200 oriented rock cores from Mt Crean, Antarctica, provide palaeomagnetic measurements to study the continental drift of Gondwanaland. The data was collected and analyzed by researchers from the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic rock collections and SCIOPS. The dataset was last updated in December 1998.
Use Cases
- Analyze primary magnetisation signals in rock cores to infer the paleolatitude of Gondwanaland fragments.
- Correlate magnetisation data from the Aztec Group siltstones with the timing of dolerite sill intrusions around 160 million years ago.
- Use core orientation and location data from Mt Crean, Mt Feather, and Table Mountain to reconstruct regional geological structures.
- Reassess Gondwanaland's climate history by interpreting the palaeomagnetic record from Devonian to Triassic sedimentary rocks.
Strengths
- Contains data from 200 oriented rock cores with specified dimensions (25 mm diameter, 50-150 mm long).
- Focuses on a specific, scientifically significant geological region: Mt Crean, 200km west of Scott Base.
Limitations
- Sample size is limited to cores from three Antarctic sites, potentially restricting broader continental-scale conclusions.
- Data is temporally stale, with the last update recorded in 1998, preceding modern analytical techniques.
- The primary magnetisation in many samples may have been destroyed by later geological events, introducing data quality uncertainty.
Provenance
- Source
- Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic rock collections, analyzed by SCIOPS.
- Collection Method
- Palaeomagnetic measurements on oriented rock cores collected from field sites, using newly developed techniques for the time.
- Time Range
- Covers rock samples from the Devonian to Triassic periods (approximately 400 to 200 million years ago), with analysis focused on events around 160 million years ago.
- Freshness
- 1998-12-06
- Geography
- Rock samples collected from Mt Crean on the edge of the polar plateau, with additional sites at Mt Feather and Table Mountain, Antarctica.