This project addresses the uplift history of the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) in Northern Victoria Land (NVL), Antarctica, using apatite fission track analysis. The project will attempt to confirm that a mid-Cretaceous uplift event is recorded in the Admiralty Mountains, that most of the uplift in NVL was initiated in the early Cenozoic and whether a later period of uplift, early Paleogene, can be delineated in the south east coastal region where some 10km of uplift is estimated. Results will place the post-Jurassic tectonic evolution of NVL in context with the break-up of Australia and Antarctica and the formation of extensional features within the Ross Embayment. The sampling strategy is to take vertical profiles from granite plutons in the Admiralty Mountains and on the inland edge of the south east coastal region, as well as a horizontal transect. Apatite will be separated from returned samples and processed for counting by the external detector method in the Fission Track Dating Laboratory at Arizona State University. Track-length studies also form an integral part of the analysis.
