Check out the scientific cruise that was part of this project!

Principal Investigator: Lawrence A. Lawver

Funded by: National Science Foundation

The neotectonic evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia Sea is extremely complex. Understanding the recent evolution of the Drake-Scotia-Antarctica-South America plate intersections will provide important information as to how major plate boundaries reorganize after demise of a long-lived spreading center and consequential reduction in the number of plates. The plate reorganization probably resulted in the uplift of the Shackleton Ridge which may have affected the sedimentary patterns in the southwest Scotia Sea. If the break of the Shackleton transform fault can be traced with multibeam and sidescan sonar as it intersects the southern end of South America, then the orientation and geometry of the faults, fractures and deformation as the transform fault intersects the South American continent will help to interpret the structures in that complex region.