Thermal Regime, Legacy Structures, Upper Mantle Hydration and
Lithospheric-Scale Magmatic Processes of the Antarctic Interior from
Regional-Scale Electrical Properties
Abstract
Large-scale electrical resistivity investigations of the Antarctic crust
and upper mantle utilizing the magnetotelluric method (MT) are limited
in number compared to temperate regions, but provide physical insights
difficult to obtain with other techniques. Key to the method’s success
in polar environments are instrumentation advances that allow micro-volt
level measurements of the MT electric field in the face of mega-ohm
contact resistances. In this presentation, we analyze MT data from four
campaigns over the Antarctic interior using modern 3D non-linear
inversion analysis and offer additional geophysical conclusions and
context beyond the original studies. A profile of MT soundings over
transitional Ellsworth-Whitmore block in central West Antarctica implies
near-cratonic lithospheric geothermal conditions with interpreted
graphite-sulphide horizons deformed along margins of high-grade silicate
lithologic blocks. Data across South Pole soundings confirms large-scale
low resistivity spanning Moho depths that is consistent with limited
seismic tomography and elevated crustal thermal regime inferences. Upper
mantle under a presumed adiabatic thermal gradient below the Ross Ice
Shelf region of West Antarctica appears to be of a moderately hydrated
state but not sufficient so as to induce melting. The degree of
hydration there is comparable to that below the north-central Great
Basin extensional province of the western U.S. Comprehensive 3D coverage
of Mount Erebus and Ross Island reveals unprecedented views of the
magmatic plumbing feeding the phonolitic volcanic system. This includes
a lower middle crustal staging area for episodic magmatic replenishment
of the upper middle crustal chamber hosting phonolitic differentiation,
which in turn is fed from an upper mantle source region of the parental
basanite.