Landscape development of the Transantarctic Mountains, Shackleton Glacier area, Antarctica: An integration of structural geology, geomorphology, and apatite fission-track thermochronology Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Miller, Scott Ruthardt, 1973- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 07/10/2021 13:50:58 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278646 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly fix>m the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be £*001 any type of computer printer. 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Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Compaiqr 300 Noith Zed> Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRANSANTARCTIC MOUNTAINS, SHACKLETON GLACIER AREA, ANTARCTICA; AN INTEGRATION OF STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY, GEOMORPHOLOGY, AND APATITE HSSION-TRACK THERMOCHRONOLOGY by Scott Ruthardt Miller A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF GEOSCIENCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1997 UMX Number: 1387971 UMI Microform 1387971 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgement the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: Suzanne L. Baldwin Date Associate Professor of Geosciences 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Landscapes and all their physical and human elements amaze me. It has been a joy to study the physical development of a very unique one. And it's no wonder why. I've teen among good people. Each and any "paysage est un etat de I'ante" [Fr., landscape is a state of the mind] (Aimel, 1922, p. 86>—its meaning not only a physical reality but dso a social construct, sometimes paradigmatic. It is pardy a fimction of teachers and environment that one senses the landscape in a certain way and not another. It is this legacy that predisposes one to focus onto certain aspects of the landscape rather than others. It is this accumulation of certain iimocent preconceptions that seeds the entire imaginative process. It is by the accretion of enough influences that one can finally hope to have a mind that is tempered yet inventive and open. In effect, Earth both writes a story and is a story written. Both must be read. I thank those who have taught me to read the geologic text and to understand its context. I could not have accomplished this work without a number of important people at The University of Arizona. Paul Fitzgerald and Suzanne Baldwin were instrumental for, firstly, inviting me aboard their Antarctic project and expedition and, secondly, by exciting me in the application of low-temperature thermochronology to landscape development Their reviews of this thesis have improved it a great de<d. I also ±ank Paul for teaching me the ropes of fission-track analysis. Finally, it was their grant from the National Science Foundation that covered field and laboratory expenses and provided me with a salary for the last year and a half. George Davis patiently sat on my Thesis Committee, waited for drafts of my thesis, and gave thoughtful reviews even on short notice. This man is a pleasure to deal with. Bill BuU and Vic Baker made matchless impressions upon me through lectures and conversations. A number of the latter were about this project and they have made a lasting mark. Even though he has retired and is free to do other things. Dr. Bull gave a critic^ review that immensely improved the final draft's clarity. I also thank Clem Chase, Peter Coney, George Zandt, Michael Summerfield (University of Edinburgh), and Larry Mayer (Miami University) for conversations through the coxirse of this project about tectonics, geodynamics, geomorphology, and related concerns. Their input was invaluable in making me simply stop and think about things. Any faulty observations, poor data, illegitimate interpretations, or overstatements are my own. The aforementioned professors carmot enjoy all of the credit, however. My colleagues and friends here at the U of A have been an immeasurable resource and source of companionship. Be it talking shop or mountain biking or hiking or going to crazy NASCAR races or reminiscing about snow and such things that we don't get much of here in Tucson, they've made it fim. Notable among these are Bob Casavant, Alex Bump, Steve Ahlgren, Sarah Tindall, Mike Kumey, Lisa Verts, Andrew Rieth, and Pilar Garcia. Stories about the old days of exploration in Antarctica are much about danger and hardship. Neither showed in our expedition, thanks to the superb logistical help of Antarctic Support Associates, the Berg Field Center, and the staff of the Shackleton deep- field camp. U.S. Navy Squadron VXE-6 and the Air National Guard provided transportation into and out of the field. In the field. Ken Borek Air and Helicopters New 2^aland put us just about anywhere on the map we wanted. Finally, Graeme Dingle, intrepid guide and Member of the British Empire, provided incomparable field support, taught me the finer points of bowling a cricket ball, and became a good friend. My greatest thanks are reserved for my family, who has been supportive and inspirational thoughout my lifelong education. Their influence is surely reflected in my curiosity for rocks, landscapes, and those things that I just don't comprehend. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT BY AUTHOR 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 LIST OF FIGURES 7 LIST OF TABLES 11 ABSTRACT 12 1 INTRODUCTION 13 1.1 The landscape of interest: the Transantarctic Mountains 13 1.2 Purpose and objectives 19 1.3 Study area 20 1.4 Methods 22 1.5 Thesis 25 2 GEOLOGIC SETTING 26 2.1 Antarctica 26 2.2 Transantarctic Mountains 26 2.3 Study area 33 2.4 Structural geologic architecture of the Transantarctic Mountains 40 2.5 History and style of uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains 45 3 STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY 51 3.1 Introduction 51 3.2 Faults 53 Mapping 53 Fault slip 63 3.3 Joints 65 3.4 Alteration zones 67 3.5 Hypotheses 67 Nature of the major, range-fronting escarpment 67 Fault geometry of the Cape Surprise area 70 Constraints on the age of the modem fracture system 74 Kinematics of the Cape Surprise area 77 4 GEOMORPHOLOGY 82 4.1 Introduction 82 4.2 Highland versus lowland physiography 84 4.3 Lineaments 85 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS — Continued 4.4 Asymmetric drainage 89 4.5 Planation surfaces 93 Lowland planation surfaces 93 Highland planation surfaces 107 4.6 Escarpments Ill 4.7 Hypotheses 114 Origin of planation surfaces 114 Introduction 114 Age 115 Glacial origin 118 Coastal marine origin 121 Periglacial origin 121 Fluvial origin 122 Origin of lowland drainage pattern 126 Constraints on the age of faulting 133 5 APATITE FISSION-TRACK THERMOCHRONOLOGY 137 5.1 Introduction 137 5.2 Background of method 138 5.3 Sampling strategy and technique 148 5.4 Analytical results 153 General results 153 Vertical profiles 153 Spot-height 950 153 Spot-height 700 162 "Pyramid Peak" 162 Olds Peak 166 Mount Munson 166 5.5 Hypotheses 171 Identification of exhumed partial annealing zones 171 Timing of the onset of "rapid" denudation 173 Gross pattern and amount of of denudation 175 Rate of "rapid" denudation 175 Non-areally synchronous or imiform