PRELIMINARY LONG-PERIOD MAGNETOTELLURIC INVESTIGATION AT THE EDGE OF ICE SHEET IN EAST ANTARCTICA

Abstract

The lithospheric mantle structure of the Antarctic continent is of great significance of studying the polymerization and fragmentation mechanism of Gondwana and the plate movement law. Long-period magnetotelluric (LMT) is an important method to study the electrical structure of earth crust and mantle. However, been limited by the bad natural environment and logistics supply difficulties, there is no LMT record of Antarctica before. In 2018, China's 34th Antarctic scientific expedition carried out the LMT survey at the eastern edge of the Antarctic continent with a frequency range of 0.00015 Hz to 0.1 Hz. After the processing and analysis, we get three points as fellow: (1) The lithospheric mantle of Antarctica has a three-dimensional resistivity structure; (2) There are low resistivity regions in the Antarctic mantle, which may be related to thermal activity. (3) It is possible to carry out LMT measurements in eastern Antarctic and more can be done in the future.