laxon S (1997) Antarctic tectonics: constraints from an ERS-1 satellite marine gravity field. Science 276:556–560
Molnar P, Atwater T, Mammerickx J, Smith SM (1975) Magnetic anomalies, bathymetry, and the tectonic evolution of the South Pacific since the late Cretaceous. Geophys J Royal Astronom Soc 40:383–420
Müller RD, Cande SC, Stock JM, Keller WR (in press) Crustal structure and rift flank uplift of the Adare Trough, Antarctica. Geochem Geophys Geosys
Oskin M, Stock J, Martin-Barajas A (2001) Rapid localization of Pacific-North America plate motion in the Gulf of California. Geology 29:459–462
Salvini F, Brancolini G, Busetti M, Storti F, Mazzarini F, et al. (1997) Cenozoic geodynamics of the Ross Sea region, Antarctica — crustal extension, intraplate strike-slip faulting, and tectonic inheritance. J Geophys Res 102:24669–64696
Sandwell DT, Smith W (1997) Marine gravity-anomaly from Geosat and ERS-1 satellite altimetry. J Geophys Res 102:10039–10054
Siddoway CS, Baldwin SL, Fitzgerald PG, Fanning CM, Luyendyk BP (2004) Ross Sea mylonites and the timing of intracontinental extension within the West Antarctic rift system. Geology 32:57–60
Wernicke B (1992) Cenozoic extensional tectonics of the U.S. Cordillera. In: Burchfiel BC, Lipman PW, Zoback M (eds) The Cordilleran Orogen. Geol Soc Amer, Boulder, pp 553–581
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cande, S.C., Stock, J.M. (2006). Constraints on the Timing of Extension in the Northern Basin, Ross Sea. In: Fütterer, D.K., Damaske, D., Kleinschmidt, G., Miller, H., Tessensohn, F. (eds) Antarctica. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-32934-X_40
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-32934-X_40
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-30673-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-32934-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)