The structure and origin of Prydz Bay and MacRobertson Shelf, East Antarctica

A marine geophysical survey in early 1982, conducted by the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources, indicated that much of Prydz Bay is underlain by a sedimentary basin. Severe seismic multiples preclude an accurate estimate of total sediment thickness, but interpretation of the seismic and magnetic data suggest that it is probably at least 5 km. The trends of the southeast basin margin and of mild faulting and folding in the southwest indicate an overall NNE trend, roughly orthogonal to the continental margin.In the south of Prydz Bay, two series of seismic sequences are evident, separated by a mildly erosional unconformity. The lower series ranges from poorly- to well-stratified, has minor folding and faulting, and probably derives from continental and perhaps shallow marine pre-breakup sediments. The upper series is generally well-stratified, and prograded near the shelf edge; it probably represents shallow marine post-breakup sediments. The seabed is distinctly unconformable with the underlying sediments, implying both that much of the upper series sediments and some of the lower series sediments have been bulldozed off by advances of the Amery Ice Shelf, and that present sedimentation rates are very low. Possible thin moraines or tillites in the northeast part of the Prydz Bay are also attributed to these glacial advances.The continental slope and rise sedimentary section ranges from at least 3 km thick off Prydz Bay, to thin off the MacRobertson Shelf to the west, reflecting the more prolific sediment source in Prydz Bay. The deep water section includes several seismic sequences, the most distinctive being interpreted as sheet volcanics and turbidite fans. The deepest visible unconformity is locally strongly faulted and may separate the pre-breakup and post-breakup sediments.Indo-Antarctic breakup has been tentatively dated as Early Neocomian (130 Ma) and the E-W orientation of the resultant Antarctic coast invites interpretation of the Lambert Glacier-Prydz Bay structure as a possible failed rift arm of a triple junction. Direct information on the age and nature of the sediments under Prydz Bay is lacking, but Permian continental sediments cropping out at Beaver Lake, to the south, may correspond to the lower pre-breakup series. This interpretation gains some support from analogies with fault-bounded intracratonic basins in India which contain Permian to Triassic continental strata and which may have been juxtaposed prior to breakup. The upper series probably consists of Upper Cretaceous and Cainozoic sands and shales, with moraines or tillites at the top of the section.