Project information
Project aim
Heard Island, on the World Heritage List for its geological history, has evolved over the last few million years with the volcano of Big Ben of relatively recent formation. It sits on a plateau or base made up of a very characteristic rock formation, the Drygalski Agglomerate which outcrops all around Heard Island as a blocky, cliff-forming unit. There are conflicting statements about the age of the unit (which has not been well defined except for some work Quilty organised in the early 1980s) and about the environment of formation which seems to include glacial, volcanic and lagoonal influences. The growth of the volcano, sitting on this unit, has caused the formation of a series of many small subsidiary volcanoes around the margin of the base of Big Ben. The strength of the Agglomerate probably influenced the location of many of these subsidiary features but determination needs more information about the Agglomerates age and characteristics.
Related publications
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Late Miocene paleoenvironment of the Lambert Graben embayment, East Antarcica, evident from: Mollusc palaeontology sedimentology and geochemistry. Global and Planetary Change, 2006
(Ref: 12717)
Authors:Category 1: Peer-reviewed literature
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Austrochlamys heardenis (Fleming, 1957) (Bivalvia: Pectinidae) from Central Kerguelen Plateau, Indian Ocean: palaeontology and possible tectonic significance. Antarctic Science, 2004
(Ref: 12715)
Category 1: Peer-reviewed literature
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A review of the Cenozoic stratigraphy and glacial history of the Lambert Graben-Prydz Bay region, East Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 2006
(Ref: 12660)
Category 1: Peer-reviewed literature
The Cenozoic glacial history of East Antarctica is recorded in part by the stratigraphy of the Prydz … Bay–Lambert Graben region. The glacigene strata and associated erosion surfaces record at least 10 intervals … of glacial advance (with accompanying erosion and sediment compaction)…
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Landform evolution in the Marine Plain region, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 2006
(Ref: 12661)
Authors:Category 1: Peer-reviewed literature
Landforms of Marine Plain in the Vestfold Hills contrast with those of most in the Vestfold Hills. They include consistent land surfaces at 40+ m and 25 m, characteristics controlled by orientation of rock … features, and imprints of phases of glaciation…