Mantle plumes and Antarctica-New Zealand rifting: evidence from mid-Cretaceous mafic dykes

• Published in: Journal of the Geological Society
• Main Authors: Storey, Bryan C., Leat, Philip T., Weaver, Stephen D., Pankhurst, Robert J., Bradshaw, John D., Kelley, Simon
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Geological Society of London 1999
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; Ross Sea; West Antarctica; Pacific; New Zealand; Byrd; Marie Byrd Land; Mount Erebus; Antarc*; Antarctica; Antarctica New Zealand
• Online Access: http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503806/; https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.156.4.0659

Ocean floor magnetic anomalies show that New Zealand was the last continental fragment to separate from Antarctica during Gondwana break-up, drifting from Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, about 84 Ma ago. Prior to continental drift, a voluminous suite of mafic dykes (dated by Ar–Ar laser stepped he...