EXPLORATION OF GAMBURTSEV SUBGLACIAL MOUNTAINS (EAST ANTARCTICA): BACKGROUND AND PLANS FOR THE NEAR FUTURE
Abstract
The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains (GSM), located in the central East Antarctica, were discovered by the Soviet team of the 3rd Complex Antarctic Expedition in 1958-1959. The GSM has highly dissected Alpine topography reaching maximum elevations of 3000 m. The mechanism driving uplift of the young-shaped GSM in the middle of the old East Antarctic Shield is unknown. With only limited constraints available on the topography, geology, and lithospheric structure, the origin of the GSM has been a matter of considerable speculation. The latest interpretation suggested that the GSM were formed during Permian and Cretaceous (roughly 250-100 Ma ago) due to the combination of rift-flank uplift, root buoyancy and the isostatic response. Later on the Antarctic Ice Sheet covered the range and protected it from erosion. However, this theory cannot explain lack of erosion process during many millions years in between uplifting and beginning of glaciation. The next step of the GSM exploration focuses on the direct observation of ice sheet bed by drilling. In order to penetrate into subglacial bedrock in the GSM region the development activity already has been started in China. It is proposed to use cable-suspended drilling technology and movable drilling shelter that can be transported to the chosen site with crawler-tractor. The first field tests of the drilling equipment are planned to carry out near Antarctic coast in season 2015-2016, and drilling to the bedrock would be finished during next two seasons.
References
1. Bell, R.E. (2008). Antarctic Earth System Science in the International Polar Year 2007-2008. Antarctica: A Keystone in a Changing World. Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Science. Eds.: A.K. Cooper, P.J. Barrett, H. Stagg, B. Storey, E. Stump, W. Wise, and the 10th ISAES editorial team. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, pp. 7-18.
2. DeConto, R.M., Pollard, D. (2003). Rapid Cenozoic glaciation of Antarctica induced by declining atmospheric CO2. Nature, Vol. 421, pp. 245-249.
3. Drewry, D.J. (ed.) (1983). Antarctica: Glaciological and Geophysical Folio, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge.
4. Ferraccioli, F., Finn, C.A., Jordan, T.A., Bell, R.A., Anderson, L.M., and Damaske, D. (2011). East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains. Nature, Vol. 479, pp. 388-392.
5. Fitzsimons, I.C.W. (2000). Grenville-age basement provinces in East Antarctica: evidence for three separate collisional orogens. Geology, Vol. 28, pp. 879-882.
6. Fitzsimons, I.C.W. (2003). Proterozoic basement provinces of southern and southwestern Australia, and their correlation with Antarctica. Geol. Soc. Spec. Pub. 206, pp. 93-130.
7. Fretwell, P. and 59 others. (2013). Bedmap 2: improved ice bed, surface and thickness datasets for Antarctica. The Cryosphere, Vol. 7, pp. 375-393.
8. Gow, A.J., Meese, D.A. (1996). Nature of basal debris in the GISP2 and Byrd ice cores and its relevance to bed processes. Annals of Glaciology, Vol. 22, pp. 134-140.
9. Hansen, S.E., Nyblade, A.A., Heeszel, D.S., Wiens, D.A., Shore, P., and Kanao, M. (2010). Crustal structure of the Gamburtsev Mountains, East Antarctica, from S-wave receiver functions and Rayleigh wave phase velocities. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Vol. 300, pp. 395-401.
10. Sleep, N.H. (2006). Mantle plumes from top to bottom. Earth Sci. Rev., Vol. 77, pp. 231-271.
11. Sorokhtin, O.G., Avsyuk, Yu.N., Kondratyev, O.K. (1960). The methodology and the main results of seismic and gravity studies of the structure of East Antarctica. Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Geophysical Series, Vol. 3, pp. 396-401. [In Russian].
12. Steig, E.J., Morse, D.L., Waddington, E.D., Stuiver, M., Grootes, P.M., Mayewski, P.M., Whitlow, S.I., and Twickler, M.S. (2000). Wisconsinan and Holocene climate history from an ice core at Taylor Dome, western Ross Embayment, Antarctica. Geografiska Annaler, Vol. 82A, pp. 213-235.
13. Stonehouse B. (ed.) (2002). Encyclopedia of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. Wiley, Chichester, England. 391 p.
14. Talalay, P.G., Markov A.N. (2012). Gamburtsev Mountains - the range, which nobody seen. Nature, Vol. 2, pp. 29-38. [In Russian].
15. Talalay, P.G. (2013). Subglacial till and bedrock drilling. Cold Regions Science and Technology, Vol. 86, pp. 142-166.
16. Turchetti, S., Dean, K., Naylor, S., and Siegert, M. (2008). Accidents and opportunities: a history of the radio echosounding of Antarctica, 1958-79. British Journal for the History of Science, Vol. 41 (3), pp. 417-444.
17. Ueda, H.T., Garfield, D.E. (1968). Drilling through the Greenland Ice Sheet. Hanover, USA. CRREL Spec. Rep. 126, 7 p.
18. Vasiliev, N.I., Talalay, P.G. (2010). Subglacial drilling on Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Transactions of the 8th International Research-to-Practice Conference “Mineral resources development of Polar Regions: Problems and Solving”. 7-9 Apr., 2010, Vorkuta, Russia, pp. 27-31. [In Russian].
19. Veevers, J.J. (1994). Case for the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains of East Antarctica originating by mid-Carboniferous shortening of an intracratonic basin. Geology, Vol. 22, pp. 593-596.
20. Zapol, W.M. (chair) (2011). Future Science Opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The National Academies Press, Washington D.C., USA, 195 p.
For citation:
Talalay P.G. EXPLORATION OF GAMBURTSEV SUBGLACIAL MOUNTAINS (EAST ANTARCTICA): BACKGROUND AND PLANS FOR THE NEAR FUTURE. GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY. 2014;7(1):5-15. https://doi.org/10.24057/2071-9388-2014-7-1-5-15
Views: 470
Email this article 