Hostname: page-component-66d9dcfd78-jd69p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-08-08T03:50:22.734Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Metamorphic rocks in the Antarctic Peninsula region

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2008

ANKE S. WENDT ,
ALAN P. M. VAUGHAN  and
ALEXANDER TATE
ANKE S. WENDT*
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, Geosciences Division, High Cross Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
ALAN P. M. VAUGHAN
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, Geosciences Division, High Cross Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
ALEXANDER TATE
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, Geosciences Division, High Cross Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
*
*Author for correspondence: awendt@slb.com; present address: Schlumberger, Data & Consulting Services (DCS), Geomechanics, Risabergveien 3, 4068 Stavanger, Norway
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The distribution of metamorphic rocks in the Antarctic Peninsula region, new quantitative peak pressure–temperature data along the Antarctic Peninsula, and a literature review on the current knowledge of metamorphic conditions in the Antarctic Peninsula region have been compiled into a single metamorphic map. The pressure–temperature data for the Antarctic Peninsula indicate (1) burial of supracrustal rocks to low to mid-crustal depth along the eastern and western side of the Antarctic Peninsula and on some islands adjacent to the western side of the peninsula; (2) uplift of lower- to mid-crustal metamorphic rocks along major shear and fault zones; and (3) a reversed succession of metamorphic grades for the western domain of the Antarctic Peninsula region compared to the eastern domain along the Eastern Palmer Land Shear Zone (EPLSZ) of the Antarctic Peninsula. The metamorphic data are consistent with oblique convergence between Alexander Island (the Western Domain), Palmer Land (Central Domain) and the Gondwana margin (the Eastern Domain), supporting a model of (1) exhumation and shearing of the higher pressure rocks from central western (up to 9.4 kbar) and from northeast (7 kbar to 9 kbar) Palmer Land, (2) the exhumation and shearing of low to medium pressure rocks in western Palmer Land and along the Eastern Palmer Land Shear Zone, and (3) shallow burial and subsequent exhumation of sediments of the Gondwana margin along the Eastern Palmer Land Shear Zone. Based on the high-amphibolite grade rocks exposed in central western Palmer Land, our data also support earlier suggestions that the Eastern Palmer Land Shear Zone is the surface expression of a northwest- to west-dipping, deep-level, high-temperature crustal shear zone extending below the western part of the Central Domain of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Keywords

pressuretemperatureterrane accretionmetamorphism

Information

Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 145 , Issue 5 , September 2008 , pp. 655 - 676
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Adie, R. J. 1954. The petrology of Graham Land I. The basement complex: early Palaezoic plutonic and volcanic rocks. Falkland Island Dependencies Survey Scientific Reports 11, 1–22.Google Scholar
Adie, R. J. 1957. The petrology of Graham Land: III. Metamorphic rocks of the Trinity Peninsula Series. Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey Scientific Reports 20, 1–26.Google Scholar
Aitkenhead, N. 1975. The geology of Duse Bay–Larsen Inlet area, northeast Graham Land (with particular reference to the Trinity Peninsula Series). British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports 51, 1–62.Google Scholar
Anckorn, J. F. 1984. The geology of parts of the Wilkins and Black Coasts, Palmer Land. British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports 104, 1–30.Google Scholar
Bell, C. M. 1975. Structural geology of parts of Alexander Island. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 41, 43–58.Google Scholar
Berman, R. G. 1988. Internally consistent thermodynamic data for minerals in the system Na2O–K2O–CaCO–MgO–FeO–Fe2O–Al2O3–SiO2–TiO2–H2O–CO2. Journal of Petrology 29, 445–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berman, R. G. 1990. Mixing properties of Ca–Mg–Fe–Mn garnets. American Mineralogist 75, 328–44.Google Scholar
Berman, R. G. 1991. Thermobarometry using multi-equilibrium calculations: a new technique, with petrological applications. Canadian Mineralogist 29, 833–55.Google Scholar
Berman, R. G., Engi, M., Greenwood, H. J. & Brown, T. H. 1986. Derivation of internally-consistent thermodynamic data by the technique of mathematical programming, a review with application to the system MgO–SiO2–TiO2–H2O. Journal of Petrology 27, 1331–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burn, R. W. 1984. The geology of the LeMay Group, Alexander Island. British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports 109, 1–65.Google Scholar
Coombs, D. S. 1961. Some recent work on the lower grades of metamorphism. Australian Journal of Science 24, 204–16.Google Scholar
Dalziel, I. W. D. 1984. Tectonic evolution of a forearc terrane, southern Scotia Ridge, Antarctic. Geological Society of America Special Papers 200, 1–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, T. G. 1984. The geology of part of Northern Palmer Land. Scientific Report of the British Antarctic Survey 103.Google Scholar
Edwards, C. W. 1980. New evidence of major faulting on Alexander Island. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 49, 33–58.Google Scholar
Edwards, C. W. 1982. New palaeontological evidence of Triassic sedimentation in West Antarctica. In Antarctic Geoscience (ed. Craddock, C.), pp. 325–30. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Elliot, D. H. 1966. Geology of the Nordenskjöld Coast and a comparison with northwest Trinity Peninsula, Graham Land. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 10, 1–43.Google Scholar
Ferraccioli, F., Jones, P. C., Vaughan, A. P. M. & Leat, P. T. 2006. New aerogeophysical view of the Antarctic Peninsula: More pieces, less puzzle. Geophysical Research Letters 33, Art. No. L05310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fleet, M. 1968. The geology of the Oscar II Coast, Graham Land. British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports 59, 1–46.Google Scholar
Fraser, A. G. & Grimley, P. H. 1972. The geology of parts of the Bowman and Wilkins Coasts, Antarctic Peninsula. British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports 67, 1–59.Google Scholar
Gledhill, A., Rex, D. C. & Tanner, P. W. G. 1982. Rb–Sr and K–Ar geochronology of rocks from the Antarctic Peninsula between Anvers Island and Marguerite Bay. In Antarctic Geoscience (ed. Craddock, C.), pp. 315–23. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Harrison, S. M. & Loske, W. P. 1988. Early Palaeozoic U–Pb isotopic age for an orthogneiss from northwestern Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 81, 11–18.Google Scholar
Harrison, S. M. & Piercy, B. A. 1992. Basement gneisses in north-western Palmer Land: further evidence of pre-Mesozoic rocks in Lesser Antarctica. In Geological Evolution of Antarctica (eds Thomson, M. R. A., Crame, J. A. & Thomson, J. W.), pp. 341–4. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hervé, F., Godoy, E. & Davidson, J. 1982. Blueschist Relic Clinopyroxenes of Smith Island (South Shetland Islands): their Composition, Origin and some Tectonic Implications. In Antarctic Earth Science (eds Oliver, R. L., James, P. R. & Jago, J. B.), pp. 363–7. Australian Academy of Science.Google Scholar
Hervé, F., Lobato, J., Ugalde, I. & Pankhurst, R. J. 1996. The geology of Cape Dubouzet, northern Antarctic Peninsula: continental basement to the Trinity Peninsula Group? Antarctic Science 8, 407–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hervé, F. & Pankhurst, R. J. 1984. The Scotia metamorphic complex at Cape Bowles, Clarence Island, South Shetland Islands, Western Antarctica. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 62, 15–24.Google Scholar
Holdaway, M. J. 1971. Stability of andalusite and the aluminum silicate phase diagram. American Journal of Science 271, 97–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holdsworth, B. K. & Nell, P. A. R. 1992. Mesozoic radiolarian faunas from the Antarctic Peninsula: age, tectonic and palaeoceanographic significance. Journal of the Geological Society, London 149, 1003–20.Google Scholar
Holland, T. & Blundy, J. 1994. Non-ideal interactions in calcic amphiboles and their bearing on amphibole–plagioclase thermometry. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 119, 433–47.Google Scholar
Hoskins, A. K. 1963. The basement complex of Neny Fjord, Graham Land. British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports 43, 1–49.Google Scholar
Hyden, G. & Tanner, P. W. G. 1981. Late Palaeozoic–early Mesozoic fore-arc basin sedimentary rocks at the Pacific margin in western Gondwana. Geologische Rundschau 70, 529–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, A. C. 1999. Interpretation of new aeromagnetic anomaly data from the central Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of Geophysical Research 104, 5031–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelm, U. & Hervé, F. 1994. Illite crystallinity of metapelites from the Trinity Peninsula Group, Lesser Antarctica: some implications for provenance and metamorphism. Serie Científica Instituto Antártico Chileno 44, 9–16.Google Scholar
Leat, P. T., Scarrow, J. H. & Millar, I. L. 1995. On the Antarctic Peninsula batholith.Geological Magazine 132, 399–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loske, W., Hervé, F., Miller, H. & Pankhurst, R. J. 1997. Rb–Sr and U–Pb studies of the pre-Andean and Andean magmatism in the Horseshoe Island area, Marguerite Bay (Antarctic Peninsula). In The Antarctic Region: geological evolution and processes (ed. Ricci, C. A.), pp. 353–60. Siena: Terra Antarctica Publication.Google Scholar
Loske, W. & Miller, H. 1991. Rb–Sr and U–Pb geochronology of basement xenoliths at Cape Dubouzet, Antarctic Peninsula. In Sixth International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Science, pp. 374–79. Tokyo, National Institute of Polar Research.Google Scholar
Loske, W. P., Miller, H., Milne, A. J. & Hervé, F. 1990. U–Pb zircon ages of xenoliths from Cape Dubouzet, northern Antarctic Peninsula. Zentralblatt für Geologie and Paläontologie 1, 87–95.Google Scholar
Macdonald, D. I. M. & Butterworth, P. J. 1990. The stratigraphy, setting and hydrocarbon potential of the Mesozoic sedimentary basins of the Antarctic Peninsula. In Antarctica as an Exploration Frontier (ed. John, B. St.), pp. 101–25. American Association of Petroleum Geologist, Studies in Geology no. 31.Google Scholar
Maslanyj, M. P. 1988. Gravity and aeromagnetic evidence for the crustal structure of George VI Sound, Antarctic Peninsula. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 79, 1–16.Google Scholar
Matthews, D. W. 1983 a. The geology of Pourquoi Pas Island, northern Marguerite Bay, Graham Land. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 52, 1–20.Google Scholar
Matthews, D. W. 1983 b. The geology of Horseshoe and Lagotellerie Islands, Marguerite Bay, Graham Land. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 52, 125–54.Google Scholar
Meneilly, A. W. 1988. Reverse fault step at Engel Peak, Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of Structural Geology 10, 393–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millar, I. L., Pankhurst, R. J. & Fanning, C. M. 2002. Basement chronology of the Antarctic Peninsula: recurrent magmatism and anatexis in the Palaeozoic Gondwana Margin. Journal of the Geological Society, London 159, 145–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milne, A. J. 1987. The geology of southern Oscar II Coast, Graham Land. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 75, 73–81.Google Scholar
Milne, A. J. & Millar, I. L. 1989. The significance of mid-Palaeozoic basement in Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of the Geological Society, London 146, 207–10.Google Scholar
Musumeci, G. 1999. Magmatic belts in accretionary margins, a key for tectonic evolution: the Tonalite Belt of North Victoria Land (East Antarctica). Journal of the Geological Society, London 156, 177–89.Google Scholar
Pankhurst, R. J. 1982. Rb–Sr geochronology of Graham Land, Antarctica. Journal of the Geological Society, London 139, 701–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pankhurst, R. J. 1990. The Paleozoic and Andean magmatic arcs of West Antarctica and southern South America. Geological Society of America Special Paper 241, 17.Google Scholar
Parra, T., Vidal, O. & Agard, P. 2002. A thermodynamic model for Fe–Mg dioctahedral K white micas using data from phase-equilibrium experiments and natural pelitic assemblages. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 143, 706–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piercy, B. A. & Harrison, S. M. 1991. Mesozoic metamorphism, deformation and plutonism in the southern Antarctic Peninsula: evidence from northwestern Palmer Land. In Geological Evolution of Antarctica (eds Thomson, M. R. A., Crame, J. A. & Thomson, J. W.), pp. 381–85. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rex, D. C. 1976. Geochronology in relation to stratigraphy of the Antarctic Peninsula. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 43, 49–58.Google Scholar
Rivano, S. & Cortes, R. 1976. Note on the presence of lawsonite sodic amphibole association on Smith Island, South Shetland Island, Antarctica. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 29, 34–6.Google Scholar
Singleton, D. G. 1980. The geology of the central Black Coast, Palmer Land. British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports 102, 1–50.Google Scholar
Smellie, J. L. 1979. The Geology of Low Island, South Shetland Island, and Austin Rocks. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 49, 239–57.Google Scholar
Smellie, J. L. 1981. A complete arc–trench system recognized in Gondwana sequences of the Antarctic Peninsula region. Geological Magazine 118, 139–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smellie, J. L. 1987. Sandstone detrital modes and basinal setting of the Trinity Peninsula Group, northern Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula: a preliminary survey. In Gondwana Six: structure, tectonics, and geophysics (ed. Mackenzie, G. D.), pp. 199–207. Geophysical Monograph no. 40. Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union.Google Scholar
Smellie, J. L. 1991. Stratigraphy, provencance and tectonic setting of (?)Late Palaezoic–Triassic sedimentary sequences in northern Graham Land and South Scotia Ridge. In Geological Evolution of Antarctica (eds Thomson, M. R. A., Crame, J. A. & Thomson, J. W.), pp. 411–17. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Smellie, J. L. & Clarkson, P. D. 1975. Evidence for pre-Jurassic subduction in western Antarctica. Nature 258, 701–2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smellie, J. L. & Millar, I. L. 1995. New K–Ar isotopic ages of schists from Nordenskjöld Coast, Antarctic Peninsula: oldest part of the Trinity Peninsula Group? Antarctic Science 7, 191–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smellie, J. L., Roberts, B. & Hirons, S. R. 1996. Very low- and low-grade metamorphism in the Trinity Peninsula Group (Permo-Triassic) of northern Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula. Geological Magazine 133, 583–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spear, F. S. 1993. Metamorphic phase equilibria and pressure–temperature–time paths. Mineralogical Society of America, Monograph, 1–799.Google Scholar
Storey, B. C. & Alabaster, T. 1991. Tectonomagmatic constrols on Gondwana break-up models: evidence from the proto-Pacific margin of Antarctica. Tectonics 10, 1274–88.Google Scholar
Storey, B. C. & Garrett, S. W. 1985. Crustal growth of the Antarctic Peninsula by accretion, magmatism and extension. Geological Magazine 122, 5–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Storey, B. C. & Nell, P. A. R. 1988. Role of strike-slip faulting in the tectonic evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of the Geological Society, London 145, 333–7.Google Scholar
Storey, B. C., Vaughan, A. P. M. & Millar, I. L. 1996.Geodynamic evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula during Mesozoic times and its bearing on Weddell Sea history. In Weddell Sea tectonics and Gondwana break-up (eds Storey, B. C., Livermore, R. L. & King, E. C.), pp. 87–104. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 108.Google Scholar
Storey, B. C., Wever, H. E., Rowley, P. D. & Ford, A. B. 1987. Report on Antarctic fieldwork. The geology of the central Black Coast, Eastern Palmer Land. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 77, 145–55.Google Scholar
Suarez, M. 1976. Plate tectonic model for southern Antarctic Peninsula and its relation to the southern Andes. Geology 4, 211–14.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, B. J. 1967. Trace fossils from the Fossil Bluff series of Alexander Island. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 13, 1–30.Google Scholar
Taylor, B. J. 1982. Sedimentary dykes, pipes and related structures in the Mesozoic sediments of south-eastern Alexander Island. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 41, 1–42.Google Scholar
Thomson, M. R. A. & Pankhurst, R. J. 1983. Age of post-Gondwanian volcanism in the Antarctic Peninsula region. In Antarctic Earth Science (eds Oliver, R. L., James, P. R. & Jago, J. B.), pp. 323–33. Canberra: Australian Academy of Science.Google Scholar
Thomson, M. R. A. & Tranter, T. H. 1986. Early Jurassic fossils from central Alexander Island and their geological setting. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 70, 23–39.Google Scholar
Trouw, R. A. J., Simoes, L. S. A. & Valladares, C. S. 1998. Metamorphic evolution of a subduction complex, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Journal of Metamorphic Geology 16, 475–90.Google Scholar
Vaughan, A. P. M., Kelley, S. P. & Storey, B. C. 2002. Mid-Cretaceous ductile deformation on the Eastern Palmer Land Shear Zone, Antarctica, and implications for timing of Mesozoic terrane collision. Geological Magazine 139, 465–71.Google Scholar
Vaughan, A. P. M. & Millar, I. L. 1996. Early Cretaceous magmatism during extensional deformation within the Antarctic Peninsula magmatic arc. Journal of South American Earth Science 9, 121–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vaughan, A. P. M., Millar, I. L. & Thistlewood, L. 1999. The Auriga Nunataks shear zone: Mesozoic transfer faulting and arc deformation in NW Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula. Tectonics 18, 911–28.Google Scholar
Vaughan, A. P. M., Pankhurst, R. J. & Fanning, C. M. 2002. A mid-Cretaceous age for the Palmer Land event, Antarctic Peninsula: implications for terrane accretion timing and Gondwana palaeolatitudes. Journal of the Geological Society, London 159, 113–16.Google Scholar
Vaughan, A. P. M. & Storey, B. C. 2000. The Eastern Palmer Land Shear Zone: a new terrane accretion model for the Mesozoic development of the Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of the Geological Society, London 157, 1243–56.Google Scholar
Vaughan, A. P. M., Wareham, C. D. & Millar, I. L. 1997. Granitoid emplacement by spreading of continental crust: the Wiley Glacier complex, northwest Palmer Land, Antarctica. Tectonophysics 283, 35–60.Google Scholar
Vidal, O., Parra, T. & Trotet, F. 2001. A thermodynamic model for Fe–Mg aluminous chlorite using data from phase equilibrium experiments and natural pelitic assemblages in the 100–600 °C, 1–25 kbar P–T range. American Journal of Science 301, 557–92.Google Scholar
Vidal, O., Parra, T. & Vieillard, P. 2005. Experimental data on the Tscherrmak solid solution in Fe-chlorites: Application to natural examples and possible role of oxidation. American Mineralogist 90, 359–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willan, R. C. R. 2003. Provenance of Triassic–Cretaceous sandstones in the Antarctic Peninsula: implications for the terrane models during Gondwana breakup. Journal of Sedimentary Research 73, 1062–77.Google Scholar