Physical properties, climate signals, and structural features of Tertiary sediments in the Southern McMurdo Sound (Antarctica) derived from downhole logging in the ANDRILL-SMS project

Antragsteller

Dr. Thomas Wonik 
Leibniz-Institut für Angewandte Geophysik (LIAG)

Projektbeschreibung

In the framework of the international ANtarctic DRILLing program (ANDRILL) the 1138 m deep core borehole SMS was drilled in the Southern McMurdo Sound (Ross Sea). The investigations of Antarctic Neogene ice sheet variations, of long-term climate evolutions and of the tectonic history of McMurdo Sound represent the main project aims. One part of the German participation in the ANDRILL project is the extensive geophysical logging of the SMS borehole. It delivers a main basis for answering a lot of questions in the scope of the whole project consisting of about 100 scientists. Interpreting the downhole logging data permits among other things to establish a complete lithological log, to characterize the drilled sediments petrophysically, to determine sedimentary structures and to get evidence about palaeoclimatic conditions during up to 19 Mio years. Seismic experiments in the borehole allow linking detailed geological information with shipborne seismic sections. This way, local results can be transformed into spatial information thus providing an important contribution to the understanding of the tectonic structure of the Ross Sea.

Projektergebnisse

DFG-Verfahren: Infrastruktur-Schwerpunktprogramme

Förderung von 2007 bis 2011