Mineralogical and Geochemical Approaches to Provenance
Nunatak moraines as a repository of what lies beneath the East Antarctic ice sheet
-
Published:May 01, 2012
-
CiteCitation
Emerson F. Palmer, Kathy J. Licht, R. Jeffrey Swope, Sidney R. Hemming, 2012. "Nunatak moraines as a repository of what lies beneath the East Antarctic ice sheet", Mineralogical and Geochemical Approaches to Provenance, E. Troy Rasbury, Sidney R. Hemming, Nancy R. Riggs
Download citation file:
- Share
The particle size and provenance signature of glacial till from the Lonewolf Nunataks at the head of Byrd Glacier, Antarctica, show evidence of subglacial origin and therefore provide new information about ice-covered bedrock of East Antarctica. Particle-size data from ice-cored moraines at Lonewolf Nunataks show more abundant silt and clay (>50% fines) than active lateral moraines along downstream sites (<10% fines), and 25% of pebbles are faceted and/or striated. Sand and pebbles from moraines at Lonewolf Nunataks are a mix of locally derived Beacon Supergroup rocks and exotic felsic igneous and metamorphic rocks. The U/Pb detrital zircon data from the Lonewolf Nunataks till show significant populations of zircon ages, including early Ross and/or Pan-African ages of ca. 565–610 Ma, Grenville ages (ca. 950–1270 Ma), several Proterozoic peaks, and one prominent late Archean peak at ca. 2700 Ma. 40Ar/39Ar analyses of detrital hornblende and mica also show Ross and/or Pan-African ages from ca. 500 to 580 Ma, with a population of Grenville-age hornblende grains of ca. 1150–1250 Ma. This combination of geochronological tools can be used to identify recycled versus primary age populations eroded by the ice sheet, and so provide constraints on the age and distribution of unmapped, ice-covered bedrock. Our data show that petrologic and geochronologic signatures in East Antarctic till can be used to address geologic problems ranging from Cenozoic ice sheet history to Precambrian bedrock geology.
- absolute age
- amphibole group
- Antarctic ice sheet
- Antarctica
- bedrock
- Cenozoic
- chain silicates
- clastic sediments
- clinoamphibole
- dates
- detritus
- East Antarctic ice sheet
- erosion
- glacial erosion
- glacial features
- glacial geology
- glaciers
- Grenvillian Orogeny
- hornblende
- ice sheets
- mica group
- moraines
- nunataks
- Pan-African Orogeny
- Precambrian
- provenance
- Ross Orogeny
- sediments
- sheet silicates
- silicates
- subglacial processes
- till
- Transantarctic Mountains
- U/Pb
- Byrd Glacier
- Lonewolf Nunataks