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

这项调查的目的是测试关于南极东部冰盖及其底部基岩地质的重要假设：1)将对冰川上冰碛（象碛和雷克林冰碛）的粘土样本进行微化石（海洋硅藻）分析，以确认新近纪在该大陆上存在海洋沉积物，并确定碎屑的来源长石颗粒Rb-Sr测年法；2)利用地球化学和同位素资料确定大象冰碛黑色针状方解石标本是否为热液成因，从而表明南极东部冰盖下曾经存在温泉；3) 135个冰样的氧和氢同位素组成可用于指示靠近冰上冰碛的冰原是否暴露出南极东部冰盖的地层剖面。​* * * / /

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. *** //