A joint interpretation of British, German and Russian refraction seismic data results in a crustal section in front of the Ronne Ice Shelf in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The continental crust is more than 40 km thick near the Antarctic Peninsula and thins to 32 km in the central embayment. Seismic velocities of more than 7 km/s in the lowermost crustal layer indicate magmatic intrusion and/or underplating. The uppermost basement layer between 12 and 20 km depth exhibits velocities around 5.5 km/s, which is similar to the structure of the Falkland Microplate and the southeastern Weddell Sea. A sedimentary basin underlies the ice front. The basin deepens away from the Orville Coast/Antarctic Peninsula to 12 km thick at 250 km offshore. Most of the basin fill has p-wave velocities of 3.4 to 4.1 km/s but there are two high-velocity layers with p-wave velocities of almost 5 km/s, one at a depth of between 4 and 6 km and the other between 9 and 12 km depth.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)195-198
Number of pages4
JournalTerra Antarctica
Volume5
Issue number2
StatePublished - 1 Dec 1998

    Scopus subject areas

  • Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)

ID: 35966254