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

本项目通过基于磷灰石矿物颗粒冷却历史的数值模拟来研究横贯北极山脉()的形成。山脉是世界上与裂谷有关的最高和最长的山脉。关于它们的抬升提出了各种模式，其中最具挑衅性的是它们不是被抬升的，而是高原被侵蚀的残留物。该项目通过收集伯德冰川周围的磷灰石来评估这一假设，以进行裂变径迹热年代学。结果将与运动学和热学模型相结合，确定、S的构造演化。如果高原模型是正确的，则意味着伯德冰川的起源不是一个穿过的冰川雕刻山谷，而是一个反向流动的河流体系。鉴于伯德冰川是东南极冰盖的主要排水系统，这一结果对冰盖模型和区域地质学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和研究机构之间的新合作。学生将参与实地考察、样本分析和数值建模。

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.