Progress in Mesozoic-Cenozoic paleomagnetism and plate reconstruction of West Antarctica

Abstract

In this study, we summarized paleomagnetic data from West Antarctica and reconstructed the paleoposition of different crustal blocks of West Antarctica. Plate reconstructions identified two widely influenced tectonic events in West Antarctica due to the subduction of the Pacific Plate, including the rapid southward drift of Thurston Island-Eights Coast and Eastern Marie Byrd Land during the eruption of Ontong Java-Manihiki-Hikurangi Large Igneous Provinces and related peak global ocean crust production rate at 120~100 Ma; The lithospheric extension in the Ross Sea region and rapid separation of Thurston Island-Eights Coast and Marie Byrd Land from East Antarctica, as well as the southward drift and clockwise rotation of the Antarctic Peninsula due to the subduction of Pacific-Phoenix Ridge under the Ross sea region at~100 Ma. This supports a co-evolution of the tectonic process between the Pacific Plate subduction and the plate motion in West Antarctica. In the future, we need more reliable paleomagnetic data with precise age constraints to make a more detailed reconstruction of different tectonic processes of West Antarctica. This will help us in understanding the geological evolution of Antarctica, and the geodynamics mechanism of plate growth and plate separation.

Keywords

• west antarctica
• paleo-pacific plate
• paleomagnetism
• plate reconstruction
• mesozoic-cenozoic