Collaborative Research: Thermochronologic and modelling test for a Mesozoic West Antarctic Plateau

本项目基于磷灰石矿物颗粒冷却历史，通过数值模拟研究横贯南极山脉（TAM）的形成。TAM是世界上最高最长的与裂谷有关的山脉。关于它们的隆起，人们提出了各种各样的模型，其中最具挑衅性的是，它们不是隆起的，而是高原侵蚀的残余物。该项目通过收集伯德冰川周围的磷灰石进行裂变径迹热年代学来评估这一假设。结果将结合运动学和热模型来确定TAM？S构造演化。高原模型，如果正确的话，意味着伯德冰川不是起源于穿过TAM的冰川雕刻的山谷，而是一个流向相反方向的河流系统。考虑到伯德冰川是南极东部冰盖的关键水系，这一结果对冰盖模型以及区域地质和沉积物记录的解释具有重要意义。主要的更广泛的影响是本科生研究和主要本科生与研究机构之间的新合作。学生将参与实地项目、样本分析和数值模拟。

This project studies formation of the TransAntarctic Mountains (TAM) through numerical modeling based on cooling histories of apatite mineral grains. The TAM are the highest and longest rift-related mountain range in the world. Various models for their uplift have been proposed, the most provocative of which is that they are not uplifted, but instead are the eroded remnant of a plateau. This project evaluates that hypothesis by collecting apatites from around Byrd Glacier for fission track thermochronology. Results will be combined with a kinematic and thermal model to determine the TAM?s structural evolution. The plateau model, if correct, implies that the Byrd Glacier originated not as a glacier-carved valley through the TAM, but as a river system flowing in the opposite direction. Given that the Byrd Glacier is a key drainage for the East Antarctic ice sheet, this result has important implications for ice sheet models and interpretation of both regional geology and sediment records.The main broader impacts are undergraduate research and a new collaboration between a primarily undergraduate and a research institution. Students will be involved in the field program, sample analyses, and numerical modeling.