Geological structure of central East Antarctica from geophysical data

Abstract

Examination of the subglacial topography of central East Antarctica reveals the block structure of the Earth’s crust in this region. The intracontinental blocks of the subglacial Vostok Highlands (400 masl), Komsomol’sky Mountains (700 masl), Schmidt Basin (150 masl), and Aurora Basin (−300 masl) are distinguished. The geological nature of the Komsomol’sky Subglacial Mountains (KSM) and the Schmidt Subglacial Basin (SSB) is interpreted from gravity measurements and regional aerogeophysical routes. The basin of Vostok Subglacial Lake (VSL) is located in the conjugation zone of these blocks. The KSM are considered to be a block of the Proterozoic mobile belt disturbed by a system of normal and reverse faults. The SSB is a rigid cratonic block partly overlapped by platform cover. The localization of the VSL Graben in the zone of conjugation of heterogeneous blocks testifies to its formation in a deep fault zone characterized by intense normal and reverse dislocations.