Abstract
Princess Elizabeth Land (PEL) preserves an intricate amalgamation of complexly intersecting orogenic belts of the Gondwanian age cross cut by the ramified East Antarctic Rift system. Indo-Australo-Antarctic Suture (IAAS) is an extensive orogenic zone connecting the Africo-Antarctic domain of Dronning Maud Land to the Australo-Antarctic domain of Wilkes Land region through the Indo-Antarctic domain of Princess Elizabeth Land, touching the northern boundary of the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains (GSMs). The GSMs and IAAS, located in the interior of PEL, are completely hidden within the ice sheet. The connection between the IAAS and concealed GSMs remains ambiguous due to insufficient geological evidence. Marine sediments from Prydz Bay offer clues to explore this segment of PEL. In this work, sediments from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) sites: 740, 742, and 739, representing proximal to relatively distal sites, respectively, were subjected to geochemical and zircon isotopic analyses to understand the crustal evolution of PEL, IAAS, and GSM. The sediment geochemistry indicates that sediments from site 740, being proximal, are immature, less recycled, and more chemically weathered as compared to sites 742 and 739. Discriminant plots of major and trace elements provide active and passive continental margin signatures. Site 739 and 742 sediments display the rift setting signatures while sediments of site 740 depict signatures of collisional setting supporting the presence of an orogenic belt in the interior of PEL. Zircons from the proximal sites display age ranges from Paleoproterozoic to Pan-African. Zircons from the distal site predominantly show ages ∼650 Ma, hinting at the possibility of a Tonian-Cryogenian event in the hinterland of the PEL sector, possibly in the GSMs. Our results provide a better understanding of the Neoproterozoic crustal evolution of the IAAS domain of the PEL sector.
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