Landscape Evolution in Transantarctic Mountains

The main objective in geomorphology is to understand how the landscapes evolve over time. This sets the limits and constraints to much of other geological research and is central in deciphering the preserved landforms attesting of past environments. Over the years the geomorphologists have gained a good understanding of the rates of landscape evolution in most of the terrestrial environments. However, we still know very little of landscape evolution in the coldest deserts on Earth which are found in the Transantarctic Mountains.

This proposed project would take place in two unique field areas in the coldest and driest part of the Transantarctic Mountains (Ong Valley at Nimrod Glacier and Moraine Canyon at Amundsen Glacier) where the current lack of running water and biological activity is thought to preserve the landscape essentially unchanged for millions of years. Contrary to this common belief, the PIs hypothesize that the landscape evolves perhaps as much as many surfaces in the Dry Valleys area, where both loose soil and bedrock surfaces have been degrading at a rate of about 1-2 m/Myrs for the past several million years. If the hypothesized relatively high erosion rates hold true it would be futile for example to search for in situ deposited ancient volcanic sediments such as tephra, signs of past biological activity such as microfossils, or glacial scour marks on bedrock in the southern TAM as the erosion would have eradicated those in just a few 100 kyrs.