Review of fission track studies in northern Victoria Land, Antarctica - passive margin evolution versus uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains

Apatite fission track ages in the Pacific sector of Antarctica range from 470 Ma in Terre Adelie to 15 Ma in the Transantarctic Mountains of northern Victoria Land. Ages west of the Rennick Graben (Outback Shoulder) predominantly vary between similar to 300 and similar to 100 Ma, whereas those cast of the graben (Admiralty Block) are typically younger than 100 Ma. The age pattern and the regional distribution of the track lengths indicate a markedly different cooling history for the tectonic blocks of northern Victoria Land, but similar to that of the pre-Gondwana breakup conjugate margin of southeastern Australia. At least 2 km of regional erosion is recorded for the Outback Shoulder during the Devonian/Carboniferous, which is probably related to late Palcozoic terrane accretion. Jurassic to Early Cretaceous rifting and extension of the Wilkes Basin led to crustal thinning of the Outback Shoulder, followed by limited regional denudation of 2-3 km during late Mesozoic times. In contrast, the cooling history of the Admiralty Block is characterised by coastal denudation exceeding 3-4 km due to the formation of the Pacific continental margin since the Early Cretaceous, and episodic uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains since the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.