Physical properties, climate signals, and structural features of Tertiary sediments
in the Southern McMurdo Sound (Antarctica) derived from downhole logging in the ANDRILL-SMS project

In the framework of the international ANtarctic DRILLing program (ANDRILL) the 1138 m deep core borehole SMS was drilled in the Southern McMurdo Sound (Ross Sea). The investigations of Antarctic Neogene ice sheet variations, of long-term climate evolutions and of the tectonic history of McMurdo Sound represent the main project aims. One part of the German participation in the ANDRILL project is the extensive geophysical logging of the SMS borehole. It delivers a main basis for answering a lot of questions in the scope of the whole project consisting of about 100 scientists. Interpreting the downhole logging data permits among other things to establish a complete lithological log, to characterize the drilled sediments petrophysically, to determine sedi¬mentary structures and to get evidence about palaeoclimatic conditions during up to 19 Mio years. Seismic experiments in the borehole allow linking detailed geological information with shipborne seismic sections. This way, local results can be transformed into spatial information thus providing an important contribution to the understanding of the tectonic structure of the Ross Sea.

Scientists

Dr. Thomas Wonik
Leibniz-Institut für Angewandte Geophysik (LIAG)

Research areas

McMurdo Sound, 78°S 166°E

Publications

Schröder H, Paulsen T, Wonik T, (accepted). Thermal properties of the AND-2A borehole in the southern Victoria Land Basin, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Geosphere.

Hunze S, Schröder H, Wonik T, (submitted). Lithostratigraphy determined from downhole logs in borehole AND-2A, southern McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Geosphere.

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Research funding organisation

German Research Foundation

Project number: WO 672/7