Discussion: Structural and stratigraphic problems of the Argylla Formation near Mary Kathleen,Queensland

Circumstantial evidence indicates that Gaussberg, an isolated, 370 m high volcanic cone on the Antarctic coast at 57°S, 89°E, is the product of subglacial eruption. The vesicular, highly potassic leucitite, of which Gaussberg is composed, has been dated by K‐Ar and fission‐track methods, the former being applied to leucite concentrates, the latter to glassy leucitite from the ropy‐textured, outer rind of a pillow‐like structure. The K‐Ar geochronology yields an average date of 56 000 ± 5000 years, jwhich is interpreted as defining the time of Gaussberg's formation. The fission‐track work yields a less precise date, which supports the K‐Ar age estimate. These new age determinations indicate that previously published K‐Ar age determinations of 20 Ma and 9 Ma for Gaussberg should be rejected.     

Paleozoic tectonism on the East Gondwana margin: Evidence from SHRIMP U–Pb zircon geochronology of a migmatite–granite complex in West Antarctica

The Fosdick Mountains migmatite–granite complex in West Antarctica records episodes of crustal melting and plutonism in Devonian–Carboniferous time that acted to transform transitional crust, dominated by immature oceanic turbidites of the accretionary margin of East Gondwana, into stable continental crust. West Antarctica, New Zealand and Australia originated as contiguous parts of this margin, according to plate reconstructions, however, detailed correlations are uncertain due to a lack of isotopic and geochronological data. Our study of the mid-crustal exposures of the Fosdick range uses U–Pb SHRIMP zircon geochronology to examine the tectonic environment and timing for Paleozoic magmatism in West Antarctica, and to assess a correlation with the better known Lachlan Orogen of eastern Australia and Western Province of New Zealand.NNE–SSW to NE–SW contraction occurred in West Antarctica in early Paleozoic time, and is expressed by km-scale folds developed both in lower crustal metasedimentary migmatite gneisses of the Fosdick Mountains and in low greenschist-grade turbidite successions of the upper crust, present in neighboring ranges. The metasedimentary rocks and structures were intruded by calc-alkaline, I-type plutons attributed to arc magmatism along the convergent East Gondwana margin. Within the Fosdick Mountains, the intrusions form a layered plutonic complex at lower structural levels and discrete plutons at upper levels. Dilational structures that host anatectic granite overprint plutonic layering and migmatitic foliation. They exhibit systematic geometries indicative of NNE–SSW stretching, parallel to a first-generation mineral lineation. New U–Pb SHRIMP zircon ages for granodiorite and porphyritic monzogranite plutons, and for leucogranites that occupy shear bands and other mesoscopic-scale structural sites, define an interval of 370 to 355 Ma for plutonism and migmatization.Paleozoic plutonism in West Antarctica postdates magmatism in the western Lachlan Orogen of Australia, but it coincides with that in the central part of the Lachlan Orogen and with the rapid main phase of emplacement of the Karamea Batholith of the Western Province, New Zealand. Emplaced within a 15 to 20 million year interval, the Paleozoic granitoids of the Fosdick Mountains are a product of subduction-related plutonism associated with high temperature metamorphism and crustal melting. The presence of anatectic granites within extensional structures is a possible indication of alternating strain states (‘tectonic switching’) in a supra-subduction zone setting characterized by thin crust and high heat flow along the Devonian–Carboniferous accretionary margin of East Gondwana.     

Late Cenozoic transpressional ductile deformation north of the Nazca–South America–Antarctica triple junction

The southern Andes plate boundary zone records a protracted history of bulk transpressional deformation during the Cenozoic, which has been causally related to either oblique subduction or ridge collision. However, few structural and chronological studies of regional deformation are available to support one hypothesis or the other. We address along- and across-strike variations in the nature and timing of plate boundary deformation to better understand the Cenozoic tectonics of the southern Andes.Two east–west structural transects were mapped at Puyuhuapi and Aysén, immediately north of the Nazca–South America–Antarctica triple junction. At Puyuhuapi (44°S), north–south striking, high-angle contractional and strike-slip ductile shear zones developed from plutons coexist with moderately dipping dextral-oblique shear zones in the wallrocks. In Aysén (45–46°), top to the southwest, oblique thrusting predominates to the west of the Cenozoic magmatic arc, whereas dextral strike-slip shear zones develop within it.New ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar data from mylonites and undeformed rocks from the two transects suggest that dextral strike-slip, oblique-slip and contractional deformation occurred at nearly the same time but within different structural domains along and across the orogen. Similar ages were obtained on both high strain pelitic schists with dextral strike-slip kinematics (4.4±0.3 Ma, laser on muscovite–biotite aggregates, Aysén transect, 45°S) and on mylonitic plutonic rocks with contractional deformation (3.8±0.2 to 4.2±0.2 Ma, fine-grained, recrystallized biotite, Puyuhuapi transect). Oblique-slip, dextral reverse kinematics of uncertain age is documented at the Canal Costa shear zone (45°S) and at the Queulat shear zone at 44°S. Published dates for the undeformed protholiths suggest both shear zones are likely Late Miocene or Pliocene, coeval with contractional and strike-slip shear zones farther north. Coeval strike-slip, oblique-slip and contractional deformation on ductile shear zones of the southern Andes suggest different degrees of along- and across-strike deformation partitioning of bulk transpressional deformation.The long-term dextral transpressional regime appears to be driven by oblique subduction. The short-term deformation is in turn controlled by ridge collision from 6 Ma to present day. This is indicated by most deformation ages and by a southward increase in the contractional component of deformation. Oblique-slip to contractional shear zones at both western and eastern margins of the Miocene belt of the Patagonian batholith define a large-scale pop-up structure by which deeper levels of the crust have been differentially exhumed since the Pliocene at a rate in excess of 1.7 mm/year.     

南极普里兹湾NP93－2柱样磁组构特征及其古气候意义

对采自东南极普里兹湾海区沉积物ＮＰ９３－２柱样系统的磁组构分析,结果表明：１．普里兹湾海洋沉积物具有较大的磁化率各向异性,较好地指示了沉积过程中水动力过程的变化;２．由磁化率各向异性主轴方向确定的古水流方面主要为近ＥＷ向及ＮＳ向,分别对应着南极绕极环流的方向及由融冰水的大量生成而导致的南极底层水形成的方向,这两种不同方向的水流在该海区不同时段的表现各不相同;３．依据表征磁组构的参数及古水流方向的变化,可将１２７００ａＢ．Ｐ．以来的南极地区的古气候分成５个古气候变化带．     

南极长城站附近企鹅栖息地粪土沉积地层放射性核素210Pb定年

用γ谱方法测定了南极长城站附近特有生物群落栖息地沉积物中放射性核素含量,地表沉积物中40K,137Cs,210Pb,226Ra,228Ra,228Th.和238U平均比活度,分别为143,7.56,24.1,3.65,5.36,4.15和6.5Bq/kg.同时测试了阿德雷岛企鹅栖息地粪土沉积地层中放射性核素含量,利用其中的210Pb比活度,210Pb_ex垂向变化特征,推演沉积物的沉积速率和地质历史年代:其中AD1-a柱样时间跨度约为74a(1928~2002年),据此计算了沉积速率为0.063mm/a(r=0.794),并讨论了在南极特定条件下,放射性核素示踪对定年影响以及与区域现代气候环境变化的内在联系.     

中国南极长城湾及附近海区1993/1994年夏季表层水样无机氮、磷酸盐的浓度及其分布状况

1993／1994年南极夏季对中国南极长城湾及附近海区表层海水四种营养盐浓度及其分布状况作了调查。结果表明，NH4－N、NO3－N、NO2－N及PO4－P的大致浓度分别是2．13、7．07、0．74和1．12μg·dm-3。一般来说，湾内高于湾外氮盐于12月份常出现高值。四种形态的无机盐类之最高、最低浓度出现的时间和站位不尽一致。∑N／P递减次序大致是12月，2月，1月。水温变化与NH4－N、PO4－P浓度和∑N／P的变化常较一致，而与NO2－N则常不一，一些站位上营养盐浓度偏低可能与浮游植物摄取有关。结果显示了调研海区的浅水内湾特征。浮游植物所需营养充分。该湾仍维持正常状态。     

Anomalous geochemical provenance and weathering history of Plio-Pleistocene glaciomarine fjord strata, Bardin Bluffs Formation, East Antarctica

Major and trace element chemical analyses of the Plio‐Pleistocene Bardin Bluffs Formation, on the margin of a major ice‐stream of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, yield an anomalous chemically altered sediment composition. The Bardin Bluffs Formation of the Pagodroma Group is one of the key deposits on the Antarctic continent recording glaciomarine sedimentation under open marine fjord conditions as recently as the Plio‐Pleistocene. In modern fjords occupied by outlet glaciers of ice sheets, the composition of fine‐grained terrigenous sediments approaches that of unweathered rock types exposed upstream. In the Bardin Bluffs Formation, average abundances of stable elements (Ti, Al, Zr) approach average upper crustal compositions and the element ratios are consistent with sediments with a cratonic source, implying glacial dispersal from a large shield area through the Lambert Glacier drainage system. Interestingly, the chemical index of alteration (CIA) of these sediments has values similar to those of average shales formed under conditions of chemical weathering. The sediments are particularly depleted in silicate Ca, which has been observed elsewhere in glacial muds sourced from pre‐glacial saprolites. The anomalous chemistry of the Bardin Bluffs Formation can be explained by a sequence of events, involving chemical weathering prior to glacial expansion and erosion. The presence of a remnant 1·5 m deep late Neogene weathering profile at the base of the Bardin Bluffs sequence corroborates this conclusion. Supply of large quantities of chemically weathered materials to Antarctic marginal basins requires at least partial deglaciation of the continent and was previously regarded as uncharacteristic for late Neogene Antarctica.     

东南极达尔克冰川表面运动速度特征研究

2007-2012年,在东南极达尔克冰川实施了18期空间方向交会观测,解算得到了冰川的运动规律:其整体平均运动速度为0.41 m·d^-1,平均流向的方位角为7.01°;总的来说,其冬季和夏季的流速基本相当,但冰川前缘附近的运动在冬季显得更为活跃;冰川横截面上从边缘到中心,流速逐渐增大,流速最大的点出现在冰川中轴线上,流速最小的点则出现在边界附近;沿冰川流动方向,从上游至入海口,流速亦逐渐增大,冰川前缘流速最大,此处有较多的冰裂缝发育.与之前的遥感研究结果相比较,冰川运动比较稳定,流速未发现显著变化.     

Large-scale Mechanical Redistribution of Orthopyroxene and Plagioclase in the Basement Sill, Ferrar Dolerites, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica: Petrological, Mineral-chemical and Field Evidence for Channelized Movement of Crystals and Melt

The Jurassic Ferrar dolerite sills of the McMurdo Dry Valleys,Antarctica represent the plumbing system for flood basalt eruptionsassociated with the breakup of Gondwana. Among the Ferrar sills,the 350–450 m thick cumulate-textured Basement Sill isdifferentiated into a Lower Marginal Zone (LMZ) gabbronorite,a thick Lower Zone (LZ) orthopyroxene–plagioclase orthocumulatepyroxenite, a strongly layered mela- to leuco-gabbronorite MiddleZone (MZ), a thick Upper Zone (UZ) gabbronorite with ferrogabbroicpods, and an Upper Marginal Zone (UMZ) gabbronorite. Texturesand mineral compositions in the LZ pyroxenite and MZ–UZgabbronorites are nearly identical, the main distinction beingthe greater relative proportion of plagioclase in the MZ–UZgabbronorites, and of pigeonite in the UZ. Most orthopyroxenein the LZ, MZ and UZ occurs as sub-euhedral, normally zonedprimocrysts, commonly with rounded plagioclase inclusions. Plagioclaseis usually sub-euhedral and normally zoned, but can containsodic cores interpreted to be xenocrystic. Orthopyroxene andfeldspar compositions thoughout the sill are generally fairlyuniform, and resemble the compositions of micro-phenocrystsin the chilled margins. We infer that the sill was filled bya c. 1250°C slurry of orthopyroxene + plagioclase phenocrystsor primocrysts that subsequently unmixed in response to buoyancyforces. The LZ websterite contains numerous anorthosite to gabbronoriteschlieren, veins and pipes (< 2 m diameter), which we interpretas fossil segregation channels. Textures and mineral compositionsin these felsic channels are very similar both to UZ and MZgabbronorites, and to the groundmass separating accumulatedorthopyroxene primocrysts in the LZ and MZ. We infer that plagioclase-charged,hydrous pore melt from the pyroxenite may have segregated, pooledand ascended through these conduits to feed growth of the UZgabbronorite. Detailed mapping shows that the pipes are separatedby about 15 m on average. Calculations suggest that this numberdensity of conduits could have drained the LZ cumulates of theirinterstitial melt + plagioclase in about 8 days. Sequences (eachc. 5–10 m thick) of layered leuco-gabbronorite in theMZ could represent intra-cumulate sills that formed from plagioclase-richslurries ascending in segregation channels. Fe–Ti-richpyroxenitic veins and pods (some pegmatitic) and an unusualcoarse-grained plagioclase facies occur at the contacts betweenmassive leuco-gabbronorite layers in the MZ. Discordant ferro-pegmatitepods and dykes occur throughout the UZ. We interpret these Fe-richpegmatoidal rocks as evolved residual melts expelled from thecompacting gabbronoritic cumulates of the MZ and UZ. KEY WORDS: Ferrar; cumulates; differentiation; Antarctica; layering     

东南极普里兹湾地区花岗岩类的锆石U-Pb年龄、地球化学特征及其构造意义

东南极普里兹湾地区出露大量泛非期花岗质岩类,利用IA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb原位定年方法测得达尔克花岗岩、蒙罗克尔花岗岩和阿曼达花岗岩的年龄分别为519±2Ma,497±2Ma和498±7Ma.所有普里兹湾地区花岗岩类均具有较高的全碱含量以及K2O/Na2O、FeO^T/（FeO^T＋MgO）和104Ga/Al比值,较低的Mg、Ca、Cr和Ni丰度,表现出A型花岗岩的特点,同时还富集大离子亲石元素和稀土元素,不同程度亏损Sr、Nb、Ta、P和Ti,并具有高87Sr/86Sr初始比值和低εNd（t）值的同位素特征.研究结果表明,普里兹湾地区的岩浆活动可能与后碰撞的造山作用有关,包括岩石圈减薄、岩浆底侵和地壳伸展作用等.普里兹湾A型后碰撞花岗岩的确定支持普里兹带为碰撞造山带的构造属性.