Late Jurassic—Early Cretaceous strike-slip deformation in the Nordenskjöld Formation of Graham Land

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Authors: Whitham, A.G., Storey, B.C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1989
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic Science; Antarctica; Graham Land; Weddell Sea; West Antarctica
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102089000398; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102089000398

Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous anoxic mudstones and air-fall ashes of the Nordenskjöld Formation are exposed on the eastern coast of Graham Land. Deformation of the strata has a long history spanning dewatering and lithification and was probably produced in a strike-slip tectonic regime. Available evidence suggests the onset of deformation in the region was during Tithonian times. The strike-slip deformation provides further evidence of a plate boundary along the eastern margin of the peninsula during the break-up of Gondwana and the movement of the crustal blocks of West Antarctica. It may also be related to a change in the spreading history of the Weddell Sea region and be the cause of a major facies change from fine anoxic to coarse clastic sedimentation.