Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic uplift, exhumation, and burial of southern Gondwana margin: Thermochronological and stratigraphic constrains from Victoria Land (Antarctica)

The late Paleozoic-Mesozoic geological record of Antarctica is preserved in sedimentary successions deposited in the Gondwanide retroarc foreland basin. This basin developed as a direct response to convergence and crustal thickening along the southern margin of Gondwana during subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate. This protracted convergent tectonic setting drove the evolution of the Transantarctic Basin, which persisted from the Devonian through the Jurassic. The Transantarctic Basin is primary filled up by continental deposits, now exposed along the Transantarctic Mountains from the Weddell Sea to the northern Victoria Land. These Devonian-Jurassic sedimentary successions exhibit variations in thickness, provenance, and sedimentary facies, reflecting the long-term evolution of the paleo-Pacific convergent margin. This study investigated the late Paleozoic-Mesozoic paleo-topographic evolution of the central Prince Albert Mountains, where a thin Gondwanan stratigraphic succession is exposed. We integrate low-temperature thermochronological data (apatite fission-track and zircon (U-Th)/He) with stratigraphic evidence. Modeled thermal histories reveal an exhumation episode during the late Carboniferous to Permian, associated with the growth and subsequent erosion of a previously undescribed topographic high, referred to as Prince Albert High. The Prince Albert High formed between northern and southern Victoria Land and evolved synchronously with the Devonian-Triassic deposition of the Beacon Supergroup. We interpret its formation as a response to far-field stresses transmitted from the paleo-Pacific convergent margin, providing new insights into the geodynamic history of the Transantarctic Basin. Subsequently, this topographic high was buried beneath a Mesozoic overburden. This burial left evidence of a medium-temperature (150–180 °C) reheating process recorded in the basement and cover rocks.