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Cenozoic exhumation in Marie Byrd Land (MBL), West Antarctica, has been dominated by uplift of the MBL dome, an ~800 by ~300 km topographic swell thought to be supported by a hot mantle anomaly, and West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) development resulting in deeply incised glacial troughs with up to 3 km of local relief. WAIS expansion is thought to potentially coincide with uplift of the MBL dome, which would have provided the elevated topography necessary to nucleate and grow a continental ice sheet beginning sometime between 34 – 20 Ma. Temporal and spatial relationships between these events remain unclear, however. This study investigates the timing, magnitude, and spatial relationships between tectonic uplift and glacial incision in MBL by leveraging thermo-kinematic modeling informed by detrital low-temperature thermochronology. We investigated Neogene detrital seafloor sediment samples from 14 dredge and core sites along the coast of MBL. Apatite He ages (closure temp ~60°C) of detrital samples range from 23.5 to >80 Ma. Most detrital ages are significantly younger than the ~80 Ma ages typical of exposed bedrock across the region, suggesting these originate from deeply incised bedrock of glacial troughs. The youngest ages obtained for samples retrieved from offshore central and eastern MBL are also significantly younger than the youngest ages obtained for samples from western MBL, suggesting spatial heterogeneity in the timing and/or magnitude of exhumation across the region. Thermo-kinematic modeling of western MBL suggests the regional exhumation rate has been low (10-3 km/myr) since 80 Ma, although focused erosion in glacial troughs produced local late Cenozoic exhumation rates as high as 0.15 km/myr. Preliminary models of the DeVicq glacial trough region of central MBL support these patterns of exhumation. Although model predictions generally agree with observed detrital age distributions, incorporation of detrital ages into these models is expected to provide new insight into the timing of WAIS inception, as well as rates and magnitudes of glacial incision across MBL. 

The Cenozoic tectonic history of Marie Byrd Land (MBL), West Antarctica, is dominated by uplift of the MBL dome, a ~800 by ~300 km topographic swell thought to be supported by a hot mantle anomaly, and normal faulting accompanying extension of the West Antarctic rift system (WARS). Additionally, glaciation beginning at 34 – 20 Ma resulted in deeply incised glacial troughs with up to 5km of relief. This study investigates the timing, magnitude, and spatial relationships of these tectonic and erosional events by determining a regional exhumation history of western MBL through thermo-kinematic modeling of low-temperature thermochronologic data. New apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) analyses include ages between 46 – 63 Ma, significantly younger than previously determined ages between 80 – 100 Ma. 3D thermo-kinematic modeling reveals focused glacial incision alone is incapable of producing this young population of AHe ages, indicating additional exhumation processes have been at work since ~80 Ma. Differential exhumation across western MBL is required to produce the range of observed AHe ages, with laterally variable exhumation ranging from little to none on the Edward VII Peninsula to ~0.04 km/myr in the eastern Ford Ranges. This spatial pattern is consistent with enhanced exhumation related to uplift of the MBL dome in the eastern Ford Ranges, with this effect diminishing westward to the Edward VII Peninsula. A sharp change in exhumation rate in the western Ford Ranges suggests recent motion on inferred normal faults consistent with WARS extension and down-dropping of the Edward VII Peninsula. Models based on available bedrock data provide little insight into the timing and magnitude of glacial incision due to the present inability to directly sample bedrock in deep glacial troughs. However, model predictions of bedrock low-temperature age distributions within glacial troughs are useful as a point of comparison for detrital age distributions. New detrital AHe ages from Sulzberger Bay, offshore western MBL, range from 49 – >100 Ma and are consistent with model age distributions. These model results support a complex, spatially heterogeneous exhumation history for western MBL tied to its position between the MBL dome and the WARS and provide insight into the impact of glacial incision across the regional landscape. 

Marie Byrd Land (MBL), West Antarctica, is poorly studied geologically due to its ice cover and remoteness. As a result, the timing and magnitude of tectonic and erosional events, such as the tectonic uplift of the Marie Byrd Land dome and the incision of the DeVicq Glacial Trough, are debated. When faced with problems difficult to study and solve through in-person field work, it becomes necessary to turn to modeling. Pecube is a thermo-kinematic modeling program that uses topographic and crustal thermal data to calculate thermochronologic ages across a landscape. Thermochronology uses radiometric dating of mineral systems that are sensitive to specific temperatures and can be used to track cooling related to the tectonic and exhumation history of a region. Model predictions can be compared to observed ages to test the viability of tectonic or geomorphic scenarios. Observed ages used here include dates derived from apatite fission track analysis (AFT; closure temperature ~ 110 °C) and apatite (U-Th)/He dating (AHe; closure temperature ~ 60 °C) of detrital material recovered from offshore MBL that presumably originated from the DeVicq Trough region of MBL. Ongoing modeling efforts will determine how closely calculated bedrock ages compare to new detrital AHe ages, ranging from 23.5-82.8 Ma, and AFT ages, ranging from 49.7-83.6 Ma. These ages broadly correspond to late breakup of Gondwana (~100-85Ma), erosion during and after the uplift of the Marie Byrd Land dome (~30Ma), and glacial incision (beginning at 34 or 20Ma). In light of these new data, alterations were made to existing Pecube models for the DeVicq Trough region to rule out and narrow down the timings and rates possible for both glacial incision at the DeVicq Glacial Trough and exhumation of the Marie Byrd Land dome. Preliminary results suggest that varying glacial incision start time between 34 and 20 Ma, dates proposed for the initiation of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, does not change resulting bedrock ages significantly. However, varying background exhumation rates results in ages that are broadly consistent with observed ages. Ongoing modeling efforts seek to refine this range further to give insight on the exhumation history and tectonic processes of this region. doi: 10.1130/abs/2024AM-402995