Tectonic history of mid-Miocene to present southern Victoria Land Basin, inferred from seismic stratigraphy in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

Obliquity-paced Pliocene West Antarctic ice sheet oscillations

“…Major rifting in the VLB has occurred since the latest Eocene, perhaps having been initiated in the Cretaceous 44,45 , and has accommodated up to 10 km of sediment fill. A new rift history, based on the Cape Roberts Project (predecessor to ANDRILL) drill cores linked to a new regional seismic stratigraphic framework 46,47 indicates that crustal stretching during the Oligocene syn rift phase produced rapid subsidence, followed by thermally controlled slower subsidence in the Early Miocene. Renewed rifting within the centre of the VLB beginning in the Late Miocene has continued through to present day.…”

Sequence stratigraphy of the ANDRILL AND-2A drillcore, Antarctica: A long-term, ice-proximal record of Early to Mid-Miocene climate, sea-level and glacial dynamism

“…Also, integration of drilling records with an extensive array of seismic reflection data has allowed division of the VLB stratigraphy into a series of age-constrained tectono-stratigraphic units reflecting discrete phases of basin-forming activity. The principal phases are 1) Early Rift (34-29 Ma), 2) Main Rift (29-24 Ma), 3) Passive Thermal Subsidence (24-13 Ma), and 4) Renewed Rifting (Terror Rift: 13 Ma to present) (Fielding et al, 2006(Fielding et al, , 2008aHenrys et al, 2007).…”

Heat Flow and Hydrologic Characteristics at the AND-1B borehole, ANDRILL McMurdo Ice Shelf Project, Antarctica

“…1), and above a fl exural moat basin that surrounds Ross Island (Horgan et al, 2005). This basin was formed by loading of the crust from the basaltic volcanoes that constitute Ross Island within the tectonic framework of the Victoria Land Basin, a region of late Cenozoic crustal extension of the West Antarctic Rift System (e.g., Wilson, 1999;Hall et al, 2007;Henrys et al, 2007). Characterizing the marine hydrogeology at this site requires an understanding of fi ne-scale heat-fl ow patterns and structural details in order to evaluate moat-wide circulation processes, thermal refraction along the volcanic edifi ce, and channelized fl uid fl ow (Harris et al, 2000a(Harris et al, , 2000b.…”