The Ellsworth Mountains Terrane: Its Origin and Accretion to East Antarctica

该奖项支持对埃尔斯沃思山脉进行地层学、古生物学、构造、地球化学和地质年代学的综合研究。本工作的目的是确定该地区晚元古代和古生代的沉积和构造历史。埃尔斯沃斯-惠特莫尔山脉块体是西南极洲大陆地壳块体拼贴中的一个重要构造元素。这次调查将通过仔细的地质填图和样品收集来完成，目的是进行微观结构运动学分析、痕量和稀土地球化学分析以及地质年代学工作。该项目将使用40Ar/39Ar和U/Pb同位素定年方法来确定事件的绝对时间。这项工作将有助于限制西南极洲一个重要地区的构造模式。特别是，正确理解这个块体是评估关于超级大陆形成或分裂的假设的关键，例如新元古代的罗迪尼亚或古生代的冈瓦纳。

This award supports an integrated stratigraphic, paleontologic, structural, geochemical, and geochronological study of the Ellsworth Mountains. The purpose of this work is to determine the depositional and tectonic history of this region during late Proterozoic and Paleozoic time. The Ellsworth-Whitmore Mountains block is an important tectonic element within the collage of continental crustal blocks of West Antarctica. This investigation will be accomplished by careful geological mapping and sample collecting for purposes of microstructural kinematic analysis, trace and rare-earth geochemical analysis, and geochronological work. The project will use 40Ar/39Ar and U/Pb isotopic dating methods to define the absolute timing of events. This work will help to constrain tectonic models for an important region of West Antarctica. In particular, a proper understanding of this block is key to evaluating hypotheses about the formation or breakup of supercontinents, such as Rodinia in the Neoproterozoic or Gondwana in the Paleozoic.