NASA Earthdata hosts a geological dataset from the SCIOPS organization, last updated in 1994. It contains measurements and descriptions from the Devonian Beacon Supergroup in southern Victoria Land, focusing on the New Mountain Sandstone at Table Mountain. Data includes facies descriptions, paleocurrent directions, and observations of hydrothermal alteration in the Pivot Member.
Use Cases
- Model depositional environment using facies descriptions and paleocurrent direction data from vertical stratigraphic sections.
- Analyze hydrothermal alteration by comparing observations of Fe-Ti mineralization in the Pivot Member at Platform Spur versus Sickle Ridge.
- Correlate lateral and vertical facies changes from traced bedding units to refine stratigraphic models.
- Classify trace fossil assemblages described from the lower Taylor Group to infer paleoecological conditions.
Strengths
- Data collected via detailed lateral profiling techniques ideal for capturing facies changes.
- Includes observations from both altered (Platform Spur) and unaltered (Sickle Ridge) Pivot Member occurrences for comparison.
Limitations
- Dataset is temporally stale, with a last update date of 1994.
- Specific quantitative metrics like row count, sample size, and measurement ranges are unknown.
- Geographic coverage is limited to specific sites in southern Victoria Land (Table Mountain, Platform Spur, Sickle Ridge).
Provenance
- Source
- NASA Earthdata, provided by organization SCIOPS.
- Collection Method
- Field measurements including vertical stratigraphic sections, lateral tracing of bedding units, facies descriptions, paleocurrent recording, and sample collection for petrographic analysis.
- Time Range
- Geological focus on the Devonian period.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica (Table Mountain, Platform Spur, Sickle Ridge).