Project DIABASE (Disclosing the Antarctic Basement by Sampling ice field moraines) proposes to conduct a detailed study of the samples collected in moraines. These accumulations of rock debris carried by ice carry information about Antarctica's geological floor.

During two meteorite sampling campaigns on the Nansen ice sheet (East Antarctica), moraines were also identified. Moraines are accumulations of rock debris carried by ice, found at the foot of glaciers. They indicate geological formations that are normally covered in kilometres of ice.

Project DIABASE (Disclosing the Antarctic Basement by Sampling ice field moraines) proposes to conduct a detailed study of the samples collected in these moraines, including by analysing detrital zircons. These minerals contain a record of when they crystallised, as well as the geochemical conditions in which they were formed; this gives researchers indirect information about the Antarctic bedrock, which is inaccessible.

The project is coordinated by Vinciane Debaille (ULB, ‘G-Time’ unit), in partnership with the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and VUB.

End of the project: 15/04/2019

Dates
Created on August 29, 2018