THE PETROLEUM POTENTIAL OF ANTARCTICA AND ITS CONTINENTAL MARGIN

1981 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
P. J. Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Ross Sea ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Oil Accumulation ◽  
Petroleum Potential ◽  
Late Mesozoic ◽  
West Antarctic

On the basis of geological comparison and analogy with other Gondwanaland continents, four regions of Antarctica and its continental margin offer potential petroleum-bearing basins.The area of the Weddell Sea, Byrd subglacial basin and Ross Sea is analogous to the area east of the Andes Mountains in Argentina and offers good petroleum potential.The divergent continental margin of East Antarctica is analogous to the southern Australian and East Brazilian margins and its continental shelf is likely to contain Late Mesozoic basins, perhaps with a variety of reservoir systems, having good petroleum potential.The wide continental shelves of the Bellinghausen and Amundsen seas on the West Antarctic margin may also present favourable areas of petroleum exploration. Large intracratonic basins in East Antarctica, although possibly geologically favourable for oil accumulation, lie beneath thick ice, are largely unknown, and are the least prospective of the four areas.The exploitation of any Antarctic mineral resources will require the resolution of sovereignty claims to Antarctica at present excluded from the Antarctic Treaty.

The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition 1902–04

Polar Record ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (139) ◽  
pp. 379-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph E. Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
Ross Sea ◽  
Scientific Discovery ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Orkney Islands ◽  
Geographical Society ◽  
Antarctic Expedition ◽  
South Orkney Islands ◽  
20Th Anniversary ◽  
First Time

On 21 July 1904, just over 80 years ago, the barque-rigged, Norwegian-built auxiliary steamship Scotia sailed home up the Clyde with members of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (SNAE), concluding one of the most successful expeditions of the heroic period of Antarctic exploration. Contemporaneous with the more spectacular British Antarctic Expedition (1901–03) commanded by Robert Falcon Scott, the Scotia party under William Spiers Bruce had overwintered on Laurie Island (60° 44ʹ S, 44° 50ʹ W) in the South Orkney Islands, explored for the first time the oceanography of the Weddell Sea, assembled an important collection of scientific material, and discovered Coats Land, an icebound stretch of the East Antarctica coast.While Scott's Discovery expedition had emphasized geographical exploration inland from the Ross Sea sector of Antarctica, Bruce in the Scotia had concentrated more on scientific discovery in the Weddell Sea sector. On 12 November 1904 in Edinburgh, members of the Scotia and Discovery expeditions were guests at the 20th anniversary dinner of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Bruce and Scott together responding to a presidential toast that honoured the success of both.

Overview of West Antarctic tectonic evolution from ~500 Ma to the present

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Jordan ◽  
Teal Riley ◽  
Christine Siddoway
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Rift System ◽  
West Antarctica ◽  
The West ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Tectonically Active

<p>West Antarctica developed as the tectonically active margin separating East Antarctica and the Pacific Ocean for almost half a billion years. Its dynamic history of magmatism, continental growth and fragmentation are recorded in sparse outcrops, and revealed by regional geophysical patterns. Compared with East Antarctica, West Antarctica is younger, more tectonically active and has a lower average elevation. We identify three broad physiographic provinces within West Antarctica and present their overlapping and interconnected tectonic and geological history as a framework for future study: 1/ The Weddell Sea region, which lay furthest from the subducting margin, but was most impacted by the Jurassic initiation of Gondwana break-up. 2/ Marie Byrd Land and the West Antarctic rift system which developed as a broad Cretaceous to Cenozoic continental rift system, reworking a former convergent margin. 3/ The Antarctic Peninsula and Thurston Island which preserve an almost complete magmatic arc system. We conclude by briefly discussing the evolution of the West Antarctic system as a whole, and the key questions which need to be addressed in future. One such question is whether West Antarctica is best conceived as an accreted collection of rigid microcontinental blocks (as commonly depicted) or as a plastically deforming and constantly growing melange of continental fragments and juvenile magmatic regions. This distinction is fundamental to understanding the tectonic evolution of young continental lithosphere. Defining the underlying geological template of West Antarctica and constraining its linkages to the dynamics of the overlying ice sheet, which is vulnerable to change due to human activity, is of critical importance.</p>

A RE-ASSESSMENT OF THE PETROLEUM POTENTIAL OF THE DARLING BASIN: A DISCOVERY 2000 INITIATIVE

1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 278 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.D. Alder ◽  
C. Bembrick ◽  
B. Hartung-Kagi ◽  
B. Mullard ◽  
D.A. Pratt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Gas Field ◽  
Petroleum Potential ◽  
South Wales ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Geochemical Analyses ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Petroleum Wells

New data, including regional high resolution aeromagnet ic coverage, acquired by the New South Wales Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) as part of its Discovery 2000 Initiative, have provided the first opportunity for a comprehensive review of the regional framework of the Darling Basin. Covering an area of 90,000 km2 in central western NSW, the Darling Basin contains over 8,000 m of mainly Palaeozoic sediments. With only 17 petroleum wells drilled in the basin, mostly during the 1960s and 1970s, and some 1,550 km of modern multifold seismic coverage, the Darling Basin represents one of the major frontier basinal regions of onshore Australia.The initial phase of petroleum exploration was discouraged by the lack of shows, the likelihood of gas-prone source rocks and presence of a thick, red-bed dominated, organically lean, Late Devonian sequence. Renewed interest in the Darling Basin's prospectivity followed from favourable, albeit superficial, comparisons between the Darling Basin and Queensland's Adavale Basin, where commercial gas is produced at the Gilmore Gas Field. Additionally, as part of some $15 million expenditure by the DMR on acquiring new and reassessing old data from the Darling Basin, new geochemical analyses of extracts collected from core holes and out-crop suggest the presence of at least one active Palaeozoic petroleum system. This system has been responsible for generating oil and possibly substantial quantities of gas found dissolved within artesian waters in the overlying shallow Mesozoic sequences.

scholarly journals Impact of West Antarctic Ice Shelf melting on the Southern Ocean Hydrography

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshihiro Nakayama ◽  
Ralph Timmermann ◽  
Hartmut Hellmer
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Bottom Water ◽  
Ross Sea ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Shelf Water ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Long Term Impact

Abstract. Previous studies show accelerations of West Antarctic glaciers, implying that basal melt rates of these glaciers were previously small and increased in the middle of the 20th century. This enhanced melting is a likely source of the observed Ross Sea (RS) freshening, but its long-term impact on the Southern Ocean hydrography has never been investigated. Here, we conduct coupled sea-ice/ice-shelf/ocean simulations with different levels of ice shelf melting from West Antarctic glaciers. Freshening of RS shelf and bottom water is simulated with enhanced West Antarctic ice shelf melting, while no significant changes in shelf water properties are simulated when West Antarctic ice shelf melting is small. We further show that the freshening caused by glacial meltwater from ice shelves in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas propagates further downstream along the East Antarctic coast into the Weddell Sea. Our experiments also show the timescales for the freshening signal to reach other regions around the Antarctic continent. The freshening signal propagates onto the RS continental shelf within a year of model simulation, while it takes roughly 5–10 years and 10–15 years to propagate into the region off Cape Darnley and into the Weddell Sea, respectively. This advection of freshening signal} possibly modulates the properties of dense shelf water and impacts the production of Antarctic Bottom Water.

scholarly journals Impact of West Antarctic ice shelf melting on Southern Ocean hydrography

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 2205-2216
Author(s):  
Yoshihiro Nakayama ◽  
Ralph Timmermann ◽  
Hartmut H. Hellmer
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Bottom Water ◽  
Ross Sea ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Shelf Water ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Water Properties ◽  
West Antarctic

Abstract. Previous studies show accelerations of West Antarctic glaciers, implying that basal melt rates of these glaciers were previously small and increased in the middle of the 20th century. This enhanced melting is a likely source of the observed Ross Sea (RS) freshening, but its long-term impact on the Southern Ocean hydrography has not been well investigated. Here, we conduct coupled sea ice–ice shelf–ocean simulations with different levels of ice shelf melting from West Antarctic glaciers. Freshening of RS shelf and bottom water is simulated with enhanced West Antarctic ice shelf melting, while no significant changes in shelf water properties are simulated when West Antarctic ice shelf melting is small. We further show that the freshening caused by glacial meltwater from ice shelves in the Amundsen and Bellingshausen seas can propagate further downstream along the East Antarctic coast into the Weddell Sea. The freshening signal propagates onto the RS continental shelf within a year of model simulation, while it takes roughly 5–10 and 10–15 years to propagate into the region off Cape Darnley and into the Weddell Sea, respectively. This advection of freshening modulates the shelf water properties and possibly impacts the production of Antarctic Bottom Water if the enhanced melting of West Antarctic ice shelves continues for a longer period.

scholarly journals Ancient pre-glacial erosion surfaces preserved beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 681-713
Author(s):  
K. C. Rose ◽  
N. Ross ◽  
R. G. Bingham ◽  
H. F. J. Corr ◽  
F. Ferraccioli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ross Sea ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
West Antarctica ◽  
Ice Streams ◽  
West Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Wave Erosion

Abstract. We present ice-penetrating radar evidence for ~150 km wide planation surfaces beneath the upstream Institute and Möller Ice Streams, West Antarctica. Accounting for isostatic rebound under ice-free conditions, the surfaces would be around sea level. We, thus, interpreted the surfaces as ancient, marine erosion (wave-cut) platforms. The scale and geometry of the platforms are comparable to erosion surfaces identified in the Ross Sea embayment, on the opposite side of West Antarctica. Their formation is likely to have begun after the development of the deep ocean basin of the Weddell Sea (~160 Myr ago). In order to form wave-cut platforms, the sea must be relatively free of sea ice for a sustained period to allow wave erosion at wave base. As a consequence, the most recent period of sustained marine erosion is likely to be the Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (17–15 Ma), when warm atmospheric and oceanic temperatures would have prevented ice from blanketing the coast during periods of ice-sheet retreat. The erosion surfaces are preserved in this location due to the collective action of the Pirrit and Martin–Nash Hills on ice-sheet flow, which results in a region of slow flowing, cold-based ice downstream of this major topographic barrier. This investigation shows that smooth, flat subglacial topography does not always correspond with regions of either present or former fast ice flow, as has previously been assumed.

scholarly journals Environmental and Oceanographic Conditions at the Continental Margin of the Central Basin, Northwestern Ross Sea (Antarctica) Since the Last Glacial Maximum

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Fiorenza Torricella ◽  
Romana Melis ◽  
Elisa Malinverno ◽  
Giorgio Fontolan ◽  
Mauro Bussi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Ross Sea ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Central Basin ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Ross Ice Shelf ◽  
Sedimentary Sequences ◽  
Ash Layer ◽  
The Last Glacial

The continental margin is a key area for studying the sedimentary processes related to the advance and retreat of the Ross Ice Shelf (Antarctica); nevertheless, much remains to be investigated. The aim of this study is to increase the knowledge of the last glacial/deglacial dynamics in the Central Basin slope–basin system using a multidisciplinary approach, including integrated sedimentological, micropaleontological and tephrochronological information. The analyses carried out on three box cores highlighted sedimentary sequences characterised by tree stratigraphic units. Collected sediments represent a time interval from 24 ka Before Present (BP) to the present time. Grain size clustering and data on the sortable silt component, together with diatom, silicoflagellate and foraminifera assemblages indicate the influence of the ice shelf calving zone (Unit 1, 24–17 ka BP), progressive receding due to Circumpolar Deep Water inflow (Unit 2, 17–10.2 ka BP) and (Unit 3, 10.2 ka BP–present) the establishment of seasonal sea ice with a strengthening of bottom currents. The dominant and persistent process is a sedimentation controlled by contour currents, which tend to modulate intensity in time and space. A primary volcanic ash layer dated back at around 22 ka BP is correlated with the explosive activity of Mount Rittmann.

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