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East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains

Nature volume 479, pages 388–392 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains are the least understood tectonic feature on Earth, because they are completely hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Their high elevation and youthful Alpine topography, combined with their location on the East Antarctic craton, creates a paradox that has puzzled researchers since the mountains were discovered in 19581. The preservation of Alpine topography in the Gamburtsevs2 may reflect extremely low long-term erosion rates beneath the ice sheet3, but the mountains’ origin remains problematic. Here we present the first comprehensive view of the crustal architecture and uplift mechanisms for the Gamburtsevs, derived from radar, gravity and magnetic data. The geophysical data define a 2,500-km-long rift system in East Antarctica surrounding the Gamburtsevs, and a thick crustal root4 beneath the range. We propose that the root formed during the Proterozoic assembly of interior East Antarctica (possibly about 1 Gyr ago), was preserved as in some old orogens5,6 and was rejuvenated during much later Permian (roughly 250 Myr ago) and Cretaceous (roughly 100 Myr ago) rifting. Much like East Africa7, the interior of East Antarctica is a mosaic of Precambrian provinces affected by rifting processes. Our models show that the combination of rift-flank uplift, root buoyancy and the isostatic response to fluvial and glacial erosion explains the high elevation and relief of the Gamburtsevs. The evolution of the Gamburtsevs demonstrates that rifting and preserved orogenic roots can produce broad regions of high topography in continental interiors without significantly modifying the underlying Precambrian lithosphere.

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Figure 1: East Antarctica in Gondwana and seismic tomography through the Gamburstev Subglacial Mountains.
Figure 2: Geophysical data and interpretation over central East Antarctica.
Figure 3: Crustal architecture and uplift processes for the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains.
Figure 4: Schematic of the elements contributing to Gamburtsev Mountains uplift.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the seven nations involved in the AGAP International Polar Year effort for their major logistical, financial and intellectual support. The US Antarctic Program of the National Science Foundation provided support for the logistics, the development of the instrumentation and data analysis. The Natural Environment Research Council/British Antarctic Survey provided support for deep-field operations, data collection and analysis. The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Resources provided financial support. The Australian Antarctic Division provided support at the AGAP North field camp; the Chinese Antarctic programme and the Alfred Wegner Institute also assisted. We thank all the AGAP project members involved, and in particular M. Studinger, N. Frearson and C. Robinson. C. Ebinger provided an early review and P. Molnar provided discussions. S. Golynsky provided geophysical data over adjacent regions and related discussions. We thank C. Braitenberg for assistance with Lithoflex and R. Buck for providing 2D flexural modelling code. J. J. Veevers provided a review.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK ,

    Fausto Ferraccioli, Tom A. Jordan & Lester M. Anderson

  2. US Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA ,

    Carol A. Finn

  3. Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, 10964, New York, USA

    Robin E. Bell

  4. Bundensanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover, Stilleweg 2, 30655, Germany ,

    Detlef Damaske

Authors
  1. Fausto Ferraccioli
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Contributions

F.F. processed magnetic data, compiled radar, magnetic and gravity images, performed gravity modelling and, with C.A.F., led data interpretation and paper development. T.A.J. processed the gravity data and ran the 2D flexural models. R.E.B. helped in writing sections of the paper. L.M.A. performed elastic thickness modelling and Gondwana reconstruction. D.D. contributed magnetic data processing. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Fausto Ferraccioli.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

The file contains Supplementary Figures 1-11, Supplementary Table 1 and additional references. (PDF 7635 kb)

Supplementary Movie 1

The movie shows a 3D perspective of the Gamburtsev Province in interior East Antarctica. The fly-through begins from Lake Vostok and proceeds along the Eastern Rifts that flank the Gamburtsevs. Lake Sovetskaya and Lake 90E are interpreted as lying in deep rift basins, and further north the Lambert Rift is imaged beneath the Lambert Glacier. The underlying grid depicts the proposed crust-mantle boundary. Note the thick root beneath the Gamburstev Subglacial Mountains and the thinner crust under the East Antarctic Rift System. (ZIP 19348 kb)

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Ferraccioli, F., Finn, C., Jordan, T. et al. East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains. Nature 479, 388–392 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10566

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