Report on the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition 1960-61: VUWAE 4
Quaternary Volcanics
Quaternary Volcanics
Numerous cinder cones of olivine basalt penetrate bedrock and moraines throughout the Koettlitz area from Marshall Valley southward, and associated lava flows cover large tracts in the vicinity of Mount Dromedary. The basalt contains inclusions of morainal material as well as olivine nodules of unusual dimensions. Volcanic activity apparently commenced subsequent to the ice maximum but recurred sporadically during and between later glaciations. Moraine was found interbedded with lava in the gorge of the Walcott metlwater stream, where an excellent stratigraphic section is exposed. It may be that the characteristic presence of hydrogen sulfide gas in the basement marbles is related to the episode of Quaternary volcanism.