The Devonian trace fossils of the Taylor Group in the Darwin Glacier area
Entry ID:
K026_1988_1989_NZ_1
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Summary
Abstract:
The principle aim of this expedition was to extend the knowledge of Devonian trace fossils in the Taylor Group in the Darwin Glacier area, to relate them to earlier published research in the Dry Valley region and to use both trace fossils and the results of sedimentological analysis to develop models for the palaeoenvironments of the Taylor Group. Using toboggans and sledges, 13 locations were ... visited in the Britannia Range, Cook Mountains and Darwin Mountains. A total of just under 5km of geological section was measured and studied. In this area the Taylor Group comprises up to 1200m of sediments in five formations, although only two of these are usually present over much of the outcrop. A new (furthest south) outcrop of Aztec Siltstone was discovered on this trip. Sites visited were Medusa, Perseus Peak, Minerva Glacier, Mercury Glacier, Gorgon's Head, Operose Peak, Dark Tower and Overturn Glacier. During the course of this fieldwork, contacts with coarse overlying Victoria Group sediments were studied with interest as pointers to basin development and tectonic control. Further fragments of the Derrick Peak meteorite, initially found by a University of Waikato party in 1978, were collected on Derrick Peak and in a valley six km to the south. The largest fragment (63kg) has been placed on display at Canterbury museum. Subsequent geochemical analysis of all 9 new fragments indicate they are identical to the initial meteorite finds, and their distribution suggests part a meteorite shower. Terrestrial ages of the fragments indicate that they were found in situ and were not melted out of glacier ice. 
Geographic Coverage
(Click for Interactive Map)
Spatial coordinates
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N: -79.0
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S: -81.0
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E: 165.0
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W: 155.0
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Temporal Coverage
Start Date:
1988-11-16
Stop Date:
1989-01-05
Quality
Canterbury Museum holds over 2000 rock specimens from Antarctica. Most of these represent the lithologies of the Beacon Supergroup of rocks and were collected during several NZARP events over a number of seasons in the 1970s and 1980s. The collections were made at a number of sites in the Transantarctic Mountains of Victoria Land. In addition, small collections were made at Cape Adare and Cape ... Hallett.
Collected at the same time were fossils (in excess of 1200 specimens) of a variety of ages, but mostly Devonian (416-359 Ma), Permian (299-251 Ma) and Triassic (251-199 Ma). Represented among the fossils are plants, invertebrates (mostly arthropods, molluscs and brachiopods) and vertebrates (fish).
In the collections Antarctic rock have catalogue numbers with the prefix RA; fossils have the prefix AF. Rock samples and fossils specific to this expedition include:
Rocks RA2097-2193; RA2199-2203; RA2214-2219 from Darwin Mountains and Cook Mountains
Fossils AF1094-1152 Devonian plants and trace fossils from the Britannia Range (Darwin Mtns, Cook Mtns), Lashly Mountains, Mt Metschel
Meteorite Met49, 60-68 Fragments of the Derrick Peak iron meteorite, Britannia Range
Please contact:
Dr Norton Hiller
Curator of Geology
Canterbury Museum
Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch 8013
NEW ZEALAND
Phone: +64 3 366 5000
Direct dial: +64 3 366 9429 ext 820
Fax: +64 3 366 5622
Email: nhiller@canterburymuseum.com
www.canterburymuseum.com
Access Constraints
Access to samples follows the specifications of Canterbury Museum.
Data Set Progress
COMPLETE
Personnel
Role:
INVESTIGATOR
Phone:
+64 3 364 2987 ext 3892
Fax:
+64 3 364 2769
Email:
margaret.bradshaw at canterbury.ac.nz
Contact Address:
Department of Geological Sciences
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
City:
Christchurch
Postal Code:
8140
Country:
New Zealand
Role:
DIF AUTHOR
Phone:
+64 3 358 0200
Fax:
+64 3 358 0211
Email:
s.gordon at antarcticanz.govt.nz
Contact Address:
Antarctica New Zealand
Private Bag 4745
City:
Christchurch
Country:
New Zealand
Publications/References
Kirkbride, M.P. Bradshaw, M.A. Harmsen, F.J. Further finds of the Derrick Peak meteorite, Transantarctic Mountains, and implications for terrestrial age. Meteoritics 26(3): 213-216, 1991. Bradshaw, M.A. Harmsen, F.J. Kirkbride, M.P. Preliminary results of the 1988-1989 expedition to the Darwin Glacier area. New Zealand Antarctic record 10(1): 28-48, 1990. Bradshaw, ... M.A. The Devonian Pacific margin of Antarctica. in: Geological evolution of Antarctica; proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences, Cambridge, 1987.Thomson M.R.A. Crame J.A. Thomson J.W. (eds) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1991. pp.193-197
Bradshaw, M.A. Geological history. in: Antarctica: the Ross Sea region. Hatherton T. (ed) Wellington: DSIR Publishing. 1990. pp.42-63 [DSIR information series: 165] ISBN 0477025862
Bradshaw, M.A. Harmsen, F.J. Kirkbride, M.P. Preliminary results of the 1988-1989 expedition to the Darwin Glacier area. New Zealand Antarctic record 10(1): 28-48, 1990.
Harmsen, F. J., Bradshaw, M. A. and Kirkbride, M. P. Depositional history of Devonian Taylor Group siliciclastic rocks in the Darwin Mountains area, Antarctica (abstract), 13th International Sedimentological Congress, Nottingham, 1990.
Woolfe, K.J. Long, J.A. Bradshaw, M.A. Harmsen, F. Kirkbride, M. Fish-bearing Aztec Siltstone (Devonian) in the Cook Mountains, Antarctica. New Zealand journal of geology and geophysics 33(3): 511-514, 1990.
Bradshaw, M. A. And Harmsen, F.J. 2007. The paleoenvironmental significance of trace fossils in Devonian sediments (Taylor Group), Darwin Mountain to the Dry Valleys, southern Victoria Land. USGS OF-2007-1047 extended abstract 133
Creation and Review Dates
DIF Creation Date:
2005-09-22
Last DIF Revision Date:
2009-03-25
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