Abstract
New measurements of 87Sr/86Sr ratios of calcite lenses in the Permian formations of the Beacon Supergroup in the Queen Alexandra and Queen Elizabeth Ranges of the Transantarctic Mountains confirm the results of a previous study and indicate that the calcite lenses are probably of diagenetic origin. The δ 18O-values of the calcites range from −30.1 to −15.5% (PDB) whereas δ 13C-values range from −23.1 to + 2.6‰ (PDB). The depletion in 18O requires that the calcite precipitated from meteoric water which was also strongly depleted in 18O, such as glacial meltwater of the Gondwana ice sheet. The depletion in 13C indicates that the carbon in the calcite is partly of biogenic origin. These results therefore suggest that in late Carboniferous to early Permian time the MacKellar Basin in the Queen Alexandra and Queen Elizabeth Ranges received discharge of glacial meltwater from the Gondwana ice sheet and that vegetation was growing on the land surrounding the basin and within the water.
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