East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains
The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains are the least understood tectonic feature on Earth, because they are completely hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Their high elevation and youthful Alpine topography, combined with their location on the East Antarctic craton, creates a paradox that has...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:15954 2023-05-15T13:45:11+02:00 East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains Ferraccioli, Fausto Finn, Carol A. Jordan, Tom Bell, Robin E. Anderson, Lester Damaske, Setlef 2011 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/15954/ unknown Ferraccioli, Fausto orcid:0000-0002-9347-4736 Finn, Carol A.; Jordan, Tom orcid:0000-0003-2780-1986 Bell, Robin E.; Anderson, Lester; Damaske, Setlef. 2011 East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains. Nature, 479 (7373). 388-392. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10566 <https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10566> Earth Sciences Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2011 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10566 2023-02-04T19:30:13Z The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains are the least understood tectonic feature on Earth, because they are completely hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Their high elevation and youthful Alpine topography, combined with their location on the East Antarctic craton, creates a paradox that has puzzled researchers since the mountains were discovered in 19581. The preservation of Alpine topography in the Gamburtsevs2 may reflect extremely low long-term erosion rates beneath the ice sheet3, but the mountains’ origin remains problematic. Here we present the first comprehensive view of the crustal architecture and uplift mechanisms for the Gamburtsevs, derived from radar, gravity and magnetic data. The geophysical data define a 2,500-km-long rift system in East Antarctica surrounding the Gamburtsevs, and a thick crustal root4 beneath the range. We propose that the root formed during the Proterozoic assembly of interior East Antarctica (possibly about 1 Gyr ago), was preserved as in some old orogens5, 6 and was rejuvenated during much later Permian (roughly 250 Myr ago) and Cretaceous (roughly 100 Myr ago) rifting. Much like East Africa7, the interior of East Antarctica is a mosaic of Precambrian provinces affected by rifting processes. Our models show that the combination of rift-flank uplift, root buoyancy and the isostatic response to fluvial and glacial erosion explains the high elevation and relief of the Gamburtsevs. The evolution of the Gamburtsevs demonstrates that rifting and preserved orogenic roots can produce broad regions of high topography in continental interiors without significantly modifying the underlying Precambrian lithosphere. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet East Antarctica Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains ENVELOPE(76.000,76.000,-80.500,-80.500) Nature 479 7373 388 392 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Ferraccioli, Fausto Finn, Carol A. Jordan, Tom Bell, Robin E. Anderson, Lester Damaske, Setlef East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences |
description |
The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains are the least understood tectonic feature on Earth, because they are completely hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Their high elevation and youthful Alpine topography, combined with their location on the East Antarctic craton, creates a paradox that has puzzled researchers since the mountains were discovered in 19581. The preservation of Alpine topography in the Gamburtsevs2 may reflect extremely low long-term erosion rates beneath the ice sheet3, but the mountains’ origin remains problematic. Here we present the first comprehensive view of the crustal architecture and uplift mechanisms for the Gamburtsevs, derived from radar, gravity and magnetic data. The geophysical data define a 2,500-km-long rift system in East Antarctica surrounding the Gamburtsevs, and a thick crustal root4 beneath the range. We propose that the root formed during the Proterozoic assembly of interior East Antarctica (possibly about 1 Gyr ago), was preserved as in some old orogens5, 6 and was rejuvenated during much later Permian (roughly 250 Myr ago) and Cretaceous (roughly 100 Myr ago) rifting. Much like East Africa7, the interior of East Antarctica is a mosaic of Precambrian provinces affected by rifting processes. Our models show that the combination of rift-flank uplift, root buoyancy and the isostatic response to fluvial and glacial erosion explains the high elevation and relief of the Gamburtsevs. The evolution of the Gamburtsevs demonstrates that rifting and preserved orogenic roots can produce broad regions of high topography in continental interiors without significantly modifying the underlying Precambrian lithosphere. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ferraccioli, Fausto Finn, Carol A. Jordan, Tom Bell, Robin E. Anderson, Lester Damaske, Setlef |
author_facet |
Ferraccioli, Fausto Finn, Carol A. Jordan, Tom Bell, Robin E. Anderson, Lester Damaske, Setlef |
author_sort |
Ferraccioli, Fausto |
title |
East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains |
title_short |
East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains |
title_full |
East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains |
title_fullStr |
East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains |
title_full_unstemmed |
East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains |
title_sort |
east antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the gamburtsev mountains |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/15954/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(76.000,76.000,-80.500,-80.500) |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet East Antarctica Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctic Ice Sheet East Antarctica Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
Ferraccioli, Fausto orcid:0000-0002-9347-4736 Finn, Carol A.; Jordan, Tom orcid:0000-0003-2780-1986 Bell, Robin E.; Anderson, Lester; Damaske, Setlef. 2011 East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains. Nature, 479 (7373). 388-392. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10566 <https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10566> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10566 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
479 |
container_issue |
7373 |
container_start_page |
388 |
op_container_end_page |
392 |
_version_ |
1766215986168463360 |