_version_ 1867172335330525184
author Prenzel, Jannis
Lisker, Frank
Balestrieri, Maria Laura
Läufer, Andreas
Spiegel, Cornelia
author_facet Prenzel, Jannis
Lisker, Frank
Balestrieri, Maria Laura
Läufer, Andreas
Spiegel, Cornelia
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents The Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) were one of the first regions where apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology was applied routinely to study exhumation processes and long term landscape evolution. Pioneering publications from the region introduced or refined interpretation concepts of thermochronological data such as the break in slope in vertical age profiles as qualitative marker for the onset of accelerated rock cooling. New AFT data were compiled from vertical profiles in the Eisenhower Range, northern TAM, and compared with published data. Samples originally examined by population technique were re-analysed via the external detector technique. AFT ages increase from 32±2 Ma at an elevation of 220 m to 175±14 Ma at 2380 m. Geological evidence and thermal history modeling of the AFT data require Jurassic to Late Eocene reheating of the samples and an onset of cooling at ~35 - 30 Ma. This requires the deposition of a ~3 to 3.5 km thick sedimentary sequence on the granitic basement subsequent to Jurassic Ferrar magmatism at ~180 Ma. The regression of paleotemperatures against sample altitudes infers a high Jurassic geothermal gradient of ~60°C/km related to rifting processes and Ferrar magmatism, and a moderate Cretaceous/Eocene geothermal gradient of ~30°C/km. Comparison of ages generated with population and external detector technique shows the importance of determining single-grain ages for each sample, even from granitic rocks of the same intrusion, and thus strongly supports previous cases made for the determination of annealing kinetics and grain-age evaluation. Age comparison additionally illustrates, that samples above a break in slope record larger deviations between population and external detector ages than samples below a break in slope. We demonstrate that position and shape of a break in slope result from various factors, such as the thermal history prior to final cooling, maximum paleotemperatures, cooling rate, and geothermal gradient. A break in slope does not straightly date the onset of final cooling and cannot substitute thermal history modeling. Therefore, earlier studies from the TAM and similar settings elsewhere need to be validated by combining thermal history modeling of thermochronological data and supplementary geological information.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_868499
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2016
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle (Table 1) Apatite fission track (AFT) data of the Eisenhower Range
Prenzel, Jannis
Lisker, Frank
Balestrieri, Maria Laura
Läufer, Andreas
Spiegel, Cornelia
Age, dated; Age, dated, standard deviation; Antarctica; Area/locality; Diameter; Elevation of event; Event label; Fission-track length, mean; Fission-track length, mean, standard deviation; Fission-tracks; Fission-tracks, density, counted in stan; Fission-tracks, induced; Fission-tracks, induced, density; Fission-tracks, spontaneous; Fission-tracks, spontaneous, density; GANOVEX_IX; Goodness of fit; Grains, counted/analyzed; ItalAnt_C1; ItalAnt_C17; ItalAnt_C3; ItalAnt_C4; ItalAnt_C5; ItalAnt_C6; ItalAnt_C9; Latitude of event; Longitude of event; Number; Number of observations; Percentage; Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas; ROCK; Rock sample; Samp_3462; Samp_3463; Samp_3464; Samp_3465; Samp_3466; Samp_3472; Samp_3475; Samp_BC1; Samp_BC2; Samp_BC3; Samp_BC4; Samp_BC5; Samp_BC7; SPP1158; Standard deviation
The Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) were one of the first regions where apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology was applied routinely to study exhumation processes and long term landscape evolution. Pioneering publications from the region introduced or refined interpretation concepts of thermochronological data such as the break in slope in vertical age profiles as qualitative marker for the onset of accelerated rock cooling. New AFT data were compiled from vertical profiles in the Eisenhower Range, northern TAM, and compared with published data. Samples originally examined by population technique were re-analysed via the external detector technique. AFT ages increase from 32±2 Ma at an elevation of 220 m to 175±14 Ma at 2380 m. Geological evidence and thermal history modeling of the AFT data require Jurassic to Late Eocene reheating of the samples and an onset of cooling at ~35 - 30 Ma. This requires the deposition of a ~3 to 3.5 km thick sedimentary sequence on the granitic basement subsequent to Jurassic Ferrar magmatism at ~180 Ma. The regression of paleotemperatures against sample altitudes infers a high Jurassic geothermal gradient of ~60°C/km related to rifting processes and Ferrar magmatism, and a moderate Cretaceous/Eocene geothermal gradient of ~30°C/km. Comparison of ages generated with population and external detector technique shows the importance of determining single-grain ages for each sample, even from granitic rocks of the same intrusion, and thus strongly supports previous cases made for the determination of annealing kinetics and grain-age evaluation. Age comparison additionally illustrates, that samples above a break in slope record larger deviations between population and external detector ages than samples below a break in slope. We demonstrate that position and shape of a break in slope result from various factors, such as the thermal history prior to final cooling, maximum paleotemperatures, cooling rate, and geothermal gradient. A break in slope does not straightly date the onset of final cooling and cannot substitute thermal history modeling. Therefore, earlier studies from the TAM and similar settings elsewhere need to be validated by combining thermal history modeling of thermochronological data and supplementary geological information.
title (Table 1) Apatite fission track (AFT) data of the Eisenhower Range
topic Age, dated; Age, dated, standard deviation; Antarctica; Area/locality; Diameter; Elevation of event; Event label; Fission-track length, mean; Fission-track length, mean, standard deviation; Fission-tracks; Fission-tracks, density, counted in stan; Fission-tracks, induced; Fission-tracks, induced, density; Fission-tracks, spontaneous; Fission-tracks, spontaneous, density; GANOVEX_IX; Goodness of fit; Grains, counted/analyzed; ItalAnt_C1; ItalAnt_C17; ItalAnt_C3; ItalAnt_C4; ItalAnt_C5; ItalAnt_C6; ItalAnt_C9; Latitude of event; Longitude of event; Number; Number of observations; Percentage; Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas; ROCK; Rock sample; Samp_3462; Samp_3463; Samp_3464; Samp_3465; Samp_3466; Samp_3472; Samp_3475; Samp_BC1; Samp_BC2; Samp_BC3; Samp_BC4; Samp_BC5; Samp_BC7; SPP1158; Standard deviation
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.868499