Gneiss Dome Architecture
Scientific Expedition to Antarctica, November-December 2006
Project funded by Office of Polar Programs, U.S. National Science Foundation
Title of Project
Gneiss dome architecture: Investigation of form and process in the Fosdick Mountains, W Antarctica, Professor Christine Siddoway (Principal Investigator), Colorado College; and Professor Christian Teyssier (co-Principal Investigator)
Project Synopsis
The aim of this project is to document the geological history of a part of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, in order to reconstruct the Cretaceous break-up of Gondwana that resulted ultimately in the development of the South Pacific Ocean. The Fosdick Mountains offer the opportunity to study the role of partial melting in the development of this continental break-up. These mountains expose a large volume of migmatites that record the flow, melting, and exhumation of deep crust. Our study combines metamorphic geology, structural geology, and geochronology to study the melting process, the melt pathways, and the relation between melting and deformation/exhumation. Dr. Fawna Korhonen (Postdoctoral fellow) and Rory McFadden (PhD student) are involved in this project.
