This award, provided by the Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program of the Office of Polar Programs, supports research to apply numerical modeling to constrain the uplift and exhumation history of the Transantarctic Mountains. The Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) are an anomalously high (>4500 m) and relatively broad (up to 200 km) rift-flank uplift demarcating the boundary between East and West Antarctica. Dynamics of the East Antarctic ice-sheet and the climate are affected by the mountain range, and an understanding of the uplift history of the mountain range is critical to understanding these processes. This project will constrain the uplift and denudation history of the Transantarctic Mountains based on thermo-mechanical modeling held faithful to thermochronological, geological, and geophysical data. The research will be the primary responsibility of post-doctoral researcher Audrey Huerta, working in collaboration with Dennis Harry, 1 undergraduate student, and 1 graduate student.
Thermochronologic evidence of episodic Cretaceous through Cenozoic rapid cooling within the TAM indicates distinct periods of uplift and exhumation. However, a more detailed interpretation of the uplift history is difficult without an understanding of the evolving thermal structure and topography of the TAM prior to and during uplift. These aspects of the mountain range can best be constrained by an understanding of the evolving regional tectonic setting. Proximity of the TAM to the West Antarctic Rift System (WARS) suggests a link between uplift of the TAM and extension within the WARS.
The project will integrate two techniques: lithospheric-scale geodynamic modeling and crustal-scale thermal modeling. The lithospheric-scale deformational and thermal evolution of TAM will be modeled by a finite element model designed to track the thermal and deformational response of the Antarctic lithosphere to a protracted extensional environment. Previous investigators have linked the high elevation and broad width of the TAM to a deep level of necking in which mantle thinning is offset from the location of crustal extension. In this study, a three-dimensional dynamic model will be used to track the uplift and thermal evolution of the TAM in a setting in which necking is at a deep level, and in which extension within the crust and extension within the mantle are offset. Velocity boundary conditions applied to the edges of the model will vary through time to simulate the extensional and transtensional evolution of the WARS. Because the model is dynamic, the thermal structure, strength, and strain field, evolve naturally in response to these initial and boundary conditions.
Dynamic models are uniquely suited to understanding lithospheric deformational and thermal evolution, however kinematic models are best suited for addressing the detailed thermal and exhumation history of crustal uplifts. Thus, a 2-dimensional kinematic-thermal model will be designed to simulate the uplift history of the TAM and the resulting erosional, topographic, and thermal evolution. Uplift will be modeled as normal-fault movement on a set of discrete fault planes with uplift rate varying through time. Erosion will be modeled as a diffusive process in which erosion rates can be varied through time (simulating climate changes), and vary spatially as a linear function of gradient and distance from the drainage divide. Synthetic time-temperature (t-T) histories will be calculated to compare model results to thermochronologic data.
