BURIAL AND EXHUMATION OF THE TERRA NOVA BAY REGION, TRANSANTARCTIC MOUNTAINS

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the Terra Nova Bay region in the Ross Sea sector of the Transantarctic Mountains. For quantification of the burial and exhumation history, thermochronological methods were applied on samples from vertical profiles across the basement in the northern Terra Nova Bay region (Eisenhower Range, Deep Freeze Range) and supplemented by paleotemperature analysis on overlying Beacon sandstones from the Eisenhower Range and published thermochronological data of vertical basement profiles from the southern Terra Nova Bay region (Prince Albert Mountains). Thermal history modeling of the data incorporating the geological and thermal frame was performed to (I) evaluate the significance of qualitative interpretation concepts of thermochronological data for the reconstruction of thermal histories, (II) quantify the regional burial and exhumation history including geometry, lateral extension and depth of a proposed Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary basin, and (III) reconstruct the development of the present-day landscape consisting of deeply incised high-elevated plateaus in immediate vicinity to a sea-level coastal plain.