New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics abstracts

---

Amalgamation of disparate crustal fragments in the Walcott Bay-Foster Glacier area, South Victoria Land, Antarctica

Y. A. COOK
D. CRAW

Geology Department
University of Otago
P.O. Box 56
Dunedin, New Zealand

Abstract  Five structurally distinct crustal sub-blocks are recognised in the Walcott Bay-Foster Glacier area of South Victoria Land. The Radian sub-block consists of variably deformed greenschist and amphibolite facies metasediments, some of which have original clastic textures preserved. The Rücker sub-block is made up almost entirely of amphibolite facies marble folded into a broad synform on the 10 km scale. The Glee sub-block is made up of three parallel belts of metasediments with northeast strike. The Renegar sub-block consists of metasediments deformed around kilometre-scale plutons. The Kemp sub-block is composite, including exotic quartzofeldspathic metasediments and orthogneiss extensively altered by metamorphic muscovite. The five sub-blocks have been amalgamated into the Walcott crustal block along amphibolite facies ductile shear zones which had dominantly strike-slip motion. The Walcott Block has a northeast-striking structural grain, and has been intruded by Middle Cambrian alkaline intrusions. The numerous structural discontinuities identified in the Walcott Bay-Foster Glacier area preclude mapping of lithostratigraphy and metamorphic isograds.

Keywords  Antarctica; structure; ductile faults; metamorphism; tectonics; South Victoria Land; Ross Orogeny

New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics, 2001, Vol 44: 403-416

0028-8306/01/4403-0403 $7.00/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand 2001

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (2401K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

---

This year's abstracts | Journal home page | All abstracts | Publishing home page