Abstract
An outstanding problem in Antarctic tectonics is the relationship between the East Antarctic craton and the late Palaeozoic-Cenozoic orogenic belts that comprise Western Antarctica1 (Antarctic Peninsula, Ellsworth Land, Eights Coast and Marie Byrd Land; see Fig. 1a). Related problems are the place of Western Antarctica in reconstructions of Gondwanaland and the evolution of the Pacific margin of Gondwanaland. We present here palaeomagnetic data derived from folded Cambrian argillites that crop out in the Ellsworth Mountains which were collected during the 1979–80 austral field season. Although the early Palaeozoic palaeomagnetic field of Gondwanaland is characterized by rapid apparent polar wander, at the present level of coverage, the data are consistent with rotation of the Ellsworth Mountain block with respect to the East Antarctic craton, as postulated by Schopf2. This result supports a microplate nature of Western Antarctica.
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Watts, D., Bramall, A. Palaeomagnetic evidence for a displaced terrain in Western Antartica. Nature 293, 638–640 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/293638a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/293638a0
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