Kirkpatrick Basalt, Queen Alexandra Range

We now move to the Queen Alexandra Range of the central Transantarctic Mountains. By doing so we pass by the outcrops of Kirkpatrick Basalt on Westhaven Nunatak at the head of the Hatherton Glacier which have not been studied intensively (Grindley and Laird 

We also omit a discussion of the Kirkpatrick Basalt on the Otway Massif and the Grosvenor Mountains on the polar plateau at the head of the Mill Glacier (McGregor 1965 McGregor and Wade 1969 Elliot 1970a Barrett et al. 1986). 

The Kirlqiatrick Basalt of the Queen Alexandra Range forms the summits of Mt. Kirlqiatrick and Mt. Falla in the Queen Alexandra Range in Fig. 12.24 as well as of Tempest and Blizzard peaks in the Marshall Mountains (Grindley and Laird 1969). These rocks were named by Grindley (1963) and were subsequently described by Elliot (1970a, b, 1972), Elliot et al. 

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Faure G, Bowman JR, Elliot DH, Jones LM (1974) Strontium isotope composition and petrogenesis of the Kirkpatrick Basalt, Queen Alexandra Range, Antarctica. Contrib Mineral... 

Fig. 10.14 The southern part of the Queen Alexandra Range in Fig. 10.13 exposes the Fremouw and Falla formations of the Beacon Supergroup as well as the overlying Prebble Formation and Kirkpatrick Basalt of the Ferrar Group. This part of the Queen Alexandra Range is located west of the Beardmore Glacier and east of the Walcott Nive. Excerpt of the Buckley Island (S V 61-60/3) and Cloudmaker (SV 51-60/4) topographic maps of Antarctica. US Geological Survey, 1967, Washington, DC...

In the Queen Alexandra Range of the Central Transantarctic Mountains diamictites and pyroclastic rocks of the Prebble Formation occur below the Kirkpatrick Basalt. The Prebble Formation overUes the felsic tuffs of the upper Falla Formation which Elliot (1996) renamed the Hanson Formation. Whole-rock samples of the tuff yielded a Rb-Sr date of 186 9 Ma corresponding to an Early Jurassic age (Faure and Hill 1978) which was later confirmed by Hammer and Hickerson (1994) based on the bones of tetrapod vertebrates. 

Fig. 12.24 The Kirkpatrick Basalt in the Queen Alexandra Range occurs primarily on Mt. Kirkpatrick (4,528 m) and on Mt. FaUa (3,825 m). In addition, basalt flows form the summits of the Marshall Mountains including Tempest Peak (3347 m). Storm Peak (3,280 m), Bhzzard Peak (3,379 m), and Mt. Marshall (3,160 m) identified in Fig. 10.14. The basalt flows of the Kirkpatrick Basalt were deposited on the sedimentary rocks of the Beacon Supergroup (Chapter 10) which rest unconform-ably on the metasedimentary rocks of the Goldie Formation (Beardmore Group) (Adapted from Grindley and Laird (1969))...

Heck et al. (1977), Hoefs et al. (1980), and Faure et al. (1972,1974,1982,1984). The descriptions of the Kirkpatrick Basalt in the Beardmore Glacier area by Elliot (1970a) and Barrett et al. (1986) include photographs of Mt. Falla (Queen Alexandra Range), of Peterson Ridge on Storm Peak (Marshall Mountains), and of Mt. Bumstead (Grosvenor Mountains). 

EUiot (1970a) measured 12 stratigraphic sections of the Kirkpatrick Basalt in the Queen Alexandra Range and Marshall Mountains including Mt. Falla in Fig. 12.25 as well as Mt. Kirkpatrick, Blizzard Peak, and Tanpest Peak. The section on Storm Peak in the Marshall Mountains consists of numerous basalt flows of varying thickness that add up to about 530 m. 

Fig. 12.25 Lava flows of the Kirkpatrick Basalt form the summit of Mt. Falla in the Queen Alexandra Range (Photo by G. Faure)...

The concentrations of TiO of the basalt flows on Storm Peak in Fig. 12.28 range from greater than 0.4% to less than 2.4% and include both low-Ti and high-Ti varieties. Most of the flows on Storm Peak have intermediate TiO concentrations between 1.0% and 1.6%. In this regard, the flows on Storm Peak in the Queen Alexandra Range differ from the Kirkpatrick Basalt in the Mesa Range of northern Victoria Land where the TiO concentrations have a distinctly bimodal distribution seen in Fig. 12.28. 

Fig. 12.33 The initial Sr/ Sr ratios of the Kirkpatrick Basalt on Storm Peak and Mt. Falla in the Queen Alexandra Range at 170 Ma (X= 1.42 x 10 year ) range widely but cluster between 0.7100 and 0.7130 with an average of 0.7117 0.0004 (2d) for 27 specimens. This value resembles the initial ratio of the Granite Harbor Intrusives in the basement of the Transantarctic Mountains and is not compatible with basalt magma derived from the mantle. The isotope composition of strontium in sills of Ferrar Dolerite was not included in this data set by Bowman (1971) and Pace (1977) reported by Faure et al. (1974, 1982). The data of Hill (1969) were included in the report by Faure et al. (1972)...

Faure G, Pace KK, Elliot DH (1982) Systematic variations of Sr/ Sr ratios and major element concentrations in the Kirkpatrick Basalt of Mt. Falla, Queen Alexandra Range, Transantarctic Mountains. In Craddock C (ed) Antarctic geoscience. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI, pp 715-723... 

Faure G, Hoefs J, Mensing TM (1984) Effect of oxygen fugacity on sulfur isotope compositions and magnetite concentrations in the Kirkpatrick Basalt, Mount Falla, Queen Alexandra Range, Antarctica. Isotope Geosci (Chem Geol) 2 301-311... 

Pace KK (1977) Interpretation of Sr/ Sr ratios and chemical compositions of the Kirkpatrick Basalts, Mt Falla, Queen Alexandra Range, Antarctica. MSc thesis. The Ohio State University Columbus, OH... 

The initial Sr/ Sr ratios (corrected for decay of Rb to 170 Ma) of the basalt flows on nunataks B and Tunga measured by Faure et al. (1979) range from 0.7027 to 0.7063 and have a poly-modal distribution in Fig. 14.5 with an average of 0.7044 0.0010 (la). This value is significantly lower than the average Sr/ Sr ratio of the Kirkpatrick Basalt of the Ferrar Group in the Queen Alexandra Range of the Transantarctic Mountains. 

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