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Department of Geophysics

 Antarctic Marine Geology & Geophysics - 2007

GES 206   ES 106

3 units

Winter Quarter, 2007

Bldg 460 Rm 334, TTH, 11:00 - 12:15


Leaders:

Class Details
Grading

Text

Paper of the day
Syllabus
Special Events
WWW links
Working Groups
Class Readings
Exercises

Exam Questions

Rob Dunbar Alan Cooper

Professor, GES
Senior Fellow, IIS

Professor (Courtesy), GES
Emeritus Geophysicist, U.S. Geological Survey

320 Braun Hall

331 Green Earth Sciences

650-725-6830

650-321-3644 (H) & 650-329-5157

dunbar@stanford.edu akcooper@pacbell.net

TA:
Matt Long
239 Green Earth Sciences
mclong@stanford.edu



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Quick Links

Class Details

Grading

Text

Paper of the day

Syllabus

Special Events

WWW links

Working Groups

Exercises

Exam Questions


GES Department

School of Earth 
Sciences

Stanford University
Stable Isotope Lab

Oceans Program
at Stanford

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Class Details

This course is designed primarily for upper division undergraduate students and graduate students. We recognize that we may attract some sophomores. It may be possible for you to enroll but we do ask that you have some background in geology or oceanography already. The exact amount is negotiable - but you do need to have some. We will introduce topics in marine geology and geophysics through lectures, seminars, and group readings and discussions that focus on examples from the Antarctic continental margin and adjacent Southern Ocean. This class is meant to serve as the marine geology and geophysics course for the ES Oceans track and is analogous to Marine Chemistry, Marine Biology and Physical Oceanography. Topics to be covered include:

Glaciers, icebergs, & sea ice as geologic agents

Glacial and glacial-marine sedimentology

Southern Ocean waters and deep-sea sediments     

Antarctic biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy

Southern Ocean Paleoceanography

Continental margin evolution

Besides the science topics listed above, we will also include some discussion of practical aspects with each lecture, e.g., how Antarctic marine geology is done, the existing international and US research groups, known databases, and plans for the future. There will be several lab exercises using real data. Students will have opportunities to interpret seismic lines as well as sediment core/well log data. We will include examples from a recent Ocean Drilling Project scientific drilling expedition to Prydz Bay, Antarctica. One of the course leaders, Dr. Alan Cooper, was Co-Chief Scientist for this expedition and will describe the anatomy of a drilling operation from concept to conclusion.

This class is offered every other year during the autumn quarter. We intend to offer it again during 2008.

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Grading

Grading will be based on:

5 or 6 exercise assignments, assigned readings, and group discussion (30%)

1 late-term take-home mid-term exam (35%)

1 class project that involves both a presentation (10%) and a report (25%)

Here are some examples of student papers from the time we taught this class (2002):

Kevin Hand: Clathrates in Antarctic Subglacial Lakes

Chris Moy: C uptake in the Southern Ocean

THERE IS NO FINAL EXAM.

i) Exercises will be assigned during class and are described below.

ii) The mid-term exam will be distributed as a take-home exam during class on March 1. The exam will be due in class on March 6. One week before the exam, we will post a series of questions on this www site. We will pick 3 of these questions from this list for inclusion on the actual exam.

As a guide for study during the first part of the quarter, below you will find some example questions. We will probably keep a few of these and add some others on February 22, based on the material that we have covered during class this year.

This means that you should review your study materials so that you can answer any of the posted questions within ~25 minutes.

iii) The class project will be accomplished either as individuals or as teams of 2 or 3 and will consist of analysis of an actual Antarctic data set or research question. The project report should include a brief description of a the question you are addressing, the data set you are employing to address the question, your methodology, and some conclusions. Alan and I will work with you during the first 4 weeks of class to help identify a suitable problem and relevant data sets. The quarter zips by quickly - you'll be more relaxed if you begin to think about this early.


Items to emphasize in your studies:

·        Evolution of Antarctica’s margins, to include structural framework and sedimentary processes

·        Seismic data analysis

·        The types of sedimentary rocks to be found beneath the Antarctic margin.

·        Evolution and paleoceanography of the Southern Ocean, from geologic and physical oceanographic perspectives

·        Glacier, iceberg, and sea-ice processes

·        Glacial sedimentation processes

·        Antarctic Ice Sheet History 


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Textbooks and other Library References

Main Text:

Antarctic Marine Geology, by John B. Anderson
Price: $125.00 (optional)
Published in October, 1999, by Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521593174

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There are many volumes on reserve in Branner that may be valuable resources as you compile your pointers.  You can find a complete list on the Stanford University Libraries website by selecting Socrates (the online catalog) then clicking on the "Course Reserves" tab in the upper right hand corner of the page.  Volumes on reserve include but not limited to:

ANTOSTRAT, 1994, The Antarctic Continental Margin Geophysical and Geological Stratigraphic Records of Cenozoic Glaciation, Paleoenvironments, and Sea-Level Change -Extended abstracts, Terra Antarctica, V.1, 480 p.

Cooper, A., Barker, P. eds, 1995 & 1997, Geology and Seismic Stratigraphy of the Antarctic Margin I & II, AGU Antarctic Research Series, Vol. 68 and 71 , Washington, Books and Atlas.

Davies, T.A., et al., eds., 1997, Glaciated Continental Margins An Atlas of Acoustic Images, Chapman and Hall, New York, 315 p.

Kennett, J., and Warnke, D.,1992 & 1993, The Antarctic Paleoenvironment A Perspective on Global Change I & II, AGU Antarctic Research Series Vols. 56 and 60, Washington.

Kennett, J., 1981, Marine Geology, Prentice Hall.

Tingey, R. J., 1991, The Geology of Antarctica, Oxford Monograph on Geology and Geophysics, Oxford Science Publications, Oxford, 680p.

DSDP Vols. 28 (Wilkes Land/Ross Sea) and 35 (Ant.Peninsula)

ODP Initial Reports and Science-Results Volumes for Legs 113 (Weddell Sea), 119 (Prydz Bay), 178 (Antarctic Peninsula), Leg 188 (Prydz Bay)

Cape Roberts Drilling Reports (in Terra Antarctica)

General reading:

Reader's Digest, 1985, Antarctica - Great Stories from the Frozen Continent, Readers Digest, New York, ~350 pp.

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Syllabus

Class 1 - 9 Jan 07 (tu) - AC

Introductions; Class Requirements and Purpose, Short description of the key scientific challenges and questions facing Antarctica marine geologists and geophysicists, introduction to the geography of the place.

Lecture 1

Class 2 - 11 Jan 07 (th) - AC

Character of Antarctica, Putting Antarctica in its place.........Overview of onshore geology of Gondwana/Antarctica.

Lecture 2

Class 3 - 16 Jan 07 (tu) - AC

Onshore geology of Gondwana/Antarctica (part II) and evolution of ocean basins - plate tectonic reconstructions.

Lecture 3
Lawver 200Ma-Present
Lawver Cenozoic Animation

Class 4 - 18 Jan 07 (th) - AC

Evolution of continental margins I - Origin and age of sea-floor morphology. Structure of circum-Antarctic basins, and sub-ice marine basins.

Lecture 4

Class 5 – 23 Jan 07 (tu) – AC

Evolution of continental margins II - Mesozoic and younger history of  circum-Antarctic basins, and sub-ice marine basins.

Lecture 5

Class 6 – 25 Jan 07 (th) – RD

 Pleistocene and Holocene Continental Shelf Sedimentation

Lecture 6

 Class 7 – 30 Jan 07 (tu) - RD

 Antartica’s Ice Sheet and Continental Glacial Processes

Lecture 7

 Class 8 – 1 Feb 07 (th) – RD

 History of Antarctica’s ice sheet, models and data

Lecture 8

Class 9 – 6 Feb 07 (tu) - RD

History of Antarctica’s ice sheet, models and data (cont)

Lecture 9

Class 10 – 8 Feb 07 (th) AC

Seismic Stratigraphy I, Seismic concepts, application to Antarctica, existing data bases, general sections; comparisons with N. hemisphere

Lecture 10

Class 11 – 13 Feb 07 (tu) AC

Seismic Stratigraphy II  Seismic stratigraphy of circum-Antarctic margins (5 regions), comparisons, processes, models, etc.

Lecture 11

Class 12 – 15 Feb 07 (th) RD & AC

Ross Powell (guest lecturer): Glacial Marine Sedimentation and ANDRILL update

Lecture 12 -- Ross Powell's talk (is big)

Class 13 – 20 Feb 07 (tu) AC

Seismic Stratigraphy III
Mini symposium presentations

Lecture 13

Class 14 – 22 Feb 07 (th) AC & RD

Case studies and stratigraphic drilling

Lecture 14

Class 15 – 27 Feb 07 (tu) RD

Paleoceanography

Lecture 15

Class 16 – 1 Mar 07 (th) RD

Christina Riesselman (guest lecturer): Biostratigraphy and Chronostratigraphy

Lecture 16

Class 17 – 6 Mar 07 (tu) RD

Physical/Chemical Oceanography and link to Sedimentology

Lecture 17

Class 18 – 8 Mar 07 (th) RD

Biogeochemistry, Antarctica, and the global C cycle

Class 19 – 13 Mar 07 (tu) RD & AC

Student presentations

Class 20 – 15 Mar 07 (th) last class RD & AC

Student presentations

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Exam Questions

1.  Evolution of Antarctica’s margins
Draw a generalized section of the Antarctic continental margin, and explain how the various segments of the margin around Antarctic evolved with emphasis on the major events and large-scale processes that created the structural framework and sedimentary sequences.

2.  Seismic data analyses
Explain how analysis of seismic data using seismic facies and seismic stratigraphy are used to infer depositional environments, paleoceanographic conditions, and structural history for the Antarctic continental margin.

3.  Geologic record of the Antarctic margin
You have just drilled a transect of three deep holes across your segment of the Antarctic continental margin, with one hole each on the shelf, slope and rise extending through the entire sedimentary section and into basement.  For each site, draw a vertical section and describe the core you recovered, illustrating  rock types (e.g., sand/silt turbidites, diatom ooze, etc.) and possible ages, from basement to seafloor.  Give a brief geologic history for one of the sites.  

4.  Sedimentology/Oceanography
Describe the types of sediments you might encounter at the surface of the seafloor in a transect from about 30°S right up to the glaciated coastline of Antarctica. Include the basic sediment types you’d expect to see including the important subdivisions of biogenic (e.g. produced by organisms) and terrigenous deposits. What are the most important  controls on the type of sediment you’ve predicted? Here, I’m thinking of factors like water depth, distance from shore, ocean fronts, productivity, surface/bottom water temperature, salinity, ocean fronts, etc.


5.  Paleoceanography
Describe the evolution of the Antarctic ocean over the past 120 million years. When did the “Southern Ocean” form? What kinds of critical events may have occurred (e.g. opening of gateways, etc.) and what was their effect on the Antarctic seas. What were temperatures like through time? Do most paleoceanographic changes occur gradually, or rapidly? Finally, describe several ways that the marine geology of the Antarctic margin may best reflect it’s unusual paleoceanographic history.

6.  Glaciology
Draw a cross section of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from the Prydz Bay region to the Bellingshausen Sea region showing the geometries of the ice sheet and bedrock surfaces with respect to sea level.  Include internal flow lines. Explain how the ice sheet forms, moves, and sheds ice.  Explain the role of sea ice in this dynamic ice system.  

7.  Glacial Sedimentation processes
Describe the various types of glacial sediments that occur along and within the Antarctic continental margin, and explain how they formed. Draw one or more cross sections of the ice - sediment system to explain the origins of these sediments.

8.  Antarctic Ice Sheet History
Draw the d18O foram-based oxygen isotope curve for the Cenozoic, and explain Antarctic Ice sheet history based on this diagram.  Compare and contrast this history (based on deep ocean forams living far from Antarctica), with the glacial history derived from the rock record recovered at sites on Antarctica and its continental margin. To answer this, think about what the forams are actually recording versus what the marginal sediments are telling us.

9.  Plio-Pleistocene Events
Describe some of the newer ideas concerning dynamism in Antarctic ice over the past 6 million years. When does northern ice become important? Is there a relationship between north and south?


Special Events This Quarter
TBA

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Links to other WWW Resources

Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany

Antarctic Digital Database - British Antarctic Survey

British Antarctic Survey - Antarctic Geology Maps - UK

Antarctic News/Products

Antarctic News - Antarctic Sun

Antarctic Maps - USGS

Antarctic Research Center, Australia

Antarctic Seismic Data Library System - USGS

Antarctic Weather

ANTOSTRAT Science report

British Antarctic Survey

Marine Geology and Geophysics at NGDC

National Institute of Polar Research, Japan

National Snow and Ice Data Center, Colorado

NGDC list of other MG&G WWW servers

Ocean Drilling Program

Oceanography Resources on the Web

Polar Oceanography Page, JPL, Pasadena, CA

Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State

Polar Programs, National Science Foundation

Ross Sea Iceberg Page

Scott Polar Research Institute, U.K.

U.S. Antarctic Research Vessels

U.S. Army CRREL Antarctic Bibliography Site

West Antarctic Ice Sheet Initiative

WWW Servers with Atmosphere and Climate Data

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Paper Archive - OPTIONAL Readings unless assigned!!

Class 3

Cande, S.C., Stock, J.M., Mueller, D., and Ishihara, T., 2000, Cenozoic motion between East and West Antarctica, Nature, 404, 145-150. 

Gordon, R., 2000, The Antarctic Connection, Nature, 404, 139-140.

Class 7

Scherer, R., Aldahan, A., Tulaczyk, S., Possnert, G., Engelhardt, H., and Kamb, B., 1998, Pleistocene collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Science, 281, 81-84. 

Oppenheimer, M., 1998, Global Warming and the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Nature, 393, 325-332. 

Eric Rignot and Stanley S. Jacobs, 2002, Rapid Bottom Melting Widespread near Antarctic Ice Sheet Grounding Lines, Science, 296: 2020-2023. 

Wendy C. Quayle, Lloyd S. Peck, Helen Peat, J. C. Ellis-Evans, and P. Richard Harrigan, 2002, Extreme Responses to Climate Change in Antarctic Lakes, Science, 2002, 295: 645. 

Robert Bindschadler and Patricia Vornberger, 1998, Changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Since 1963 from Declassified Satellite Photography, Science, 279: 689-692. 

Class 8

Robert M. DeConto and David Pollard, 2003, Rapid Cenozoic glaciation of Antarctica induced by declining atmospheric CO2, Nature, 421, 245-249. 

Robert M. DeConto and David Pollard, 2003, A coupled climate-ice sheet modeling approach to the Early Cenozoic history of the Antarctic ice sheet, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 198, 39-52. 

David Pollard and Robert M. DeConto, 2003, Antarctic ice and sediment flux in the Oligocene simulated by a climate-ice sheet-sediment model, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 198, 53-67. 

Class 15

James Zachos, Mark Pagani, Lisa Sloan, Ellen Thomas, and Katharina Billups, 2001. Trends, Rhythms, and Aberrations in Global Climate 65 Ma to Present, Science, April 27; 292: 686-693.

John A. Barron, 1996. Diatom constraints on the position of the Antarctic Polar Front in the middle part of the Pliocene, Marine Micropaleontology, 27, 195-213.
(If you did not pick this paper up in class, copies are available on the desk outside Rob's office)

Armand, L., 2000,  An Ocean of Ice—Advances in the Estimation of Past Sea Ice in the Southern Ocean, GSA Today, 10, 1-7. 

C. H. Lear, H. Elderfield, and P. A. Wilson, 2000. Cenozoic deep-sea temperatures and ice volumes from Mg/Ca in benthic foraminiferal calcite. Science, 287, 269-272. 

Class 17

Broecker, W., Sutherland, S., Peng, T-H., 2000, A possible 20th century slowdown of Southern Ocean deep water formation, Science, 286, 1132-1135. 

Sarah T. Gille, 2002, Warming of the Southern Ocean Since the 1950s, Science, February 15; 295: 1275-1277. 

R. Knutti, J. Fluckiger1, T. F. Stocker & A. Timmermann, 2004, Strong hemispheric coupling of glacial climate through freshwater discharge and ocean circulation, Nature, 430, 851-856.

Daniel M. Sigman & Edward A. Boyle, 2000, Glacial/interglacial variations in atmospheric carbon dioxide, Nature, 409, 859-869. 

Barker, P.F. and Thomas, E., 2004, Origin, signature and paleoclimatic influence of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, Earth-Science Reviews, 66, 143-162. 

Others - tba

Miller, M.F., Mabin, M.C.G., 1998, Antarctic Neogene Landscapes--In the Refrigerator or in the Deep Freeze?, GSA Today, 8, 1-8. 

Scherer, R., Aldahan, A., Tulaczyk, S., Possnert, G., Engelhardt, H., and Kamb, B., 1998, Pleistocene collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Science, 281, 81-84. 

Armand, L., 2000,  An Ocean of Ice—Advances in the Estimation of Past Sea Ice in the Southern Ocean, GSA Today, 10, 1-7. 

de la Mare, W., 1997, Abrupt mid-20th-century decline in Antarctic sea ice extent from whaling records, Nature, 389, 57-60. 

Delaney, P., 2000, Nutrients in the glacial balance, Nature, 405, 288-291. 

Elderfield, H., and. Rickaby, R.E.M., 2000, Oceanic Cd/P ratio and nutrient utilization in the glacial Southern Ocean, Nature, 405, 305-310. 

Stephens, B.B., and Keeling, R.F., 2000, The Influence of Antarctic Sea Ice on Glacial/Interglacial CO2 variations, Nature, 404, 171-174. 

Boyd, P.W., and 34 others, 2000, A mesoscale phytoplankton bloom in the polar Southern Ocean stimulated by iron fertilization, Nature, 407, 695-702. 

Watson, A.J., Bakker, D.C.E., Ridgwell A.J., Boyd, P.W., and Law, C.S., 2000, Effect of iron supply on Southern Ocean CO2 uptake and implications for glacial atmospheric CO2, Nature, 407, 730-733. 

Naish article on Oligocene/Miocene Orbital Fluctuations. 

Kennett, J. P., and Hodell, D.A., 1995, Stability or instability of Antarctic ice sheets during warm climates of the Pliocene?, GSA Today, 5, 1-22. 

*Siegert, M.J. 2001. Ice sheets and late Quaternary environmental
change. Wiley. Chapters 3 and 9. Will have copies outside GeoCorner 325.
 
Huybrechts, P. 1990. A 3-D model for the Antarctic Ice Sheet: a
sensitivity study on the glacial-interglacial contrast. Climate
Dynamics, 5, 79-92.
 
*Bamber, J.L., Vaughan, D.G. and Joughin, I. 2000. Widespread complex
flow in the interior of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Science, 287,
1248-1250. 
 
*Huybrechts, P. 2002. Sea-level changes at the LGM from ice-dynamic
reconstructions of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets during the
glacial cycles. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21, 1-3, 203-231. 

R.D. McCauley, J. Fewtrell, A.J. Duncan, C. Jenner, M-N. Jenner, J.D. Penrose, R.I.T. Prince, A. Adhitya, J. Murdoch and K. McCabe, MARINE SEISMIC SURVEYS—A STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS, APPEA Journal, 2000. 

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Regional Working Groups - Winter 2007
TBA

Class Readings

Readings:

 For Cooper lecture on January 11 (Class 2):

  1. Look through the Anderson textbook to get a feel for the topics it covers;

  2. In Chapter 2 (Geologic History of Antarctica) of the text, our emphasis will be on the last 175 m.y. (I.e., since initial Gondwana breakup). Look at the figures in Chap. 2, and briefly read p.34 (bottom) to p. 43 (middle) and p.53 (bottom) thru p.57.

For Cooper lecture on January 16 (Class 3):

  Read the following parts of the Anderson textbook

·        Chapter 3:  pages 58-61

·        Chapter 5:  pages 155-185 (Ross Sea, Antarctic Peninsula). Focus on sections relating to the regional geologic setting and structural framework– we will come back to the seismic stratigraphic sections later).

 For Cooper lectures on January 18 and 23 (Classes 4 & 5):

  Read the following part of the Anderson textbook

·          Chapter 5:  pages 186–206 (Weddell Sea and other parts of the Antarctic margin). Focus on sections relating to the regional geologic setting and structural framework– we will come back to the seismic stratigraphic sections later).

   Read the paper: 

·        Dalziel, I.W.D., and Lawver, L.A., 2001. The lithospheric setting of the West Antarctic Icesheet, in Bindschadler, R.M. and Ailey, R. [eds.], The West Antarctic Icesheet, Antarctic Research Series V. 77, p. 29-44.

For Dunbar lectures on January 25 and 30th
Domack et al 2005
Leventer et al 2006
Raymo et al 2006
EPICA 2006

For Dunbar lecture on February 1
Deconto and Pollard 2003
Barrett 2003
Payne et al 2006
Optional: Siegert 2003, Siegert et al. 2005, Viele & Payne 2005

For Cooper lecture on Seismic Stratigraphy I -- February 8
Boulton 1990
Stoker et al 1997

For Cooper lecture on Seismic Stratigraphy II -- February 13
Anderson text: Chapter 5
Cooper et al., Cenozoic prograding sequences of the Antarctic continental margin a record of glacio-eustatic and tectonic events, Marine Geology, 102, 175-213, 1991.
Bartek et al., Effect of Cenozoic ice sheet fluctuations in Antarctica on the stratigraphic signature of the Neogene, JGR, 96, 6753-6778, 1991.

For Powell lecture on Glacial Marine Sedimentation and ANDRILL -- February 15
Powell and Domack 2002

For Cooper lecture on Seismic Stratigraphy -- February 20
Rebesco et al 2006

For Dunbar Lecture on Paleooceanography -- February 27
Zachos et al. 2001

For Riesselman Lecture on Biostratigraphy -- March 1
Abelmann et al. 2006
Armand 2000
Taylor and Leventer 2003
Kellog and Kellog 1986
Biostratigraphic Distribution Charts

For Dunbar Lecture -- March 6
Naish et al. 2001
Coxall et al. 2001
Lear et al. 2000

For Dunbar Lecture -- March 13
Behrenfeld et al. 2006
Marinov et al. 2006


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TBA

L.A. Lawver, L.M. Gahagan, and M.F. Coffin, 1992, The Development of Paleoseaways around Antarctica, in The Antarctic Paleoenvironment A Perspective on Global Change, Antarctic Research Series, v. 56, pp. 7-30.

Lawver, L.A., and Gahagan, L.M., 1998. The Initiation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and its impact on Cenozoic climate, in Crowley, T. and Burke, K., eds., Tectonic Boundary Conditions for Climate Model Simulations, Oxford Univ. Press, 213-226.

Lawver, L.A., Gahagan, L.M., and Dalziel, I.W.D, 1999. A Tight fit-Early Mesozoic Gondwana, a Plate Reconstruction Perspective, Memoirs of the National Institute of Polar Research, International Symposium on the Origin and Evolution of Continents, Tokyo, Japan, Issue No. 53, 214-229.

Dalziel, I.W.D., and Lawver, L.A., in press. The lithospheric setting of the West Antarctic Icesheet, in Bindschadler, R.M. and Ailey, R. [eds.], The West Antarctic Icesheet, Antarctic Research Series, American Geophysical Union, accepted.

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a) J. C. Zachos, J. R. Breza, And S. W. Wise, 1992. Early Oligocene ice-sheet expansion on Antarctica Stable isotope and sedimentological evidence from Kerguelen Plateau, southern Indian Ocean. Geology, 20569-573.

b) J. J. Pospichal, 1994. Calcareous nannofossil at the K-T boundary, El Kef No evidence for stepwise, gradual, or sequential extinctions. Geology, 2299-102. This isn't set in Antarctica, but it relates directly to the K/T boundary records in the Southern Ocean.

c) T. J. Bralower et al., High-resolution records of the late Paleocene Thermal Maximum and Circum-Caribbean volcanism is there a causal link? Geology 25 963-966. The LPTM, a problem that started with the Maud Rise drilling on Leg 113, which has been reverberating every since.

Longer takes, also readily accessible

d) S. W. Wise, J. R. Breza, D. M. Harwood, W. Wei, and J. C. Zachos, 1992. Paleogene glacial history of Antarctica in light of Leg 120 drilling results. Proc. ODP, Sci. Res., 120 1001-1030. The nitty gritty.

e) J. P. Kennett and L. D. stott, 1990. Proteus and Proto-oceanus ancestral Paleogene oceans as revealed from Antarctic stable Isotopic results; ODP Leg 113. Proc. ODP, Sci. Res., 113 865-880.

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Wilson, G.S., 1995, The Neogene East Antarctic ice sheet: A dynamic or stable feature?, Quaternary Science Reviews (14)2,  101-123.

Barker, P., 1995, The proximal marine sediment record of Antarctic climate since the late Miocene, IN Cooper et al., eds., Geology and Seismic Stratigraphy of the Antarctic Margin, ARS V. 68, p. 25-57.

Miller, M.F., Mabin, M.C.G., 1998, Antarctic Neogene Landscapes--In the Refrigerator or in the Deep Freeze?, GSA Today, 8, 1-8.

Kennett, J. P., and Hodell, D.A., 1995, Stability or instability of Antarctic ice sheets during warm climates of the Pliocene?, GSA Today, 5, 1-22.


Siegert, M.J. 2001. Ice sheets and late Quaternary environmental change. Wiley. Chapters 3 and 9.

Huybrechts, P. 1990. A 3-D model for the Antarctic Ice Sheet: a sensitivity study on the glacial-interglacial contrast. Climate
Dynamics
, 5, 79-92.

Bamber, J.L., Vaughan, D.G. and Joughin, I. 2000. Widespread complex flow in the interior of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Science, 287, 1248-1250. 

Huybrechts, P. 2002. Sea-level changes at the LGM from ice-dynamic reconstructions of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets during the glacial cycles. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21, 1-3, 203-231.
 


General papers we may refer to in class:

Anderson, J. and Molnia, B., 1989, Glacial Marine Sedimentation, AGU Short Course in Geology, V. 9, 127 p.

Barrett, P. and Orombelli, G., 1999, Geological Records of Global and Planetary Changes -- Proceedings of the Workshop Terra Antarctica Reports #3, Siena, 186 pp.

Bleil, U. and Thiede, J., 1990, Geological History of the Polar Oceans Arctic versus Antarctic, NATO ASI Series C Mathematical and Physical Sciences, V. 308, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 823 p.

Domack, E. and Domack, C., circa 1993, Cenozoic Glaciation - The Marine Record Established by Ocean Drilling JOI/USSAC Special Publication, Washington, 48 p.

Dowdesewell J.A., and Scourse, J.D., 1990, Glacimarine Environments Processes and Sediments Geological Society of London Spec. Pub. No. 53, Geol. Soc., London, 423 p.

Hayes, D.E., 1992, Marine geological and geophysical atlas: circum-Antarctic to 30 deg. South, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.

Ricci, C.A., ed., 1997, The Antarctic Region Geological Evolution and Processes Proceedings of the VII International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences, Siena 1995, Terra Antartica Publication, Siena, 1206 p.

Yoshida et al. eds., 1992, Recent Progress in Antarctic Earth Science Proceedings of the VI International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences, Tokyo 1991, Terra Scientific Publishing, Tokyo, 704 p.

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Exercises

Exercise #1:  Geography and some key features of the Antarctic Region

(Assigned on Jan. 9 and due in class on Jan. 16)

 

Knowing the geography of Antarctica is important because nearly all of these names will be used at some point during the GES 206 course (and we don’t want you to get lost).  Look at Antarctic maps, in the library, on the web, on walls, and/or in the class text on pp. 2, 24, 29, 60, 85, 87, 88, 156, and locate the following features/places.  Check them off as you find them, and give yourself 1 point for each one that you locate.  There will be a 2-minute quiz in our next class, and you will be asked to name the 5-6 features/places from this list that I point to (3 points for each correct answer).  You can work in groups at home (collaboration on Antarctic studies is good) but not in the quiz.  You will use this list during the quiz to give your answers..  The total score for the assignment will include the quiz score. 

 

International Date Line  (180o  Longitude)

Greenwich Meridian  (0o Longitude)

Antarctic Circle

Southern Ocean

South Atlantic Ocean

South Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

 

South America

Africa

India

Sri Lanka

Australia

Tasmania

New Zealand

Campbell Plateau

 

South Geographic Pole

East Antarctica

West Antarctica

Transantarctic Mountains

West Antarctic Rift System

Ross Embayment

 

Antarctic Peninsula

Marie Byrd Land

Victoria Land

Wilkes Land

MacRobertson Land

Enderby Land

Dronning Maud Land

 

Drake Passage

Bransfield Strait

Bellingshausen Sea

Amundsen Sea

Ross Sea

Prydz Bay

Weddell Sea

 

Ross Ice Shelf

Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf

Amery Ice Shelf

 

Polar Front

Antarctic Convergence

Antarctic Divergence

 

Crary Trough

Palmer Land

Larsen Ice Shelf

Byrd Subglacial basin

McMurdo Sound

Ross Island

Dry Valleys

Cape Roberts

Victoria Land basin

Wilkes sub-glacial basin

South Magnetic Pole

Gambursev Mountains

Lambert Graben

Kerguelen Plateau

 

Total of 55 features/places

 

Name:

Score for places located:

Quiz score:

Total score: 

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Exercise #2:  Compilation of "pointers" to basic marine geology information for areas around Antarctica

 - Assigned January 11

 - Brief status report in class on January 25

 - Summary table due on January 30

 - Interpretation in class on February 20  (this date may change to earlier).

For your appointed area, make a table that lists the following information:

For each map, be sure to indicate:

Use the following references, and others that you can readily find:

  1. The ANTOSTRAT Extended abstract volume of Terra Antarctica
  2. Antarctic Research Series Volumes 68 and 71 (from the ANTOSTRAT Symposium)
  3. DSDP and ODP Volumes
  4. The Anderson text and the reading list on the course website
  5. Other books on reserve for the course at the library (e.g., the acoustic atlas, etc.)
  6. Websites for the Ocean Drilling Program, the Antarctic Seismic Data Library (SDLS), the World Data Center (NGDC)

Remember, the purpose of this exercise is mainly to learn where the data are.  In the process, select one data type to delve into.  Grab a sedimentology paper bathymetric map, seismic line, sedimentology paper or other source from your area and use it to prepare a short (3 minute) oral interpretation that you'll present in class on February 20 (or earlier?).

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Exercise #3:  Principles of isostasy and landscape evolution

(Assigned on Jan. 16 and due in class on Jan. 23)

 Isostasy is a key element in the evolution of Antarctica’s morphology onshore and offshore over the last 40 m.y., since the initiation of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.  It is important for you to review and apply the basic principles of isostasy to Antarctica.  Use your class text, the web, geophysical texts and any other resources that you need to learn the basic principles of isostasy for continental, transitional and oceanic crustal types, with and without an ice sheet.  Again, you may do the homework part of this project in “working groups” with colleagues.

 Be prepared to answer the questions:

·        What happens when you abruptly remove a layer of rock from a crust that is in isostatic balance (i.e., does the crust go up? or go down? or stay at the same height?  and if there is a change, specifically how much change up or down will there be?)

·        What happens when you abruptly add a layer of rock to a crust that is in isostatic balance (go up? down? stay the same? If a change, then how much?)

·        What happens when you abruptly add a layer of ice to a crust that is in isostatic balance (go up? down? stay the same? If a change, then how much?)

 Make two simple drawings: one of a “typical” rock column for continental crust with at least 1 km of sediment, and one of a “typical” rock/water column for oceanic crust.  Both columns should be in isostatic balance.

  1. Remove 1 km of sediment from the continental crust rock column (as if the sediment had been abruptly eroded by a fast-moving glacier), and determine how much the crust will then move up or down, if at all, to its final vertical position when the crust is once again at isostatic balance.
  2. Add 1 km of sediment to the oceanic crust rock/water column (as if the rock had been abruptly deposited by a massive debris flow), and determine how much the crust will then move up or down, if at all, to its final vertical position when the crust is once again at isostatic balance.

Be sure to annotate the densities and thicknesses of the rock and water units that you use in your “typical” columns.  Cite the reference source for your “typical” columns.

 There will be a 5-minute quiz in class in which you will be given 1 or 2 specific examples/questions like the two examples above.  Ice will be included in one of the quiz examples/questions.   You may use your homework problems to assist you in the quiz.

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last updated 11/24/04