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PetroChron Antarctica: a geological database for interdisciplinary use
Citation
Sanchez, G and Halpin, JA and Gard, M and Hasterok, D and Staal, T and Raimondo, T and Peters, S and Burton-Johnson, A, PetroChron Antarctica: a geological database for interdisciplinary use, Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 22, (12) Article e2021GC010154. ISSN 1525-2027 (2021) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
© 2021 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
Abstract
We present PetroChron Antarctica, a new relational database including petrological, geochemical and geochronological data sets along with computed rock properties from geological samples across Antarctica. The database contains whole-rock geochemistry with major/trace element and isotope analyses, geochronology from multiple isotopic systems and minerals for given samples, as well as an internally consistent rock classification based on chemical analysis and derived rock properties (i.e., chemical indices, density, p-velocity, and heat production). A broad range of meta-information such as geographic location, petrology, mineralogy, age statistics and significance are also included and can be used to filter and assess the quality of the data. Currently, the database contains 11,559 entries representing 10,056 unique samples with varying amounts of geochemical and geochronological data. The distribution of rock types is dominated by mafic (36%) and felsic (33%) compositions, followed by intermediate (22%) and ultramafic (9%) compositions. Maps of age distribution and isotopic composition highlight major episodes of tectonic and thermal activity that define well known crustal heterogeneities across the continent, with the oldest rocks preserved in East Antarctica and more juvenile lithosphere characterizing West Antarctica. PetroChron Antarctica allows spatial and temporal variations in geology to be explored at the continental scale and integrated with other Earth-cryosphere-biosphere-ocean data sets. As such, it provides a powerful resource ready for diverse applications including plate tectonic reconstructions, geological/geophysical maps, geothermal heat flow models, lithospheric and glacial isostasy, geomorphology, ice sheet reconstructions, biodiversity evolution, and oceanography.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Antarctica, geological database, geochemistry, geochronology |
| Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
| Research Group: | Geochemistry |
| Research Field: | Isotope geochemistry |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Natural Hazards |
| Objective Group: | Understanding climate change |
| Objective Field: | Effects of climate change on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic environments (excl. social impacts) |
| UTAS Author: | Sanchez, G (Dr Guillaume Sanchez) |
| UTAS Author: | Halpin, JA (Dr Jacqueline Halpin) |
| UTAS Author: | Staal, T (Dr Tobias Staal) |
| ID Code: | 148357 |
| Year Published: | 2021 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 2 |
| Deposited By: | Oceans and Cryosphere |
| Deposited On: | 2022-01-04 |
| Last Modified: | 2022-02-24 |
| Downloads: | 7 View Download Statistics |
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