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Lower cretaceous basalt and sediments from the Kerguelen Plateau

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Abstract

Geological samples from the southern Kerguelen Plateau include Lower Cretaceous basalt and lava breccia, probable Lower Cretaceous conglomerate and shelf limestone, Upper Cretaceous chert with dolomite, Upper Cretaceous-Eocene ooze, and Tertiary conglomerate. Neogene sediments are only a few hundred m thick, and include foraminiferal and diatomaceous ooze, and ice-rafted debris. In conjunction with seismic reflection profiles, the samples indicate Early Cretaceous near-shore volcanism, followed by erosion, sedimentation, and subsidence through Cretaceous; arching of the plateau at the end of Cretaceous; subsidence through Paleogene; widespread emergence in mid-Tertiary; and slow subsidence through Neogene.

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Leclaire, L., Bassias, Y., Denis-Clocchiatti, M. et al. Lower cretaceous basalt and sediments from the Kerguelen Plateau. Geo-Marine Letters 7, 169–176 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02242768

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