Researchers Identify 30-Basin East Antarctic Province, Linking It to 150-Million-Year Gondwana Breakup
Updated
Updated · Nature.com · Jun 3
Researchers Identify 30-Basin East Antarctic Province, Linking It to 150-Million-Year Gondwana Breakup
2 articles · Updated · Nature.com · Jun 3
Summary
A newly named East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province spans about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, with 30 radially aligned subglacial basins converging near the South Pole.
Geophysical and topographic analysis ties the fan-like structure to rotational intraplate extension before Gondwana broke up, rather than glacial erosion, with a pivot point estimated at 86.4°S, 129.9°E.
The study says that tectonic opening helped uplift the Gamburtsev Mountains, rotated the northern Transantarctic Mountains by about 20°, and segmented that range into three blocks.
Northward, the inferred weakness zone may have guided Antarctica-Australia separation and helped shape the 2,000-km semi-circular continental margin and offshore fracture-zone pattern.
Because the province underlies ice holding a 28-meter sea-level equivalent, the buried structure is seen as a major control on outlet glaciers, ice flow and East Antarctica's long-term vulnerability.