New geological interpretation of multi-channel seismic profiles from the Pacific Margin of the Antarctic Peninsula

• Published in: Polish Polar Research
• Main Authors: Okoń Jan, Giżejewski Jerzy, Janik Tomasz
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polish Academy of Sciences 2016
• Subjects: Antarctica; Bransfield Strait; South Shetland Trench; marine seismic; subduction zone; glacier valleys; volcanic structure; Geology; QE1-996.5; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Pacific; South Shetland Islands; The Antarctic; West Antarctica; Antarc*; Polar Research
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1515/popore-2016-0014; https://doaj.org/article/46463f6e58db4defb02fdfc0a9ba4df8

The Polish Geophysical Expedition to West Antarctica in 1979–1980 was carried out by the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences. Beside deep seismic soundings, 12 multi-channel seismic profiles, with a total length of ca 1000 km have been recorded north and east of the South Shetland Islands and in the Bransfield Strait, but they have never before been completely interpreted and published. All profiles have been processed with modern processing flow including time migration. Profiles crossing the South Shetland Trench revealed distinct reflector inside continental slope, which has been interpreted as border between buried accretionary prism and overlying slope sediments of glacial-marine origin. Profiles in the Bransfield Strait show traces of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the form of glacial foreground valleys, with some of them used as weak spots for young age volcanic intrusions. This paper is the first comprehensive geological interpretation of collected dataset and differences between results from other expeditions are discussed.