The Trinity Peninsula Group in the Tabarin Peninsula, northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula

Abstract

The Tabarin Peninsula, West Antarctica, showsrocks deformed by both the Gondwanic and Andean orogenic cycles. The Hope Bay Formation and Düse Bay Formation (Late Carboniferous-Triassic) are included within the Trinity Peninsula Group, recording the Gondwanic orogenic cycle. Sedimentary structures, facies associations and depositional features of Hope Bay Formation, suggest shallow marine deposition. The presence in the Düse Bay Formation of calcareous beds with build-up morphology and algal mats, and primary pyroclastic rocks including: ignimbrites, peperites and scoria-rich fall deposits, also indicate shallow depth of the sea. The source area of the Trinity Peninsula Group was composed by volcanic and plutonic rocks with minor amounts of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, probably located to the east for the lower part of Hope Bay Formation of the sequence, and to the west for the upper part in Düse Bay Formation, with a greater volcanic participation in the later case. The most probable depositional environment for the Hope Bay Formation was a shallow and low energy siliciclastic platform during preorogenic times, and a retroarc foreland basin related to Gondwanic orogeny, for the Düse Bay Formation.