Abstract
THE South Shetland Islands (from King George Island to Livingston Island) are situated on a small crustal plate bounded by incipient back-arc spreading along the axis of Bransfield Strait to the east, a well defined oceanic trench to the west (along which subduction has apparently now ceased) and transverse faulting to the north and south1 (Fig. 1), The discovery of glaucophane-schists on Smith Island (Fig. 1, inset) suggests that subduction may have begun as early as the Upper Palaeozoic.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barker, P. F., and Griffiths, D. H., Phil. Trans. R. Soc., A 271, 151–83 (1972).
Barton, C. M., Sri. Rep. Br. Antarct. Surv., 44 (1965).
Hobbs, G. J., ibid., 47 (1968).
Adie, R. J., in Antarctic Research (edit. by Priestley, R. E., Adie, R. J., and Robin, G. de Q.), 118–62 (Butterworth, London, 1964).
Iltchenko, L. N., in Antarctic Geology and Geophysics (edit. by Adie, R. J.), 599–602 (Universitetsforlaget, Oslo, 1971).
Ashcroft, W. A., Sci. Rep. Br. Antarct. Surv., 66 (1972).
Fyfe, W. S., Turner, F. J., and Verhoogen, J., Mem. geol. Soc. Am., 73 (1958).
Tyrrell, G. W., “Discovery” Rep., 23, 37–102 (1945).
Ernst, W. G., Am. J. Sci., 272, 657–68 (1972).
Dalziel, I. W. D., Bull. geol. Soc. Am., 83, 1887–94 (1972).
Thomson, J. W., Sci. Rep. Br. Antarct. Surv., 86 (1974).
Watters, D. G., in Antarctic Geology and Geophysics (edit. by Adie, R. J.), 33–38 (Universitetsforlaget, Oslo, 1971).
Dalziel, I. W. D., and Elliot, D. H., in The Ocean Basins and Margins, 1 (edit. by Nairn, A. E. M., and Stehli, F. G.), 171–246 (Plenum, New York, 1973).
Stubbs, G. M., thesis, Univ. Birmingham (1968).
Miyashiro, A., J. Petrology, 2, 277–311 (1961).
Ernst, W. G., Seki, Y., Onuki, H., and Gilbert, M. C., Mem. geol. Soc. Am., 124 (1970).
Miyashiro, A., Am. J. Sci., 272, 629–56 (1972).
Rex, D. C., Bull. Br. Antarct. Surv. (in the press).
Munizaga, F., Aguirre, L., and Hervé, F., Earth planet. Sci. Lett., 18, 87–92 (1973).
Ernst, W. G., Tectonophysics, 26, 229–246 (1975).
Harrington, P. K., Barker, P. F., and Griffiths, D. H., in Antarctic Geology and Geophysics (edit. by Adie, R. J.), 27–32 (Universitetsforlaget, Oslo, 1971).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
SMELLIE, J., CLARKSON, P. Evidence for pre-Jurassic subduction in western Antarctica. Nature 258, 701–702 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/258701a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/258701a0
This article is cited by
-
Morphostructural analysis and Cenozoic evolution of Elephant Island, Southern Scotia Arc, Antarctica
International Journal of Earth Sciences (2015)
-
Late Palaeozoic-early Mesozoic fore-arc basin Sedimentary rocks at the Pacific margin in Western Antarctica
Geologische Rundschau (1981)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.