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A fission track thermochronological study of King George and Livingston islands, South Shetland Islands (West Antarctica)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2004

I. SELL ,
G. POUPEAU ,
J.M. GONZÁLEZ-CASADO  and
J. LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ
I. SELL
Affiliation:
Departamento de Química Agrícola, Geología y Geoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain UMR 5060-CNRS, Centre de Recherche en Physique Appliquée à l'Archéologie et Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux, Université Michel de Montaigne-Bordeaux 3, Maison de l'Archéologie, Esplanade des Antilles, F-33607 Pessac, France
G. POUPEAU
Affiliation:
UMR 5060-CNRS, Centre de Recherche en Physique Appliquée à l'Archéologie et Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux, Université Michel de Montaigne-Bordeaux 3, Maison de l'Archéologie, Esplanade des Antilles, F-33607 Pessac, France
J.M. GONZÁLEZ-CASADO
Affiliation:
Departamento de Química Agrícola, Geología y Geoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
J. LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ
Affiliation:
Departamento de Química Agrícola, Geología y Geoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
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Abstract

This paper reports the dating of apatite fission tracks in eleven rock samples from the South Shetland Archipelago, an island arc located to the north-west of the Antarctic Peninsula. Apatites from Livingston Island were dated as belonging to the Oligocene (25.8 Ma: metasediments, Miers Bluff Formation, Hurd Peninsula) through to the Miocene (18.8 Ma: tonalites, Barnard Point). Those from King George Island were slightly older, belonging to the Early Oligocene (32.5 Ma: granodiorites, Barton Peninsula). Towards the back-arc basin (Bransfield Basin), the apatite appears to be younger. This allows an opening rate of approximately 1.1 km Ma−1 (during the Miocene–Oligocene interval) to be calculated for Bransfield Basin. Optimization of the apatite data suggests cooling to 100 ± 10°C was coeval with the end of the main magmatic event in the South Shetland Arc (Oligocene), and indicates slightly different tectonic-exhumation histories for the different tectonic blocks.

Keywords

Apatite fission track datingBransfield Basin riftingCenozoicnorthern Antarctic Peninsulathermochronology
Type
Research Article
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , June 2004 , pp. 191 - 197
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2004

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