Neogene glacial geology of the Prince Charles Mountains

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Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Unknown

Publication_Date: Unknown

Title: Neogene glacial geology of the Prince Charles Mountains

Description:

Abstract:

From the abstracts fo some of the referenced papers: In the Amery Oasis of the northern Prince Charles Mountains, the glaciomarine Bardin Bluffs Formation of the Pagodroma Group was deposited between the Late Pliocene (less than 3.1 Ma) and Early Pleistocene (>1 Ma). The formation provides evidence of (i) a reduced East Antarctic ice sheet compared to that of the present day and (ii) a subsequent Plio-Pleistocene ice sheet expansion. The formation consists of two member. The older, basal Member 1 is about 12.5 m thick and consists of relatively ice-distal silty, sandy and sparsely fossiliferous fjordal strata. Member 1 reflects largely ice-free marine sedimentation about 250 km inland from the current Amery Ice Shelf edge. The member is restricted to the area about the north-eastern end of Pagodroma Gorge where it infills a chemically weathered erosion surface, cut in the form of a valley on the Permo-Triassic Amery Group. Weathering occurred during aerial exposure of the Amery Oasis in a warmer climate than that of today. The younger Member 2 exceeds 40 m in thickness and is made up of coarse ice proximal glaciomarine diamicts. It overlies disconformably Member 1 at Pagodroma Gorge. Elsewhere, Member 2 rests directly upon a smoothed and striated erosion surface, cut on the Amery Group, which was part of a fjord floor. This erosional surface and the facies contrast between the two members, indicates an East Antarctic Ice Sheet expansion and Lambert Glacier grounding-line advance. The Menzies Range in the southern Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica, records at least four intervals of Cenozoic terrestrial glacigene sedimentation, and two periods of glacial erosion. The oldest Cenozoic strata, here named the Pardoe Formation, are greater than 240 m thick, and consist of variable diamicts with subordinate sandstones and minor laminated lacustrine siltstones. The Pardoe Formation overlies a rugged erosion surface cut into Precambrian basement. Two subsequent Cenozoic sequences are here named informally the Trail diamicts and the younger Amphitheatre diamicts. The latter infilled the lower regions of an extremely rugged erosion surface, many components of which still dominate the present topography. The palaeodrainage of this erosion surface is markedly discordant with that of the older erosion surface underlying the Pardoe Formation. These three depositional events and the two associated erosion surfaces record warmer climates and increased snow accumulation under conditions of temperate wet-based glaciation. During the excavation of the sub-Amphitheatre diamict erosion surface, the East Antarctic ice sheet was either absent, further inland or the height of its surface relative to the Menzies Range as considerably lower than at present. The fourth and youngest depositional episode, recorded by a veneer of boulder gravel distributed along the northern flank of the Menzies Range, is from dry-based glacier ice, and assumed to be less than 2.6 Myr. This work was also completed for ASAC project 1065 (ASAC_1065). Some explanatory notes for the excel files are: BARDIN = Bardin Bluffs GLOSS. = Glossopteris Gully BAIN= Bainmedart Cove PCM = Prince Charles Mountains AM = Amery (as in Amery Oasis) Sample numbers are from different positions within exposed sequences (illustrated in figures in the paper). Top and Bottom represent the &top& and &bottom& position in some sequences. These are also illustrated in the figures. Positions are illustrated in the manuscript Whitehead, et al (2004). Dm = diamict sample, Mud = Mud. Raw slides = standard strewn microscope slides Concentrated slides = heavy liquid separation to concentrate the fossils The fields in this dataset are: Location Name Number Lithology Bardin Bluffs Battye Glacier Fisher Bench Mt Johnston Length (micrometres) Width (micrometres)

Purpose:

Not Available

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Whitehead, J.M. and McKelvey, B.C. 2001 The stratigraphy of the Pliocene - Early Pleistocene Bardin Bluffs Formation, Amery Oasis, Northern Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. Antarctic Science 13 1 79-86

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Whitehead J.M. and McKelvey B.C. 2002 Cenozoic glacigene sedimentation and erosion at the Menzies Range, southern Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. Journal of Glaciology 48 161 226-236

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Whitehead, J.M., McKelvey, B., and McMinn, A. 2000 1997/1998 Cenozoic geological fieldwork in the Southern Prince Charles Mountains of East Antarctica. Terra Antartica 7 655-656

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 19971001

Ending_Date: 19980331

Currentness_Reference:Unknown

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed

Spatial_Domain:

Description_of_Geographic_Extent:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: 65.0

East_Bounding_Coordinate: 70.0

North_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.0

South_Bounding_Coordinate: -73.0

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD SCIENCE PARAMETERS

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD PLATFORM

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ANCILLARY KEYWORDS

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO TOPIC CATEGORY

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: DATA SET LANGUAGE

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > PALEOCLIMATE > LAND RECORDS > GLACIATION

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES > GLACIAL LANDFORMS

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > ROCKS/MINERALS/CRYSTALS > AGE DETERMINATIONS

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > ROCKS/MINERALS/CRYSTALS

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > TECTONICS > PLATE TECTONICS > STRATIGRAPHIC SEQUENCE

Theme_Keyword: FIELD SURVEYS

Theme_Keyword: Amery Ice Shelf

Theme_Keyword: Amery Oasis

Theme_Keyword: Bardin Bluffs

Theme_Keyword: Battye Glacier

Theme_Keyword: Beaver Lake

Theme_Keyword: Diamicts

Theme_Keyword: Erosion

Theme_Keyword: Fisher Bench

Theme_Keyword: Fjordal Sedimentation

Theme_Keyword: Fjords

Theme_Keyword: Grounding Line Fluctuations

Theme_Keyword: Length

Theme_Keyword: Lithology

Theme_Keyword: Location

Theme_Keyword: Mt Johnston

Theme_Keyword: Name

Theme_Keyword: Northern Prince Charles Mountains

Theme_Keyword: Number

Theme_Keyword: Pleistocene

Theme_Keyword: Pliocene

Theme_Keyword: Prince Charles Mountains

Theme_Keyword: Sedimentation

Theme_Keyword: Southern Prince Charles Mountains

Theme_Keyword: Width

Theme_Keyword: CLIMATOLOGY/METEOROLOGY/ATMOSPHERE

Theme_Keyword: GEOSCIENTIFIC INFORMATION

Theme_Keyword: INLAND WATERS

Theme_Keyword: ENGLISH

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA > PRINCE CHARLES MOUNTAINS

Place_Keyword: GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Access_Constraints: A PDF copy of the referenced papers are available for download from the url given below.

Use_Constraints:

This data set conforms to the PICCCBY Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: ANDREW MCMINN

Contact_Position: INVESTIGATOR

Contact_Position: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Contact_Position: DIF AUTHOR

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies

Address: University of Tasmania

Address: Private Bag 77

City: Hobart

State_or_Province: Tasmania

Postal_Code: 7001

Country: Australia

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +61 3 6266 2980

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +61 3 6226 2973

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: Andrew.McMinn@utas.edu.au

Data_Quality_Information:

Attribute_Accuracy:

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:

The dates provided in temporal coverage are approximate only.

Logical_Consistency_Report:

Not Available

Completeness_Report:

Not Available

Lineage:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

Not Available

Process_Date: Unknown

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: AU/AADC > Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia

Contact_Person: DATA OFFICER AADC

Contact_Position: DATA CENTER CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: Australian Antarctic Division

Address: 203 Channel Highway

City: Kingston

State_or_Province: Tasmania

Postal_Code: 7050

Country: Australia

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +61 3 6232 3244

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +61 3 6232 3351

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: metadata@aad.gov.au

Resource_Description: ASAC_2086

Distribution_Liability:

Not Available

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: PDF, excel

Transfer_Size: 5531 KB

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

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http://data.aad.gov.au

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DATA CENTER URL

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http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/portal/download_file.c...

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Download point for the data

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https://secure3.aad.gov.au/proms/public/projects/r...

Access_Instructions:

Public information for ASAC project 2086

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Network_Resource_Name:

http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?...

Access_Instructions:

Citation reference for this metadata record and dataset

Fees: Free

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20000811

Metadata_Review_Date: 20110512

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: ANDREW MCMINN

Contact_Position: INVESTIGATOR

Contact_Position: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Contact_Position: DIF AUTHOR

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies

Address: University of Tasmania

Address: Private Bag 77

City: Hobart

State_or_Province: Tasmania

Postal_Code: 7001

Country: Australia

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +61 3 6266 2980

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +61 3 6226 2973

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: Andrew.McMinn@utas.edu.au

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: local time