Coats Land Bedrock Geochemical and Isotopic Analysis for Rodinia Reconstruction

Research evaluates the Coats Land crustal block of East Antarctica as a tectonic tracer linking Kalahari and Laurentia within the Neoproterozoic supercontinent Rodinia. The project involves detailed geochemical and geochronologic analysis of specimens from Coats Land and El Paso, Texas, conducted by researchers collaborating with the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. Data is associated with a project from the AMD_USAPDC organization.

Use Cases

• Correlating zircon U-Pb dating results from Coats Land samples with Keweenawan volcanics to test tectonic linkage.
• Comparing Pb, Sm-Nd, and Rb-Sr isotope signatures between Antarctic and North American rock samples to trace crustal provenance.
• Using paleomagnetic data from Coats Land rocks to model its paleolatitude relative to the Laurentian craton.
• Analyzing whole rock geochemistry to assess lithological resemblance between Coats Land cliff face exposures and El Paso, TX basement rocks.
• Applying Hf and O isotope analysis from zircon to understand the magmatic history and crustal evolution of the Coats Land block.

Strengths

• Research integrates multiple analytical methods: zircon U-Pb dating, Hf and O isotopes, whole rock geochemistry, and Pb, Sm-Nd, Rb-Sr isotopes.
• Data leverages existing material from an extremely remote location (Coats Land, Antarctica), where only three small bedrock exposures exist.
• Project involves collaboration with established education-outreach programs, suggesting structured data collection and potential for educational metadata.

Limitations

• Sample size is inherently limited by the minuscule and remote bedrock exposures in Coats Land.
• Temporal coverage of the primary rock samples is focused on specific geologic events (e.g., ~1.1 Ga), not a continuous time series.
• Geographic coverage is highly specific to two locations: Coats Land, Antarctica, and El Paso, Texas, USA.

Provenance

Source

nasa_earthdata platform, from organization AMD_USAPDC.

Collection Method

Geochemical and geochronologic analysis of rock specimens collected from field sites in Coats Land, Antarctica, and El Paso, Texas.

Time Range

Analyses focus on Neoproterozoic and Grenville-age events, particularly ~1.1 Ga (Keweenawan) and ~600 Ma (Pan-African).

Freshness

Project metadata indicates a last updated date of 2026-02-28.

Geography

Coats Land, East Antarctica; El Paso, Texas, USA; references to the Kalahari and Laurentian cratons.