Abstract
Apatite fission-track data from samples of Precambrian basement, Late Permian Triassic sedimentary rocks and inferred Cretaceous intrusive bodies are used to constrain the low-temperature (i.e. sub ~110°C) thermal history of the northern Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica. Two discrete phases of cooling have been identified, both of which are attributed to regional exhumation associated with rifting episodes. A phase of late Palaeozoic cooling, that began during the Carboniferous, is inferred to have been associated with the initial formation of the Lambert Graben. A more recent phase of cooling was initiated during the Early Cretaceous and is estimated to have locally involved the removal of at least 2 km of material using an assumed palaeotemperature gradient of ~25°C km−1 at the time of cooling. This latter phase of exhumation was closely accompanied by the emplacement of a variety of mafic alkaline rocks at ambient palaeotemperatures less than ~60°C and was probably related to renewed extension of the Lambert Graben during the break-up of eastern Gondwana. The results of this study suggest that final exhumation of high-grade Precambrian basement of the northern Price Charles Mountains was largely controlled by Phanerozoic rifting events.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Geology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics,Oceanography
Cited by
31 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献