RECONNAISSANCE APATITE FISSION-TRACK DATA FROM THE EAST ANTARCTIC SHIELD

Abstract

The low-temperature (i.e.<~120°C) thermal history of the East Antarctic Shield has been assessed by apatite fission-track analysis of 42 Precambrian outcrop samples. The variability in the relationship between apatite fission track age and mean track length in data from various geographical regions suggests differences in styles of cooling during the Phanerozoic. Samples from the continental margin east of Prydz Bay are inferred to have cooled during the late Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic, between ~300 and 200 Ma, while samples from the Prince Charles Mountains and from the continental margin west of Prydz Bay are inferred to have cooled more recently in the Mesozoic at ~150 Ma. Evidence for..