GEOLOGY OF THE AROUNDS ECUADORIAN STATION PEDRO VICENTE MALDONADO (GREENWICH ISLAND) AND DEE ISLAND, ANTARCTIC PENINSULA.

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Austral; Dee; Dee Island; Fort Williams; Greenwich; Greenwich Island; Quito; Quito Glaciar; Williams Cape; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.631.7809; http://www.inocar.mil.ec/docs/ABS_ISAES.pdf

One of the purposes of the VIII Ecuadorian expedition in the Greenwich Island of the South Shetland was to make a detail geological study of the surroundings of the Pedro Vicente Maldonado Scientific Station. Extended areas of the Fort Williams Cape, where is settled the Ecuadorian Scientific Station, and Punta Ambato Cape are exposed respectively at the down eastern and northern slopes of the Quito Glaciar during the austral summer. Also Dee Island separated from the previous area by the English Channel is widely exposed. Geology and structure of the three areas look homogeneous. The resulted observations are coherent with the descriptions made previously by Araya and Hervé (1965, 1966) from areas located to the east, and regional consideration and local observations from Dee Island by Smellies et al. (1984). Two units were identified. The lower one is characterised by a relatively soft morphology, with cliff and slopes looking ruined buildings and walls. It comprises basaltic flows cut by dikes and domes. Hydrothermal processes are important. The upper unit is more massive, with flat platforms overlooking steep cliffs. It comprises alternatively homogeneous or prismatic basaltic lava flow intercalated by volcano sedimentary layers of ash and volcanic breccia. Conglomerate are observed at the top of volcanic sequences, i.e. in Ambato Cape.