Late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic history of the Pacific margin along Antarctica
- Ohio State Univ., Columbus (USA)
- Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (USA)
The late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic Pacific margin of Gondwanaland from eastern Australia to Patagonia was characterized by a series of back-arc and foreland basins associated with subduction and volcanism. The Transantarctic basin including the present Transantarctic Mountains and Tasmania evolved from a middle Paleozoic passive continental margin to an Early Permian back-arc basin and a Late Permian-Triassic foreland basin. The earliest evidence of a volcanic arc and subduction is the appearance of abundant volcanic detritus at the base of the Early Permian postglacial marine shale-and-sandstone sequence in the Ellsworth Mountains. Volcaniclastic forearc sediments of Permian( ) to Triassic age are known from the Antarctic Peninsula. The introduction of abundant volcanic detritus to the East Antarctic craton and a 180{degree} paleocurrent reversal in the Late Permian in the Beardmore Glacier area is the earliest evidence of folding along the Antarctic-Pacific margin. By the Early Triassic, folding involved Late Permian sequences in the Ellsworth and Transantarctic (Pensacola) mountains. Thick Upper Permian and Triassic braided-stream deposits of mixed volcanic and cratonic provenance accumulated in this foreland basin. Subsidence ended in the Early Jurassic with uplift and diabase intrusion associated with the breakup of Gondwanaland.
- OSTI ID:
- 7010683
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-900605--
- Journal Information:
- AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA), Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA) Vol. 74:5; ISSN AABUD; ISSN 0149-1423
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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