Glacial Geology of the Icefields of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet near the Allan Hills, Victoria Land

这项调查旨在检验有关南极东部冰盖及其底部的基岩地质的重要假设：1)来自对冰上冰雹(大象和海冰)进行微体化石(海洋硅藻)分析，以确认新近纪大陆上存在海相海湾，并通过Rb-Sr测年确定碎屑长石颗粒的来源；2)地球化学和同位素数据将被用来确定来自大象冰原的黑色针状方解石样品是否为热液成因，从而表明东南极冰盖下曾有温泉存在；3)沿调查断面采集的135个冰样的氢和氧同位素组成有望指示冰场是否毗邻冰上冰川暴露了东南极冰盖的地层横截面。*//

This investigation is designed to test important hypotheses regarding the East Antarctic ice sheet and the bedrock geology at its base: 1) Clay samples from supraglacial moraines (Elephant and Reckling Moraines) will be analyzed for microfossils (marine diatoms) in order to confirm the existence of a marine embayment on the continent in Neogene time and to determine the source of detrital feldspar grains by Rb-Sr dating; 2) Geochemical and isotopic data will be used to determine whether specimens of black acicular calcite from the Elephant Moraine are of hydrothermal origin and therefore indicate the former presence of hot springs under the East Antarctic ice sheet; and 3) The oxygen and hydrogen isotope composition of 135 ice samples collected along surveyed traverses are expected to indicate whether the icefields adjacent to the supraglacial moraines expose a stratigraphic cross-section of the East Antarctic ice sheet. *** //