A South Polar View of Late Paleozoic Glaciation: Physical Sedimentology and Provenance of Glacial Successions in the Tasmanian and Transantarctic Basins

• Main Author: Ives, Elizabeth Rosa Woodford
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: UWM Digital Commons 2021
• Subjects: detrital zircon geochronology; glacial sedimentology; Late Paleozoic Ice Age; sedimentology; Tasmanian Basin; Transantarctic Basin; Climate; Geology; Shackleton; Shackleton Glacier; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/2793; https://dc.uwm.edu/context/etd/article/3798/viewcontent/Ives_uwm_0263D_13114.pdf

The Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA; ~ 374 – 256 Ma) is the longest Phanerozoic icehouse interval. this interval in Earth’s history was largely defined by extensive glaciation of the southern hemisphere at both polar and temperate latitudes. Glaciers are powerful climatic and geologic actors, especially during icehouse periods, and widespread glaciation can have a significant influence on both regional and global climate and geology. Therefore, constraining the characteristics of LPIA glaciers is essential to developing a global-scale understanding of this key climatic event in Earth’s history. The manuscripts in this dissertation examine the sedimentology, transport directions, stratigraphy, and detrital zircon provenance of the Pennsylvanian – Permian glacigenic succession from the LPIA at locations in the Transantarctic (Antarctica) and Tasmanian (Australia) basins. The Transantarctic and Tasmanian basins share many characteristics that make them interesting and important places to study LPIA glacigenic rocks. In both basins, sediments were deposited during a ~ 14 Myr icehouse interval spanning the Pennsylvanian-Permian boundary during which time glaciation is thought to have been the most extensive of the LPIA. During this interval, both basins were located at high (> 60˚) southern latitudes along the Panthalassan margin of southeastern Gondwana. The similarities in paleogeographic, geologic, and temporal contexts between the Transantarctic and Tasmanian basins mean that characterizing and comparing LPIA glaciations in both areas is critical to understanding the late Paleozoic glacial maximum at polar latitudes. The works presented in this dissertation demonstrate that building an accurate, nuanced understanding of global glaciations during the LPIA, requires beginning at the local scale and building outward. Chapter 2 examines the Pagoda Formation of the Transantarctic Basin at four locations in the Shackleton Glacier Region of Antarctica. The dominant lithology in the Pagoda Fm at those locations is a ...