An embayment in the East Antarctic basement constrains the shape of the Rodinian continental margin
East Antarctic provinces lay at the heart of both Rodinian and Gondwanan supercontinents, yet poor exposure and limited geophysical data provide few constraints on the region’s tectonic evolution. The shape of the Mawson Continent, the stable nucleus of East Antarctica, is one of Antarctica’s most i...
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Nature Research
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:522736 2023-05-15T13:41:43+02:00 An embayment in the East Antarctic basement constrains the shape of the Rodinian continental margin Jordan, Tom A. Ferraccioli, Fausto Forsberg, Rene 2022-03-09 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522736/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522736/1/s43247-022-00375-z.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00375-z en eng Nature Research https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522736/1/s43247-022-00375-z.pdf Jordan, Tom A. orcid:0000-0003-2780-1986 Ferraccioli, Fausto orcid:0000-0002-9347-4736 Forsberg, Rene. 2022 An embayment in the East Antarctic basement constrains the shape of the Rodinian continental margin. Communications: Earth & Environment, 3, 52. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00375-z <https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00375-z> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2022 ftnerc 2023-02-04T19:48:01Z East Antarctic provinces lay at the heart of both Rodinian and Gondwanan supercontinents, yet poor exposure and limited geophysical data provide few constraints on the region’s tectonic evolution. The shape of the Mawson Continent, the stable nucleus of East Antarctica, is one of Antarctica’s most important, but contested features, with implications for global plate reconstructions and local tectonic models. Here we show a major marginal embayment 500–700 km wide, cuts into the East Antarctic basement in the South Pole region. This embayment, defined by new aeromagnetic and other geophysical data, truncates the Mawson Continent, which is distinct from basement provinces flanking the Weddell Sea. We favour a late Neoproterozoic rifting model for embayment formation and discuss analogies with other continental margins. The embayment and associated basement provinces help define the East Antarctic nucleus for supercontinental reconstructions, while the inherited marginal geometry likely influenced evolution of the paleo-Pacific margin of Gondwana. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica South pole South pole Weddell Sea Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Weddell Sea East Antarctica Pacific Weddell South Pole Communications Earth & Environment 3 1 |
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Open Polar |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
East Antarctic provinces lay at the heart of both Rodinian and Gondwanan supercontinents, yet poor exposure and limited geophysical data provide few constraints on the region’s tectonic evolution. The shape of the Mawson Continent, the stable nucleus of East Antarctica, is one of Antarctica’s most important, but contested features, with implications for global plate reconstructions and local tectonic models. Here we show a major marginal embayment 500–700 km wide, cuts into the East Antarctic basement in the South Pole region. This embayment, defined by new aeromagnetic and other geophysical data, truncates the Mawson Continent, which is distinct from basement provinces flanking the Weddell Sea. We favour a late Neoproterozoic rifting model for embayment formation and discuss analogies with other continental margins. The embayment and associated basement provinces help define the East Antarctic nucleus for supercontinental reconstructions, while the inherited marginal geometry likely influenced evolution of the paleo-Pacific margin of Gondwana. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jordan, Tom A. Ferraccioli, Fausto Forsberg, Rene |
spellingShingle |
Jordan, Tom A. Ferraccioli, Fausto Forsberg, Rene An embayment in the East Antarctic basement constrains the shape of the Rodinian continental margin |
author_facet |
Jordan, Tom A. Ferraccioli, Fausto Forsberg, Rene |
author_sort |
Jordan, Tom A. |
title |
An embayment in the East Antarctic basement constrains the shape of the Rodinian continental margin |
title_short |
An embayment in the East Antarctic basement constrains the shape of the Rodinian continental margin |
title_full |
An embayment in the East Antarctic basement constrains the shape of the Rodinian continental margin |
title_fullStr |
An embayment in the East Antarctic basement constrains the shape of the Rodinian continental margin |
title_full_unstemmed |
An embayment in the East Antarctic basement constrains the shape of the Rodinian continental margin |
title_sort |
embayment in the east antarctic basement constrains the shape of the rodinian continental margin |
publisher |
Nature Research |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522736/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522736/1/s43247-022-00375-z.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00375-z |
geographic |
Antarctic Weddell Sea East Antarctica Pacific Weddell South Pole |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Weddell Sea East Antarctica Pacific Weddell South Pole |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica South pole South pole Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica South pole South pole Weddell Sea |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522736/1/s43247-022-00375-z.pdf Jordan, Tom A. orcid:0000-0003-2780-1986 Ferraccioli, Fausto orcid:0000-0002-9347-4736 Forsberg, Rene. 2022 An embayment in the East Antarctic basement constrains the shape of the Rodinian continental margin. Communications: Earth & Environment, 3, 52. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00375-z <https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00375-z> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
container_title |
Communications Earth & Environment |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766154478400045056 |