Cretaceous and Tertiary Strata of the James Ross Basin and the Evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula

詹姆斯罗斯盆地包含南极洲唯一暴露的上白垩统至下第三纪海相地层序列。该层序沉积于与南极半岛中中生代至中第三纪“安第斯”活动板块边缘发育有关的弧后盆地。西摩岛有坎帕尼亚至渐新世地层。这些固结不良的沉积岩中包含着种类繁多的无脊椎动物，其中大部分都保存得非常完好。植物微化石也很常见，脊椎动物动物群包括来自南极洲的第一个有袋动物化石。坎帕系至古新世层序也跨越了K/T界线。该序列通过研究地层的沉积背景、古流数据、碎屑沉积物的来源以及同时期火山物质的岩石学特征，为研究南极半岛科迪勒拉的构造演化提供了机会。这些实地和实验室研究的结果将与科迪勒拉的岩浆历史资料相结合，以模拟占据南极半岛北部地区的源区地形的构造演化。

The James Ross Basin contains the only exposed sequence of Upper Cretaceous to Lower Tertiary marine strata in Antarctica. This sequence was deposited in an back-arc basin related to the development of the mid-Mesozoic to mid-Tertiary "Andean" active plate margin of the Antarctic Peninsula. Seymour Island has strata of Campanian to Oligocene age. These poorly consolidated sedimentary rocks contain a diverse invertebrate fauna that for the most part shows exceptional preservation. Plant microfossils are also common, and the vertebrate faunas include the first fossil marsupial from Antarctica. The Campanian to Paleocene sequence also spans the K/T boundary. This sequence provides the opportunity to investigate the tectonic evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula cordillera through study of the depositional settings of the strata, paleocurrent data, provenance of the detrital sediment, and petrology of the contemporaneous volcanic material. Results of these field and laboratory studies will be combined with information on the magmatic history of the cordillera to model the tectonic evolution of the source terrain which occupied the region of the northern Antarctic Peninsula.