Glacial geology of Northern and Central Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land
Entry ID:
NL_ANTARCTIC_GLACIAL_GEOLOGY
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Summary
Separate regions within the Transantarctic Mountains, the uplifted flank of the
West Antarctic rift system, appear to have distinct Neogene histories of
glaciation and valley downcutting. Incision of deep glacial outlet valleys
occurred at different times throughout central and northern Victoria Land. This
is corroborated by measurements of cosmogenic nuclides 21Ne, ... 10Be and 26Al of
glacial erosion surfaces and high-elevated moraines. 21Ne ages of two summit
plateaus, at elevations of 1650 m in central Victoria Land and ~2800 m in
northern Victoria Land, range from 3.84 to 11.2 Ma, respectively. The latter
date indicates that these glacial erosion surfaces are the oldest known
exposure dated surfaces on Earth. Glacial erosion terraces, remnants of early
phases of valley downcutting, have 21Ne ages of 1.27 and 6.45 Ma for central
Victoria Land and northern Victoria Land, respectively. Therefore, deglaciation
of summit plateaus, valley downcutting and topographic uplift occurred during
the mid Miocene in northern Victoria Land and not earlier than the mid Pliocene
in central Victoria Land. In northern Victoria Land ice flow directions changed
markedly from the time a regional ice sheet occupied the level of the highest
summits to the present condition with summits rising up to 800 above the valley
glaciers. In central Victoria Land the oldest documented ice flow direction
occupying the summit erosion surface prior to incision was SW-NE, draining the
East Antarctic Ice Sheet along an outlet glacier at least ten times as wide as
the present E-W flowing David Glacier. This great variation in denudation
histories probably results from differential tectonic uplift of various regions
within the presently active rift flank. Three tectonic processes contribute to
late Neogene uplift, (1) ongoing extension in adjacent Ross Sea rift basins,
(2) regional dextral transtension following SE trending Precambrian and
Palaeozoic structural trends which offsets the ~N-S trending grain of the rift
and reactivates earlier faults, and (3) isostatic response to valley
downcutting and related denudation.
INVESTIGATORS
Dr F.M. Van der Wateren
A.L.L.M. Verbers (M. Sc)
Dr T.J. Dunai
Dr. S. Passchier
Geographic Coverage
Spatial coordinates
| N: -68.0 |
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S: -76.0 |
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E: 172.0 |
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W: 150.0 |
View on map |
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Min Altitude: 844 M
Max Altitude: 2850 M
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| N: -76.0 |
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S: -78.0 |
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E: -140.0 |
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W: -160.0 |
View on map |
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Min Altitude: 844 M
Max Altitude: 2850 M
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Data Set Citation
Dataset Creator:
Dr. F.M. Van der Wateren, A.L.L.M. Verbers, Dr. T.J. Dunai, Dr. S. Passchier
Dataset Title:
Glacial geology of Northern and Central Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land
Dataset Release Place:
Amsterdam
Dataset Publisher:
Vrije Universiteit
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Temporal Coverage
Start Date:
1988-01-01
Stop Date:
1999-12-31
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Paleo Temporal Coverage
Location Keywords
Science Keywords
ISO Topic Category
Platform
Instrument
Quality
For surface exposure dating quartz samples have been collected from
glacial striated erosion surfaces for which we assumed zero erosion
following first exposure.
Samples were routinely processed for 10Be and 26Al tandem accelerator
mass spectrometry (ETH Z|rich) and 21Ne noble gas mass spectrometry
(VU Amsterdam).
Altitudes were measured above sea level.
Access Constraints
Available for scientific research, contact A. Lankreijer.
Use Constraints
Available for scientific research, contact A. Lankreijer.
Ancillary Keywords
Data Set Progress
Originating Center
Data Center
Distribution
Distribution Media:
CD-ROM
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Personnel
ANCO
LANKREIJER
Role:
TECHNICAL CONTACT
Phone:
+31 (0)20 44 47264
Email:
lana at geo.vu.nl
Contact Address:
Vrije Universiteit
Faculteit der Aardwetenschappen
De Boelelaan 1085
City:
Amsterdam
Postal Code:
1081 HV
Country:
THE NETHERLANDS
FREDERIK
M.
VAN DER WATEREN
Role:
INVESTIGATOR
Role:
DIF AUTHOR
Phone:
+31 204447304
Email:
watd at geo.vu.nl
Contact Address:
Vrije Universiteit
Faculteit der Aardwetenschappen
De Boelelaan 1085
City:
Amsterdam
Postal Code:
1081 HV
Country:
NETHERLANDS
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Related URL
Link:
GET DATA
Description:
The above URL is the location of Frederick (Dick) van der
Wateren's homepage. Descriptions of the above and other research
projects are available at this related URL.
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Publications/References
Van der Wateren, F.M., Dunai, T.J., Van Balen, R.T., Klas, W.,
Verbers, A.L.L.M., Passchier, S., and Herpers, U., 1999, Contrasting
Neogene denudation histories of regions in the Transantarctic
Mountains, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, constrained by
cosmogenic nuclide measurements: Global and Planetary Change, v. 23,
p. 145-172.
Van der ... Wateren, F.M., Verbers, A.L.L.M., Luyendyk, B.P., Smith, C.H.,
Hvfle, H.C., Vermeulen, F.J.M., De Wolf, H., Herpers, U., Klas, W.,
Kubik, P.W., Suter, W., and Dittrich-Hannen, B., 1996b, Glaciation and
deglaciation of the uplifted margins of the Cenozoic West Antarctic
rift system, Ross Sea, Antarctica: Geologisches Jahrbuch, v. B9,
p. 123-155.
Van der Wateren, F.M., and Verbers, A.L.L.M., 1992a, Cenozoic glacial
geology and mountain uplift in northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, in
Yoshida, Y., Kaminuma, K., and Shiraishi, K., eds., Recent Progress in
Antarctic Earth Science: Tokyo, TERRAPUB, p. 707-714.
Van der Wateren, F.M., and Cloetingh, S.A.P.L., 1999a, Feedbacks of
lithosphere dynamics and environmental change of the Cenozoic West
Antarctic Rift System: Global and Planetary Change, v. 23, p. 1-24.
Van der Wateren, F.M., and Hindmarsh, R.C.A., 1995, East Antarctic ice
sheet; stabilists strike again: Nature, v. 376, p. 389-391.
Van der Wateren, F.M., Luyendyk, B.P., Verbers, A.L.L.M., and Smith,
C.H., 1994a, Landscape evolution model of the West Antarctic rift
system relating tectonic and climatic evolutions of the rift margins:
Terra Antarctica, v. 1, p. 453-456.
Verbers, A.L.L.M., and Van der Wateren, F.M., 1992b, A
glacio-geological reconnaissance of the southern Prince Albert
Mountains, Victoria Land, Antarctica, in Yoshida, Y., Kaminuma, K.,
and Shiraishi, K., eds., Recent Progress in Antarctic Earth Science:
Tokyo, TERRAPUB, p. 715-719.
Passchier, S., Verbers, A.L.L.M., Van der Wateren, F.M., and
Vermeulen, F.J.M., 1998, Provenance, geochemistry, and grain sizes of
glacigene sediments, including the Sirius Group, and Late Cenozoic
glacial history of the southern Prince Albert Mountains, Victoria
Land: Annals of Glaciology, v. 27, p. 290-296.
Duphorn, K., Van der Wateren, F.M., and Hvfle, H.-C., 1996, Late
Quaternary geology of the northern Reeves Glacier, Antarctica:
Geologisches Jahrbuch, v. B 89, p. 41-56.
Hindmarsh, R.C.A., Van der Wateren, F.M., and Verbers, A.L.L.M., 1998,
Sublimation of ice through sediment as a constraint on ice age in
Beacon Valley, East Antarctica: Geografiska Annaler, v. 80A,
p. 209-219.
Creation and Review Dates
DIF Creation Date:
2001-06-08
Last DIF Revision Date:
2007-02-06
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Links
