East Antarctic craton basement

E55393

The East Antarctic craton basement is an ancient, stable block of continental crust underlying much of East Antarctica, forming a key part of the continent’s geological core.

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (43)

Predicate Object
instanceOf continental crust
craton basement
geological province
ageEvidence radiometric dating of basement rocks
characteristic ancient continental crust
forms geological core of East Antarctica
highly metamorphosed rocks
tectonically stable
contains ancient zircon populations
continent Antarctica
coveredBy East Antarctic Ice Sheet
linked to: East Antarctica
crustalThickness thick continental lithosphere
exposedAt Antarctic orogenic belts margins
coastal outcrops of East Antarctica
forms geological core of East Antarctica
geologicalAge Archean to Proterozoic
Precambrian
heatFlowCharacteristic generally low surface heat flow
importance key to reconstruction of Gondwana
key to reconstruction of Rodinia
records early Earth crustal evolution
lithologyCharacteristic ancient granitoid intrusions
high-grade metamorphic assemblages
locatedIn East Antarctica
locatedOn Antarctic Plate
partOf Antarctic continent
linked to: Antarctica

East Antarctica
relatedTo Pan-African orogeny (at its margins)
linked to: Pan-African orogeny

assembly of Gondwana
linked to: Gondwana
rockType gneiss
granite
granulite
metasedimentary rocks
significance constrains positions of Antarctica in supercontinents
influences East Antarctic topography and ice sheet behavior
studiedBy geologists
studiedUsing aeromagnetic data
geophysical surveys
gravity data
seismic tomography
tectonicSetting cratonic interior
shield area
underlies much of East Antarctica

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Antarctic Plate hasFeature East Antarctic craton basement
Rodinia contains Antarctica craton (in many models)
subject linked to: supercontinent Rodinia
linked to: East Antarctic craton basement
West Antarctic Rift System contrastsWith East Antarctic craton
linked to: East Antarctic craton basement