Testing of source to sink scenarios in the West Antarctic – A major pre-glacial river system

• Main Author: Seeliger, Julian
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: Department of Geosciences 2022
• Subjects: Amundsen Sea; Antarctic; Ross Sea; Transantarctic Mountains; West Antarctica; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/57340/; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.64a49418-cff9-4ac8-8d9e-2b02668a46eb

This thesis examines the regional denudation patterns of West Antarctica from the Transantarctic Mountains over the West Antarctic Rift System to the Ross Sea and the area around the Amundsen Sea Embayment ASE in the Eocene from 50 to 34 Ma. The primary aim is to estimate the sedimentation rates of different areas in West Antarctica and to compare them to the Eocene sediment deposited in the ASE. From previous studies it is known that the area around the Amundsen Sea embayment has experienced low uplift due tectonic quiescene during that time. In comparison, the Transantarctic Mountains experienced a comparatively strong uplift, therefore providing a potential sediment source for the Amundsen Sea embayment. In order to overcome the distance of more than 1500 km to the reach Amundsen Sea Embayment a transportation system is necessary, in this instance, a pre-glacial fluvial system is most plausible. The evaluated data strongly indicates that the area around the ASE cannot deliver sufficient amounts of sediment to explain the deposited volume. Therefore, it can be assumed that an Eocene fluvial system existed, which transported sediments from the hinterland to ASE. However, this hypothesis is based largely on broad estimates and would have to be substantiated with additional data and further research.