Journal article
Dating of volcanism and sedimentation in the Skelton Group, Transantarctic Mountains: Implications for the Rodinia-Gondwana transition in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica
AF Cooper, R Maas, JM Scott, AJW Barber
Bulletin of the Geological Society of America | GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC | Published : 2011
DOI: 10.1130/B30237.1
Abstract
The Ross orogen in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, is composed of Skelton Group metasedimentary rocks and varied plutons of the Granite Harbor intrusives. In the Baronick Glacier area, metasediments are dominated by thick sequences of coarse conglomerate, interbedded with pisolitic limestones. Clasts within metacon-glomerates are predominantly volcanic, ranging in composition from basanite to rhyolite. Baronick basaltic clast compositions are mildly alkalic and ocean-island basalt-like, compatible with eruption in a continental- margin rift environment. Sr-Nd isotope ratios suggest rhyolites and quartz-trachytes were produced by assimilation and fractional crystallization mechanisms. Two..
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Funding Acknowledgements
A.F.C. wishes to thank Antarctica New Zealand, which has provided logistic support over many field seasons in southern Victoria Land. Additional analytical expenses have been largely defrayed by grants from the University of Otago Research Committee. LA-ICP-MS analysis was completed at the Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Australia, where we thank Professor Ian Campbell and Dr. Charlotte Allan for access to facilities and Dr. Mike Palin for assistance with analysis. Assistance with drafting by Kay Swann, XRF analysis by Damian Walls, and thin section preparation by Brent Pooley is gratefully acknowledged. The manuscript has benefited from the institutional review of Dave Craw, and the Bulletin reviews of John Goodge, Nicholas Direen, and Steve Boger. The journal reviewers, in particular, are thanked for bringing critical Australian literature to our attention and for constructive criticism that has led to significant improvement of the paper. Finally grateful thanks to Nancy Riggs (Editor) and Christine Siddoway (Associate Editor) for their encouragement and guidance.