Geological and tectonic evolution of the Transantarctic Mountains,from ancient craton to recent enigma |
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| Institution: | 1. Université de Lyon, UJM Saint-Etienne, UMR CNRS IRD 6524, Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, F-42023 Saint-Etienne, France;2. Ifremer, Geosciences Marines, Centre de Brest, 29280 Plouzané, France;3. UMR CNRS IRD 6524, Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, 63038 Clermont-Ferrand, France;4. Université de Lyon, ENSL, UCBL, CNRS,LGL-TPE, 69007 Lyon, France;5. Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Géoazur, UMR CNRS 7329, 250 rue Albert Einstein, 06560 Valbonne, France;1. Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hannover, Germany;2. University of Bergen, Department of Earth Science, P.O. Box 7800, 5020 Bergen, Norway;3. Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway;4. Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Alten Hafen 26, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany;1. Department of Geology, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, 800 Algoma Blvd., Oshkosh, WI 54901, USA;2. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, St. Louis University, 3242 Lindell Blvd., O''Neil Hall 205, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA;3. Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University, 108 Scott Hall, 1090 Carmack Road, Columbus, OH 43210, USA;4. School of the Environment, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2812, USA;5. College of Natural Science and Mathematics, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA;6. Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona, Gould-Simpson Building, 1040 East Fourth St, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA;7. School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA;8. Geology Department, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA;1. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA;2. Department of Geological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA |
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| Abstract: | The Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) are one of Earth's great mountain belts and are a fundamental physiographic feature of Antarctica. They are continental-scale, traverse a wide range of latitudes, have high relief, contain a significant proportion of exposed rock on the continent, and represent a major arc of environmental and geological transition. Although the modern physiography is largely of Cenozoic origin, this major feature has persisted for hundreds of millions of years since the Neoproterozoic to the modern. Its mere existence as the planet's longest intraplate mountain belt at the transition between a thick stable craton in East Antarctica and a large extensional province in West Antarctica is a continuing enigma. The early and more cryptic tectonic evolution of the TAM includes Mesoarchean and Paleoproterozoic crust formation as part of the Columbia supercontinent, followed by Neoproterozoic rift separation from Laurentia during breakup of Rodinia. Development of an Andean-style Gondwana convergent margin resulted in a long-lived Ross orogenic cycle from the late Neoproterozoic to the early Paleozoic, succeeded by crustal stabilization and widespread denudation during early Gondwana time, and intra-cratonic and foreland-basin sedimentation during late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic development of Pangea. Voluminous mafic volcanism, sill emplacement, and layered igneous intrusion are a primary signature of hotspot-influenced Jurassic extension during Gondwana breakup. The most recent phase of TAM evolution involved tectonic uplift and exhumation related to Cenozoic extension at the inboard edge of the West Antarctic Rift System, accompanied by Neogene to modern glaciation and volcanism related to the McMurdo alkaline volcanic province. Despite the remote location and relative inaccessibility of the TAM, its underlying varied and diachronous geology provides important clues for reconstructing past supercontinents and influences the modern flow patterns of both ice and atmospheric circulation, signifying that the TAM have both continental and global importance through time. |
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