Developing a consistent sequence stratigraphy for the Wilkes Land and Great Australian Bight margins

• Main Authors: Hannah Lane, R. Dietmar Müller, Jennifer M. Totterdell, Joanne M. Whittaker
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Indian Ocean; Great Australian Bight; Bight Basin; Wilkes Land; Antarctica; seismic stratigraphy; continental margin; conjugate margins; Antarctic; Indian; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.656.6679; http://earthbyte.org/Resources/Pdf/Lane_Aus_Ant_seismic_stratigraphy_EABS4_2012.pdf

The conjugate margins of Wilkes Land, Antarctica, and the Great Australian Bight (GAB) are amongst the least understood continental margins. Breakup along the GAB–Wilkes Land part of the Australian–Antarctic margin commenced at approximately 83 Ma. Using recent stratigraphic interpretations developed for the GAB, we have established a sequence stratigraphy for the Wilkes Land margin that will, for the first time, allow for a unified study of the conjugate margins. By reconstructing the two margins to their positions prior to breakup, we were able to identify comparable packages on the Wilkes Land margin to those recognised on the GAB margin. Excluding the glacial sediments on the Antarctic margin, the sedimentary sequence along the Wilkes Land margin is very thin compared to the GAB margin, which has substantially more syn- and post-rift sediments. Despite the differences in