Geology of the Nelson Limestone, Postel Nunatak, Patuxent Range, Antarctica

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Authors: Evans, Kevin Ray, McKenna, Lawrence W., Lieberman, Bruce S., Weichert, Wesley Donald, Macleod, Kenneth G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2017
• Subjects: Geology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Oceanography; Argentina; Hannah; Neptune Range; Hannah Ridge; Patuxent Range; Argentina Range; Schneider Hills; Postel Nunatak; Antarc*; Antarctic Science; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102017000396; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102017000396

Abstract Postel Nunatak in the Patuxent Range has been previously mapped as Nelson Limestone but there was no biostratigraphic support for that interpretation until now. We confirm that limestone exposures at Postel Nunatak are at least partly correlated with the Nelson Limestone of the Neptune Range, 160 km north-east, and are not correlative with the lower Cambrian Schneider Hills Limestone of the Argentina Range. Upper beds have yielded the trilobites Suludella? davnii Palmer & Gatehouse, 1972 and Solenopleura pruina Palmer & Gatehouse, 1972, which provide a basis for assignment to Cambrian Series 3 (late middle Cambrian), within the Drumian or lower Guzhangian stages. Limestone beds were deposited in a shallow marine setting, ranging from supratidal to lagoonal facies with rare subtidal intervals. These settings contrast with deeper water facies of the Neptune Range. Despite limitations in sampling density, isotopic analysis indicates that a greater than +2.5‰ shift in δ 13 C is consistent with δ 13 C trends documented for the Drumian Stage. Because the upper and lower contacts at Postel Nunatak are covered by snow and ice, the relationship with rocks mapped as the Patuxent Formation in the Patuxent Range remains uncertain, but part of it may belong to the Precambrian Hannah Ridge Formation.