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Victoria University Antarctic Research Expedition Science and Logistics Reports 1985-86: VUWAE 30

Fieldwork in the Miller and Queen Elizabeth Ranges

Fieldwork in the Miller and Queen Elizabeth Ranges

The Miller Range lies on the inland side of the Transantarctic Mountains and is an uplifted block of granitic and metamorphic rocks. Grindley (1967) worked on the geomorphology of the Miller Range and observed three high level glacial erosion surfaces. He calculated that these represented an uplift of about 1600 m since the onset of Antarctic glaciation, assumed at that time to be the early Quaternary. However the Cenozoic glaciation of the Antarctic continent is now thought to have begun 25 Ma ago (Hayes et al., 1975) which gives an average uplift rate of approximately 64 m/Ma, This allows us the opportunity of testing the fission track method against direct geological observations and so a vertical sampling profile of 800 m was taken off MacDonald Bluff, from spot height .2440 to the level of the Marsh Glacier. Moody page 16 Nunatak, lying across the Harsh Glacier was sampled as were various localities in the Queen Elizabeth Range to determine displacement across faults lying between here and the Miller Range (Grindley and Laird, 1969).

Figure 4. Map of the Beardmore-Nimrod Glacier area, showing localities samplied for fission track dating studies this season.

Figure 4. Map of the Beardmore-Nimrod Glacier area, showing localities samplied for fission track dating studies this season.