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Victoria University Antarctic Research Expedition Science and Logistics Reports 1971-72: VUWAE 16

PART 2 (Evans Neve)

PART 2 (Evans Neve)

  1. Of major importance was the discovery of fossils in the Bowers Group at the head of the Mariner Glacier 12-15 km south-west of Mt. McCarthy. These are the first body fossils to be discovered in the Bowers Group, and the first (apart from some plant remains) to be found in Northern Victoria Land. The fossils consist mainly of brachiopods and trilobites, and preliminary study suggests a Late Cambrian (approximately 500 million years) age for the upper part of the Bowers Group. The sequence in which the fossils were found is 1700 m thick, consisting of fissile shale in the lower half, passing gradationally upwards into sandstones above. These probably represent shallow marine deposits. The upper 360 of the marine sequence consists mainly of red sandstones, with rare fossils, trilobite tracks, and mudcracks, suggesting very shallow marine, possibly inter-tidal conditions. Above the red beds quartzitic sandstone and conglomerate of probably fluviatile origin occur. This is correlated with the Camp Ridge Quartzite seen further north.
  2. A further important discovery was the presence of Bowers Group rocks in the northern part of the Evans Neve, lying far to the west of previously known occurrences. It is possible that unvisited nunataks lying further west may also be composed of Bowers Group sediments. The previously unvisited southern end of the Salamander page 6 Range was found to consist not only of granite, as previous maps showed, but also of dolerite. An isolated exposure of conglomerate of unknown affinities was also mapped.
  3. Geological mapping and sampling of the McMurdo Volcanic Group was undertaken at The Pleiades where a basalt-trachyte-basalt eruptive sequence was recognised.
  4. Geological data for compiling the 1:250,000 Freyberg Mountain map were collected.