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Geochemical and rock magnetic records from sediments of the Cenozoic Pagodroma Group, Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica: implications for provenance and weathering

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2003

J. BLOEMENDAL ,
W. EHRMANN ,
M.J. HAMBREY ,
B.C. MCKELVEY ,
R. MATTHEWS  and
J.M. WHITEHEAD
J. BLOEMENDAL
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Liverpool, Roxby Building, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK
W. EHRMANN
Affiliation:
Institut für Geophysik und Geologie, Universität Leipzig, Talstrasse 35, D-04193 Leipzig, Germany
M.J. HAMBREY
Affiliation:
Centre for Glaciology, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwyth SY23 3DB, UK
B.C. MCKELVEY
Affiliation:
Division of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia
R. MATTHEWS
Affiliation:
Centre for Glaciology, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwyth SY23 3DB, UK
J.M. WHITEHEAD
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0340, USA Antarctic Cooperative Research Centre and Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
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Abstract

Geochemical and magnetic data from glacigenic sediments can be useful indicators of past environments and climate. In this paper, the results of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and rock magnetic analyses are presented for samples from the Pagodroma Group, an assemblage of pre-Quaternary glacimarine sediments preserved as remnants along the raised flanks of the Lambert Graben, Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica. Samples were obtained from four formations: Mount Johnston, Battye Glacier, Fisher Bench and Bardin Bluffs, which range in age from late Oligocene or early Miocene through to Pliocene or early Pleistocene. Principal component analysis of the XRF data indicates the occurrence of two main element assemblages, which we infer are determined by the presence in the Bardin Bluffs formation of a significant component derived from Permo–Triassic sedimentary rocks of the Amery Group. Calculation of chemical indices of alteration suggests that the values reflect provenance differences rather than the syndepositional weathering environment. Multidomain ferrimagnetic grains mainly dominate the magnetic mineral assemblages of the samples, probably magnetite, with varying concentrations of high coercivity material, probably hematite.

Keywords

AntarcticaCenozoic glaciomarine sedimentsEast Antarctic ice sheetmagnetic and geochemical propertiesPagodroma Group
Type
Research Article
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , September 2003 , pp. 365 - 378
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2003

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