Three-dimensional inversion modelling of a Neoproterozoic basin in the southern Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica

Abstract

Three-dimensional inversion modelling of airborne magnetic data acquired in the Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica, provides an insight into the sub-ice distribution, and three-dimensional geometry of a Neoproterozoic sedimentary basin. A three-dimensional starting model was created from two two-dimensional GM-SYS modelling and our current geological understanding of the study area. Three-dimensional VPmg inversion modelling was performed on the aeromagnetic data to obtain an acceptable fit between the observed response collected in the field, and the calculated response of the three-dimensional model. Modelling suggests that the base of the basin undulates and is relatively unstructured, however the margins of the basin thicken from north (~ 4 km) to south (~ 11 km). The volume of the Sodruzhestvo Group that in-fills the sedimentary basin has been calculated at approximately 35 000 km 3. Modelling of Banded Iron Formations at the southern margin of the basin and a sharp magnetic contrast in the north, reveal that both contacts dip toward the south. We interpret this asymmetric geometry of the sedimentary basin as having began as a set of half grabens, bounded by an underlying listric fault that flattened at depth below the sedimentary basin. Subsequent Early Palaeozoic inversion of this structure resulted in reactivation along the low-angle basal detachment, but rather than taking its original course underneath the sedimentary basin, the fault ramped up along the southern margin. This process caused exhumation of the underlying Banded Iron Formations, which are now juxtaposed at similar crustal levels to the Neoproterozoic cover rocks.