K013-7071
This year’s VUWAE expedition will concentrate on the rocks of the Beacon and Ferrar Groups in several parts of Southern Victoria Land. The stratigraphy of the Beacon group in the Beacon Heights area has been described, and the new formations defined by McElroy, and his work was extended in the 1968-69 season by McKelvey, Webb, Gorton and Kohn.
It is intended that this year’s expedition continue this work, extending the stratigraphy northward to the Mackay Glacier and southward ti the Darwin Glacier. This will help establish a sound regional stratigraphic framework, a necessity for future petrologic and paleogeographic studies, and for regional geologic mapping. The Beacon group is divided up into two subgroups – the Devonian Taylor Subgroup, consisting largely of quartzose sandstone, and the Permian-Triassic Victoria Subgroup, consisting largely of feldspathic and lithic sandstone and containing coal measures. The Tholeiitic basaltic rocks of the Ferrar Group, which interlude and overlie the Beacon, will also be examined.
Peter Barrett (Leader)
Barry Kohn (Deputy Leader/Geologist)
Rodney Grapes (Geologist)
Rosemary Askin (Geologist)
John McPherson (Geologist)
David Reid (Geologist)
Alex Ritchie (Geologist/paleontologist)
Gavin Young (Geologist/paleontologist)