Abstract
Geophysical data acquired along the Antarctic passive margins constrain the structure and geometry of the deformed continental crust. Crustal thickness estimates range between 7 and 50 km and the Antarctic continent–ocean transition zone (COTZ) extends up to 100–670 km towards the ocean. Continental deformation prior to rifting over a c. 100 million years long time span resulted in crustal stretching factors varying between 1.8 and 5.9. The time span of deformation was sufficiently large and the rifting velocity low enough to extend the margin by up to 300–400 km. Crustal thinning generates a significant subsidence and shallow water passages might already have developed during the rifting phase along the margin. Accounting for accurate continental margin deformation has also consequences for plate-tectonic reconstructions.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bayer B, Geissler WH, Eckstaller A, Jokat W (2009) Seismic imaging of the crust beneath Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. Geophys J Int 178(2):860–876. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04196.x
Cox A (1973) Plate tectonics and geomagnetic reversals. W.H. Freeman, San Francisco. ISBN 0-7167-0258-4
Cox A, Hart RB (1986) Plate tectonics: how it works. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. ISBN 9-78-0-86542-313-8
Eagles G, Gohl K, Larter R (2004) High-resolution animated tectonic reconstruction of the South Pacific and West Antarctic margin. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 5:Q07002. doi:10.1029/2003GC000657
Gohl K (2008) Antarctica’s continent–ocean transitions: consequences for tectonic reconstructions. In: Cooper AK, Barrett P, Stagg H, Storey B, Stump E, Wise W, and the 10th ISAES Editorial Team (eds) Proceedings of the 10th international symposium on Antarctic earth sciences, Polar Research Board, National Research Council, U.S. Geological Survey, The National Academies Press, Washington, pp 29–38
Gohl K, Leitchenkov GL, Parsiegla N, Ehlers BM, Kopsch C, Damaske D, Guseva Y, Gandyukhin VV (2007a) Crustal types and continent–ocean boundaries between the Kerguelen Plateau and Prydz Bay, East Antarctica. In: Cooper AK, Raymond CR, and the 10th ISAES Editorial Team (eds) Antarctica: a keystone in a changing world—online proceedings of the 10th ISAES, USGS, USGS open-file report 2007–1047, Short Research Paper 038. doi:10.3133/of2007-1047
Gohl K, Teterin DG, Eagles G, Netzeband G, Grobys J, Parsiegla N, Schlüter P, Leinweber V, Larter R, Uenzelmann-Neben G, Udintsev G (2007b) Geophysical survey reveals tectonic structures in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica. In: Cooper AK, Raymond CR, and the 10th ISAES Editorial Team (eds) Antarctica: a keystone in a changing world—online proceedings of the 10th ISAES, USGS, USGS open-file report 2007–1047, Short Research Paper 047. doi:10.3133/of2007-1047.srp047
Jokat W, Ritzmann O, Reichert C, Hinz K (2004) Deep crustal structure of the continental margin off the explora escarpment and in the Lazarev Sea, East Antarctica. Mar Geophys Res 25:283–304. doi:10.1007/s11001-005-1337-9
Jokat W, Nogi Y, Leinweber V (2010) New aeromagnetic data from the western Enderby Basin and consequences for Antarctic–India break-up. Geophys Res Lett 37(21):L21311. doi:10.1029/2010GL045117
König M, Jokat W (2006) The Mesozoic breakup of the Weddell Sea. J Geophys Res 111:B12102. doi:10.1029/2005JB004035
Leinweber VT, Jokat W (2012) The Jurassic history of the Africa–Antarctica corridor—new constraints from magnetic data on the conjugate continental margins. Tectonophysics 530–531:87–101. doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2011.11.008
Luyendyk BP, Wilson DS, Siddoway CS (2003) Eastern margin of the Ross Sea Rift in western Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica: crustal structure and tectonic development. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 4(10):1090. doi:10.1029/2002GC000462
Reading A (2006) The seismic structure of Precambrian and early Palaeozoic terranes in the Lambert Glacier region, East Antarctica. Earth Planet Sci Lett 244(1–2):44–57. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2006.01.031
Stagg HMJ, Colwell JB, Direen NG, O’Brien PE, Brown BJ, Bernardel G, Borissova I, Carson L, Close DB (2005) Geological framework of the continental margin in the region of the Australian Antarctic Territory. In: Geoscience Australia Record 2004/25, Petroleum & Marine Division, Geoscience Australia, Canberra
Totterdell J, Blevin J, Struckmeyer H, Bradshaw B, Colwell J, Kennard J (2000) A new sequence framework for the great Australian Bight: starting with a clean slate. APPEA J 40:95–118
Vine FJ, Matthews DH (1963) Magnetic anomalies over oceanic ridges. Nature 199(4897):947–949. doi:10.1038/199947a0
Whittaker JM, Williams S, Kusznir N, Müller RD (2010) Restoring the continent–ocean boundary: constraints from lithospheric stretching grids and tectonic reconstructions. ASEG Ext Abstr 2010(1):1–4. doi:10.1071/ASEG2010ab251
van Wijk J, Cloetingh S (2002) Basin migration caused by slow lithospheric extension. Earth Planet Sci Lett 198(3–4):275–288. doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(02)00560-5
Winberry JP, Anandakrishnan S (2004) Crustal structure of the West Antarctic rift system and Marie Byrd Land hotspot. Geology 32(11):977–980. doi:10.1130/G20768.1
Wobbe F, Gohl K, Chambord A, Sutherland R (2012) Structure and breakup history of the rifted margin of West Antarctica in relation to Cretaceous separation from Zealandia and Bellingshausen plate motion. Geochem Geophys Geosyst , 13, Q04W12, doi: 10.1029/2011GC003742
Acknowledgments
Many thanks go to the editors, and an anonymous reviewer, whose comments helped to improve the publication.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lohmann, G., Grosfeld, K., Wolf-Gladrow, D., Wegner, A., Notholt, J., Unnithan, V. (2013). Geotectonics. In: Lohmann, G., Grosfeld, K., Wolf-Gladrow, D., Unnithan, V., Notholt, J., Wegner, A. (eds) Earth System Science: Bridging the Gaps between Disciplines. SpringerBriefs in Earth System Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32235-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32235-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-32234-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-32235-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)