1 Aims

This project is a detailed study of ancient glacial deposits termed the Sirius Group, focussed mainly at Allan Hills, but including Mount Feather and Table Mountain, Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. The Sirius Group is a collection of Neogene deposits that crop out at high elevations (mostly >1500 m) throughout the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM). Allan Hills occupies a low point in the TAM, making the site more susceptible to overriding by the EAIS during minor volume fluctuations, while Mount Feather has the highest elevation deposits of the Sirius Group. Table Mountain is nearby Mount Feather and of similar elevation to Allan Hills, but the deposits there are more varied. The aim of this project is to show whether the Sirius Group was deposited by valley glacier or continental ice sheet, by wet- or dry-based glacial ice, by a single depositional event or several overriding events and to determine paleoflow direction. The expansion of the study this season to include deposits at Mount Feather and Table Mountain significantly widens the scope of the project and will permit a valid regional perspective.

The field season ran from mid-November 2000 to December 22, 2000 and included visits to three field sites: Allan Hills, Mount Feather and Table Mountain. Holme and Hicock's work at Allan Hills consisted of outcrop description and mapping (continued from the 1999/2000 field season), while work at Mount Feather and Table Mountain focussed on outcrop studies. In total, nine outcrops were studied and 24 samples were taken. Collected data include: 330 stone orientations were measured, 51 linear glacial abrasions and 79 planar deformational structures. Bornholdt's work consisted of mapping and sampling the volcanogenic and sedimentary deposits which comprise Mount Watters. Additionally, Holme aided K047a in choosing potential sites for their drilling program at Allan Hills.