Frontiers and Opportunities in Antarctic Geosciences * Certosa di Pontignano * 29-31 July 2004
N.W.
R OLAND & D.
D AMASKE
BGR, Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hannover - Germany (nw.roland@bgr.de, d.damaske@bgr.de)
The polar research group of BGR plans and carries out expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. For the coming years all planned projects are related to themes of the International Polar Year. Three major Antarctic projects are planned for the years 2005-2008.
GANOVEX IX
The expedition is scheduled for the 2005/06 season and will focus on the offshore area between Cape Adare and the
Balleny Islands. An aeromagnetic survey is planned to further investigate the relation between the offshore fracture zones and the onshore tectonic framework. It is accompanied by geological field work in the young volcanic units which border the Ross Sea, as well as by investigations in the Permian-Triassic Beacon Group and the Jurassic Ferrar
Group units. GANOVEX IX will contribute to the proposed IPY project “Gateways”, i.e., the Tasman-Antarctic Gate.
HINGE ZONE
For the 2006/07 season a transect between Patriot Hills and Pensacola Mountains is planned in cooperation with the
Chilean Antarctic programme. The aerogeophysical transect will include magnetics, gravity, and ice thickness radar.
The boundary between the East Antarctic Shield and the West Antarctic plate puzzle is one of the topics under investigation. The geology will concentrate on the investigation of the Jurassic layered intrusion of the Dufek Massif.
GIGAGAP
As part of the proposed IPY project “GigaGAP” an aerogeophysical survey will investigate the region of the unexplored
Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains and the southeastern extension of the Lambert Glacier rift system. According to plate tectonics an intra-plate mountain chain like the Gamburtsev Mtns is a violation of the corollary that deformation and mountain building occurs at plate boundaries only. Did a hot spot trigger the rise of the Gamburtsev Mtns, are they volcanic? The highlands may also be linked with the Lake Vostok system. Accompanying geological field work will be conducted in the Prince Charles Mountains. The project is scheduled for the 2007/08 season.