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  1. Brittle faults in the southern Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, provide unique opportunity to study fluid-rock interactions in the West Antarctic Rift System and the role of crustal fluids during regional-scale faulting. This fault array contains steep, NNW-striking, normal-oblique slip faults and sub-vertical WNW-ESE strike-oblique faults. \ Faults at Mt. Douglass, Mt. Dolber, and Lewissohn Nunatak display strongly aligned tourmaline, indicating syntectonic mineralization; surfaces in one location feature distinctive mirror surfaces, suggestive of formation during seismic slip. Tourmaline has been demonstrated to resist chemical and isotopic re-equilibration during even high-temperature metamorphism, and to maintain a record of conditions during formation, therefore oxygen isotope compositions of tourmaline and quartz pairs may elucidate crustal conditions (e.g. temperatures and fluid-rock ratios) and fluids sources. Analyzed tourmaline and quartz were separated from the upper ~2mm of the fault surfaces; host rocks are tourmaline-free. Tourmaline 18O ratios (n=4) fall within a range of +9.2 to +10.4 ± 0.1 ‰ VSMOW (average 9.7‰, StDev = 0.7). Paired quartz yield 18O values of +11.1 to +10.3 ± 0.1 ‰; ∆Qtz-Trm values between 1.3 and 2.0 may reflect an inability of quartz to equilibrate during tourmaline crystallization. Equilibrium between quartz and tourmaline would suggest temperatures of formation in excess of 550°C. Relative isotopic homogeneity between sites suggests similar fluid conditions were present across the region and supports field evidence for that the structures form a regional fault array. Geometric and kinematic relationships suggest a link to deeper level shears hosting muscovite, and sillimanite with garnet. On-going investigation includes O isotope analyses of these shears, as well as analysis of H and B isotopes in tourmaline, which will better characterize the relationship between the deeper crustal shears with the brittle fault array, and the fluid sources and metasomatic processes of regional fault systems. Furthermore, temporal constraints on tourmaline mineralization will establish whether faulting is associated with Cretaceous intracontinental extension of the West Antarctic rift system (Siddoway 2008) or a crustal response to Neogene mantle delamination beneath the South Pole region (Shen et al 2018). 
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  2. Outcrops of brittle faults are rare in Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, because fault damage zones commonly undergo enhanced erosion and form bedrock troughs occupied by glacier ice. Where exposures do exist, faults yield information about regional strain in the West Antarctic Rift System (WARS) and may host minerals that contain a record of the temperature and chemistry of fluids during regional-scale faulting. In MBL’s southern Ford Ranges, bordering Ross Sea, a distinctive fault array was sampled that hosts tourmaline and quartz, a mineral-pair that can provide temperature and composition of fault-associated fluids, using 18O. Host rocks are tourmaline-free. At three separate sites, fault surfaces display strongly aligned tourmaline, suggesting that mineralization occurred during tectonism. One site features highly polished, or mirrored, surfaces, a characteristic that may indicate tourmaline precipitation during seismic slip. The orientation and kinematics of the high angle faults are NNW-striking: normal-slip, and WNW-ESE striking: right-lateral strike-slip. The timing of mineralization is yet to be determined, but viable possibilities are that the faults formed during broad intracontinental extension during formation of Ross Embayment in the Cretaceous, or during development of deep, narrow basins beneath the RIS grounding zone, in the Neogene (newly detected, see Tankersley et al., this meeting). Once formed, tourmaline is resistant to chemical and isotopic re-equilibration, and therefore can retain a record of its conditions during formation. We used oxygen isotope compositions of tourmaline and quartz pairs to investigate temperatures, fluid-rock ratios, and fluid sources, with bearing on fault-localized flux of fluids and geothermal heat. Analyzed tourmaline and quartz were separated from the upper ~2mm of the fault surfaces, as well as quartz separated from host rock in the same hand samples. Tourmaline 18O ratios (n=4) fall within a range of +9.2 to +10.4 ± 0.1 ‰ VSMOW (average 9.7‰, StDev = 0.7). Paired quartz yield 18O values of +11.1 to +10.3 ± 0.1 ‰. Relative isotopic homogeneity between sites suggests similar fluid conditions were present across the region and supports field evidence for that the structures form a regional fault array. ∆Qtz-Trm values fall between 1.3 and 2.0, and 18O of quartz in faults closely resembles 18O of host rock quartz. We tentatively determine the water oxygen isotope ratio as greater than ~7.7 ‰. Plutonic-metamorphic associations in the immediate region, and comparisons with similar faults elsewhere (i.e. Isola d’Elba, Italy), suggest temperatures as high as 500°C for the fluids that circulated into the faults. The data are interpreted to show that brittle faults provided pathways for hot fluids derived from mid-crustal processes to make their way to shallow crustal depths. 18O values indicate magmatic and/or metamorphic fluid sources, with minor to no introduction of meteoric fluids. Tourmaline-quartz pairs did not attain equilibrium, likely due to tourmaline’s rapid crystallization. On-going investigation includes analysis of H and B isotopes in tourmaline, which will better characterize the relationship between fault-hosted and mid-crustal fluids. 
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  3. An enormous reserve of information about the subglacial bedrock, tectonic and topographic evolution of Marie Byrd Land (MBL) exists within glaciomarine sediments of the Amundsen Sea shelf, slope and deep sea, and MBL marine shelf. Investigators of the NSF ICI-Hot and NSF Linchpin projects partnered with Arizona Laserchron Center to provide course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) for from groups who do not ordinarily find access points to Antarctic science. Our courses enlist BIPOC and gender-expansive undergraduates in studies of ice-rafted debris (IRD) and bedrock samples, in order to impart skills, train in the use of research instrumentation, help students to develop confidence in their scientific abilities, and collaboratively address WAIS research questions at an early academic stage. CUREs afford benefits to graduate researchers and postdoctoral scientists, also, who join in as instructional faculty: CUREs allow GRs and PDs to engage in teaching that closely ties to their active research, yet provides practical experience to strengthen the academic portfolio (Cascella & Jez, 2018). Team members also develop art-science initiatives that engage students and community members who may not ordinarily engage with science, forging connections that make science relatable. Re-casting science topics through art centers personal connections and humanizes science, to promote understanding that goes beyond the purely analytical. Academic research shows that diverse undergraduates gain markedly from the convergence of art and science, and from involvement in collaborative research conducted within a CURE cohort, rather than as an individualized experience (e.g. Shanahan et al. 2022). The CUREs are offered as regular courses for credit, making access equitable via course enrollment. The course designation carries a legitimacy that is sought by students who balance academics with part-time employment. Course information is disseminated via STEM Bridge programs and/or an academic advising hub that reaches students from groups that are insufficiently represented within STEM and cryosphere science. CURE investigation of Amundsen Sea and WAIS problems is worthy objective because: 1) A variety of sample preparation, geochemical methods, and scientific best-practices can be imparted, while educating students about Antarctica’s geological configuration and role in the Earth climate system. 2) Individual projects that are narrowly defined can readily scaffold into collaborative science at the time of data synthesis and interpretation. 3) There is a high likelihood of scientific discovery that contributes to grant objectives. 4) Enrolled students will experience ambiguity and instrumentation setbacks alongside their faculty and instructors, and will likely have an opportunity to withstand/overcome challenges in a manner that trains students in complex problem solving and imparts resilience (St John et al., 2019). Based on our experiences, we consider CUREs as a means to create more inclusive and equitable spaces for learning to do research, and a basis for a broadening future WAIS community. Our groups have yet to assess student learning gains and STEM entry in a robust way, but we can report that two presenters at WAIS 2022 came from our 2021 CURE, and four polar science graduate researchers gained experience via CURE teaching. Data obtained by CURE students is contributing to our NSF projects’ aims to obtain isotope, age, and petrogenetic criteria with bearing on the subglacial bedrock geology, tectonic and landscape evolution, and ice sheet history of MBL. Cited and recommended works: Cascella & Jez, 2018, doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00705 Gentile et al., 2017, doi: 10.17226/24622 Shanahan et al. 2022, https://www.cur.org/assets/1/23/01-01_TOC_SPUR_Winter21.pdf Shortlidge & Brownell, 2016, doi: 10.1128/jmbe.v17i3.1103 St. John et al. 2019, EOS, doi: 10.1029/2019EO127285. 
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  4. Bedrock topography is a key boundary condition for ice sheet modeling, and determining changes in subglacial topography through time can provide insight into the timing of ice sheet development, the magnitude of glacial erosion, and the co-development of glaciers and glacial topography. West Antarctica hosts an unusually high geothermal gradient supported by hot, low-viscosity mantle which likely enhanced the lithospheric response to West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) cycles of growth and increased the sensitivity of thermochronometers to landscape evolution on million-year timescales. Thus, a valuable record of glacial landscape change might be recovered from apatite fission track [AFT 80-130°C range] and (U-Th)/He [AHe; 50-90°C] dating, provided that landscape evolution can be distinguished from tectonic signals, including the effects of faults. This study utilizes AFT-AHe thermochronology and thermo-kinematic Pecube modeling to investigate interactions between the hot geotherm, glacial erosion, and inferred crustal structures in the Ford Ranges and the DeVicq Glacier trough in western and central Marie Byrd Land (MBL), respectively. The Ford Ranges host glacial troughs (up to 3km relief) dissecting a low-relief erosional surface. Previous work suggests a majority of bedrock exhumation and cooling occurred at/by 80 Ma. However, new data hint at renewed exhumation linked to glacial incision since WAIS formation at 34 or 20 Ma. Prior (U-Th)/He zircon dates from exposures of crystalline bedrock span 90 – 67 Ma. New AHe bedrock dates are 41 to 26 Ma, while two glacial erratics (presumed to be eroded from walls or floor of glacial troughs) yielded AHe dates of 37 Ma and 16 Ma. Initial modeling results suggest a tectonic boundary between the Ford Ranges and Edward VII Peninsula separating regions with distinct exhumation histories. The boundary may cause differential WAIS incision at 34 or 20 Ma, a possibility being investigated with new models. The DeVicq Glacier trough (>3.5km relief) coincides with a prominent crustal lineament but lacks temperature-time information compared to other regions. The crustal structure may have accommodated motion between elevated central MBL and the subdued crust of the Ford Ranges. Here, owing to the lack of onshore non-volcanic bedrock exposure, we have employed AHe and AFT dating of glacial sediment marine core samples offshore of the DeVicq Glacier to investigate the timing and rates of exhumation of the bedrock carved by the DeVicq trough, with initial results revealing detrital AHe ages as young as 24 Ma. Our new Pecube models test a series of thermal, tectonic, and landscape evolution scenarios against a suite of thermochronologic data, allowing us to assess the timing of glacial incision and WAIS initiation in the Ford Ranges, and to seek evidence of an inferred tectonic boundary at DeVicq Trough. Modeling efforts will be aided by new AHe and AFT analyses from ongoing work. These models combine topographic, tectonic, thermal, and key thermochronologic datasets to produce new insight into the unique cryosphere-lithosphere interactions affecting landscape change in West Antarctica. 
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  5. IODP Expedition 379 to the Amundsen Sea continental rise recovered latest Miocene-Holocene sediments from two sites on a drift in water depths >3900m. Sediments that are dominated by clay and silty clay host pebbles and cobbles of ice-rafted detritus (IRD) (Gohl et al. 2021, doi: 10.14379/iodp.proc.379.2021). Cobble-sized dropstones also appear as fall-in, in the top of cores recovered from sediments >5.3 Ma. The principle means to deposit abundant IRD and sparse dropstones in deep sea sediment is through melting of icebergs released by Antarctic ice-sheet calving events. We use petrological and age characteristics of clasts from the Exp379 sites to fingerprint their bedrock provenance to extend knowledge of subglacial bedrock, and with the intention to illuminate changes in icesheet extent between 7 – 3 Ma that lend credence to forecasts of extensive future change. Mapped onshore geology shows pronounced distinctions in bedrock age between tectonic provinces of West or East Antarctica (e.g. Cox et al. 2020, doi:10.21420/7SH7-6K05; Jordan et al. 2020, doi.org/10.1038/s43017-019-0013-6). This allows us to use geochronology and thermochronology of rock clasts and minerals for tracing their provenance, and hence ascertain whether IRD deposited at the 379 drillsites originated from proximal or distal Antarctic sources. We here report zircon and apatite U-Pb dates from several sand samples and dropstones taken from latest Miocene, early Pliocene, and Plio-Pleistocene-boundary sediments. Additional Hf isotope data, and apatite fission track and 40Ar/39Ar Kfeldspar ages for some of the same samples help to strengthen provenance interpretations. The study revealed three distinct zircon age populations at ca. 100, 175, and 250 Ma. Using Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) statistical tests to compare our new igneous and detrital zircon (DZ) U-Pb results with previously published data, we found strong similarities to West Antarctic bedrock, but low correspondence to prospective sources in East Antarctica, implying a role for icebergs calved from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The ~100 Ma age resembles plutonic ages from Marie Byrd Land and islands in Pine Island Bay. The ~250 and 175 Ma populations match published mineral dates from shelf sediments in the eastern Amundsen Sea Embayment as well as granite ages from the Antarctic Peninsula and the Ellsworth-Whitmore Mountains (EWM). The different derivation of coarse sediment sources requires changes in iceberg origin through the latest Miocene, early Pliocene, and Plio/Pleistocene, likely the result of changes in WAIS extent. One unique dropstone recovered from Exp379 Site U1533B is green quartz arenite, which yielded mostly 500-625 Ma detrital zircons. In visual appearance and dominant U-Pb age population, it resembles a sandstone dropstone recovered from Exp382 Site U1536 in the Scotia Sea (Hemming et al. 2020, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2020AM/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/357276). K-S tests yield high values (P ≥ 0.6), suggesting a common provenance for both dropstones recovered from late Miocene to Pliocene sediments, despite the 3270 km distance separating the sites. Comparisons to published data, in progress, narrow the group of potential on-land sources to exposures in the EWM or isolated ranges at far south latitudes in the Antarctic interior. If both dropstones originated from the same source area, they signify that dramatic shifts in the WAIS grounding line position do occur, along with periodic opening of a seaway connecting the Amundsen and Weddell Seas. 
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  6. West Antarctica hosts an unusually high geothermal gradient supported by hot, low-viscosity mantle which likely enhanced the lithospheric response to West Antarctic Ice Sheet [WAIS] cycles of growth and increased the sensitivity of thermochronometers to landscape evolution. Thus a valuable record of glacial landscape change might be recovered from apatite fission track [AFT 80-130°C range] and (U-Th)/He [AHe; 50-90°C]dating, provided that landscape evolution can be distinguished from tectonic signals, including the effects of faults. This study utilizes AFT-AHe thermochronology and thermo-kinematic Pecube modeling to investigate interactions between the hot geotherm, glacial erosion, and inferred crustal structures in the Ford Ranges and the DeVicq Glacier trough in Marie Byrd Land (MBL). The Ford Ranges host glacial troughs (up to 3km relief) dissecting a low-relief erosional surface. Previous work suggests a majority of bedrock exhumation and cooling occurred at/by 80 Ma. However, new data hint at renewed exhumation linked to glacial incision since WAIS formation at 34 or 20 Ma. Prior (U-Th)/He zircon dates from exposures of crystalline bedrock span 90 – 67 Ma. New AHe bedrock dates are 41 to 26 Ma, while two glacial erratics (presumed to be eroded from walls or floor of glacial troughs) yielded AHe dates of 37 Ma and 16 Ma. The DeVicq Glacier trough (>3.5km relief) likely coincides with a regional fault but lacks temperature-time information compared to other regions. The structure may have accommodated motion between elevated central MBL and the subdued crust of the Ford Ranges. We are acquiring AHe and AFT for onshore and offshore samples to compare uplift and exhumation rates for bedrock flanking DeVicq trough. Our new Pecube models test a series of thermal, tectonic, and landscape evolution scenarios against a suite of thermochronologic data, allowing us to assess the timing of glacial incision and WAIS initiation in the FordRanges, and to seek evidence of an inferred tectonic boundary at DeVicq Trough. Modeling efforts will be aided by new AHe analyses from ongoing work. These models combine topographic, tectonic, thermal, and key thermochronologic datasets to produce new insight into the unique cryosphere-lithosphere interactions affecting landscape change in West Antarctica. 
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  7. IODP Expedition 379 to the Amundsen Sea continental rise recovered latest Miocene-Holocene sediments from two sites on a drift in water depths >3900m. Sediments are dominated by clay and silty clay with coarser-grained intervals and ice-rafted detritus (IRD) (Gohl et al. 2021, doi:10.14379/iodp.proc.379.2021). Cobble-sized dropstones appear as fall-in, in cores recovered from sediments >5.3 Ma. We consider that abundant IRD and the sparse dropstones melted out of icebergs formed due to Antarctic ice-sheet calving events. We are using petrological and age characteristics of the clasts from the Exp379 sites to fingerprint their bedrock provenance. The results may aid in reconstruction of past changes in icesheet extent and extend knowledge of subglacial bedrock. Mapped onshore geology shows pronounced distinctions in bedrock age between tectonic provinces of West or East Antarctica (e.g. Cox et al. 2020, doi:10.21420/7SH7-6K05; Jordan et al. 2020, doi.org/10.1038/s43017-019-0013-6). This allows us to use geochronology and thermochronology of rock clasts and minerals for tracing their provenance, and ascertain whether IRD deposited at IODP379 drillsites originated from proximal or distal Antarctic sources. We here report zircon and apatite U-Pb dates from four sand samples and five dropstones taken from latest Miocene, early Pliocene, and Plio-Pleistocene-boundary sediments. Additional Hf isotope data, and apatite fission track and 40Ar/39Ar Kfeldspar ages for some of the same samples help to strengthen provenance interpretations. The study revealed three distinct zircon age populations at ca. 100, 175, and 250 Ma. Using Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) statistical tests to compare our new igneous and detrital zircon (DZ) U-Pb results with previously published data, we found strong similarities to West Antarctic bedrock, but low correspondence to prospective sources in East Antarctica, implying a role for icebergs calved from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The ~100 Ma age resembles plutonic ages from Marie Byrd Land and islands in Pine Island Bay. The ~250 and 175 Ma populations match published mineral dates from shelf sediments in the eastern Amundsen Sea Embayment as well as granite ages from the Antarctic Peninsula and the Ellsworth-Whitmore Mountains (EWM). The different derivation of coarse sediment sources requires changes in iceberg origin through the latest Miocene, early Pliocene, and Plio/Pleistocene, likely the result of changes in WAIS extent. One unique dropstone recovered from Exp379 Site U1533B is green quartz arenite, which yielded mostly 500-625 Ma detrital zircons. In visual appearance and dominant U-Pb age population, it resembles a sandstone dropstone recovered from Exp382 Site U1536 in the Scotia Sea (Hemming et al. 2020, https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2020AM/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/357276). K-S tests yield high values (P ≥ 0.6), suggesting a common provenance for both dropstones recovered from late Miocene to Pliocene sediments, despite the 3270 km distance separating the sites. Comparisons to published data, in progress, narrow the group of potential on-land sources to exposures in the EWM or isolated ranges at far south latitudes in the Antarctic interior. If both dropstones originated from the same source area, they could signify dramatic shifts in the WAIS grounding line position, and the possibility of the periodic opening of a seaway connecting the Amundsen and Weddell Seas. https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU21/EGU21-9151.html 
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  8. IODP Expedition 379 deep-sea drilling in 2019 (Gohl et al. 2021, doi:10.14379/iodp.proc.379.2021), offered an opportunity to obtain chronostratigraphic control for seismic reflection data for Amundsen Sea shelf and slope deposits that record Miocene to Present fluctuations in volume of the West Antarctic ice sheet. Here we report the age and interpret the provenance of a volcanic ash bed recovered at/near the Plio-Pleistocene boundary at 31.51 meters below sea level in Hole U1533B and 33.94 mbsf in Hole U1533D. With distinctive geochemistry and inferred wide regional distribution, the bed may serve as a reliable age marker. In Hole 1533B, the fresh tephra forms a discrete layer interstratified within uniform brown marine mud. The layer has a sharp base and upper boundary that is gradational over 5 cm into overlying mud. Color reflectance and density data aided identification of the tephra horizon (diffuse) in Hole 1533D, ~1000m away. A possible on-land source for ash is the Miocene to Pleistocene Marie Byrd Land volcanic province, comprising 18 large alkaline volcanoes dominated by effusive lavas. Products of pyroclastic eruptions are uncommon, mainly occurring as distal englacial, and probably marine, tephra. We undertook an offshore-onshore comparison by first characterizing samples of Site U1533 tephra from a petrographic and geochemical standpoint, using thin section observations, EMPA-WDS glass compositions, and 40Ar/39Ar dating. We then identified onshore exposures with similar characteristics. The offshore tephra are composed of coarse (50-300µm) cuspate glass shards with elongated vesicles. The glass composition is rhyolite, with 75-79wt.% SiO2, ~4wt.% FeO and 0.0wt.% MgO. Single-crystal feldspar 40Ar/39Ar dates are 2.55±0.12 and 2.92±0.02 Ma for U1533B and 2.87 ±0.45 Ma for U1533D. The geochemistry, shard morphology, discrete bed expression, and lateral continuity between Holes U1533B-U1533D indicate that the rhyolite tephra formed as airfall settled to the deep seabed. The ca. 2.55 Ma age based on youngest feldspar grains differs slightly from the 2.1 to 2.2 Ma result obtained from in-progress core bio-magnetostratigraphy. Rare exposures of rhyolite are found in the Chang Peak/Mt. Waesche centers, 1080 km from Site U1533. We obtained pumice sample MB.7.3 (prior-published age of 1.6±0.2 Ma), which displays elevated FeO and F content, and MB.8.1, a specimen of porphyritic cryptocrystalline lava. Single-crystal sanidine 40Ar/39Ar dates are 1.315±0.007 Ma (MB.7.3) and 1.385±0.003 Ma (MB.8.1). Site U1533 samples share a geochemical affinity with these on-land rhyolites, expressed as similar SiO2, CaO, TiO2, MgO and FeO content, suggesting an origin for Site U1533 tephra in the Chang-Waesche volcanoes. A possible explanation for the distinctly greater age, and observed contrasts in Al2O3, Na2O and F percentages, is that Site U1533 tephra are older and erupted from a source entirely concealed beneath subsequent eruptions and the ice sheet. Our results suggest that rhyolite volcanism initiated earlier, was of longer duration than previously known (2.92 to 1.315 Ma), and dispersed tephra far offshore. The finding is significant because ash and aerosols produced by large eruptions may influence regional climate. Antarctica cooled significantly and ice sheets expanded in latest Pliocene time (McKay et al. 2012, doi:10.1073/pnas.1112248109). 
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