Representative lithologies of morainic debrisThe debris represented here comprises samples of the sea floor. It includes both local late Cenozoic volcanic material from adjacent Minna Bluff and also far-travelled material carried by a grounded glacier in much earlier times. The latter mainly comprises granite and metamorphic rocks of Early Palaeozoic age, with minor amounts of Late Palaeozoic Beacon Sandstone and possibly Eocene conglomerate. This set illustrates relatively fresh clasts of local and distal origin, including lithologies from the Transantarctic Mountains, mostly showing signs of transport at the bed of a grounded glacier. |
![Representative lithologies of morainic debris Representative lithologies of morainic debris](icons/sedimentary_sandstone.jpg) Coarse-grained sandstone with faceted surface (from the Transantarctic Mountains). | ![Representative lithologies of morainic debris Representative lithologies of morainic debris](icons/sedimentary_striated_sandstone.jpg) Coarse-grained sandstone with striations, indicative of former basal glacial transport (from the Transantarctic Mountains). | ![Representative lithologies of morainic debris Representative lithologies of morainic debris](icons/sedimentary_beacon_crossbedded_sandstone.jpg) Stratified sandstone with cross-bedding from the Beacon Supergroup (from the Transantarctic Mountains). | ![Representative lithologies of morainic debris Representative lithologies of morainic debris](icons/sedimentary_conglomerate.jpg) Sandy conglomerate of possible Eocene age (local). |
![Representative lithologies of morainic debris Representative lithologies of morainic debris](icons/volcanic_agglomerate.jpg) Agglomerate from the McMurdo Volcanics (local). | ![Representative lithologies of morainic debris Representative lithologies of morainic debris](icons/volcanic_weathered-tephra.jpg) Orange-weathered tephra from the McMurdo Volcanics (local). | ![Representative lithologies of morainic debris Representative lithologies of morainic debris](icons/volcanic_vesicular_basalt.jpg) Pale-weathered vesicular basalt (probably local). | ![Representative lithologies of morainic debris Representative lithologies of morainic debris](icons/igneous_red_granite.jpg) Red granite (from the Transantarctic Mountains). |
![Representative lithologies of morainic debris Representative lithologies of morainic debris](icons/igneous_fine_white_granite.jpg) Fine-grained white granite (from the Transantarctic Mountains). | ![Representative lithologies of morainic debris Representative lithologies of morainic debris](icons/white_granite_with_xenolith.jpg) Close-up of white granite with xeonolith (from the Transantarctic Mountains). | ![Representative lithologies of morainic debris Representative lithologies of morainic debris](icons/metamorphic_granite_gneiss_with_xenoliths.jpg) Granite-gneiss with xenolith (from the Transantarctic Mountains). | ![Representative lithologies of morainic debris Representative lithologies of morainic debris](icons/metamorphic_gneiss.jpg) Grey-white banded gneiss (from the Transantarctic Mountains). |
Photos Michael Hambrey, November and December 2010. |