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

该奖项支持对埃尔斯沃斯山脉进行地层学、古生物学、构造、地球化学和地质年代学的综合研究。这项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史。埃尔斯沃斯-惠特莫尔山脉地块是西南极大陆地壳地块拼贴中的一个重要构造单元。这项调查将通过仔细的地质填图和样品采集来完成，目的是进行微构造运动学分析、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同位素测年方法来确定事件的绝对时间。这项工作将有助于约束西南极洲一个重要地区的构造模型。特别是，对这个地块的正确理解是评估关于超级大陆形成或解体的假说的关键，例如新元古代的Rodinia或古生代的Gonawana。

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.