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The occurrence of Mesozoic oceanic floor and ancient continental crust on South Georgia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

B. C. Storey ,
B. F. Mair  and
C. M. Bell
B. C. Storey
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survery, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, England
B. F. Mair
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survery, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, England
C. M. Bell
Affiliation:
Geology Department, University of Port Elizabeth, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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Summary

The Larsen Harbour Formation of southern South Georgia is part of an ophiolite sequence of submarine lavas and sheeted dykes emplaced into metasedimentary country rocks. The metasediments are remnants of a pre-Cretaceous continental crust which had been subject to regional metamorphism and polyphase deformation prior to intrusion by a variety of acid and basic igneous rocks (roots of the ophiolitic sequence). It is proposed that the segment of continental crust and the Larsen Harbour Formation formed the floor of a back-arc basin which was infilled during Early Cretaceous time by a thick sequence of volcaniclastic sediments (Cumberland Bay Formation).

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 114 , Issue 3 , May 1977 , pp. 203 - 208
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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