Chapter 1.3 Antarctic volcanism: petrology and tectonomagmatic overview

Abstract

Abstract Petrological investigations over the past 30 years have significantly advanced our knowledge of the origin and evolution of magmas emplaced within and erupted on top of the Antarctic Plate. Over the last 200 myr Antarctica has experienced: (1) several episodes of rifting, leading to the fragmentation of Gondwana and the formation by c. 83 Ma of the current Antarctica Plate; (2) long-lived subduction that shut down progressively eastwards along the Gondwana margin in the Late Cretaceous and is still active at the northernmost tip of the Antarctic Peninsula; and (3) broad extension across West Antarctica that produced one of the Earth's major continental rift systems. The dynamic tectonic history of Antarctica since the Triassic has led to a diversity of volcano types and igneous rock compositions with correspondingly diverse origins. Many intriguing questions remain about the petrology of mantle sources and the mechanisms for melting during each tectonomagmatic phase. For intraplate magmatism, the upwelling of deep mantle plumes is often evoked. Alternatively, subduction-related metasomatized mantle sources and melting by more passive means (e.g. edge-driven flow, translithospheric faulting, slab windows) are proposed. A brief review of these often competing models is provided in this chapter along with recommendations for ongoing petrological research in Antarctica.