Johns Hopkins University
Morton K. Blaustein Dept of Earth & Planetary Sci
Baltimore, Maryland

Dates in Antarctica:   Late December to early February

Supporting Stations:  McMurdo Station
Research Locations:  McMurdo Dry Valleys

Project Description:
Planetary magmatism is a richly integrated process. The most challenging aspect of understanding it is that so little of the integrated nature of the full magmatic life cycle can be examined in any reliably realistic context. In active volcanic systems, all the evidence of the deeper workings can only be loosely inferred from the composition, sequence, and volumes of magmatic wreckage. In contrast, the Ferrar dolerites of the McMurdo Dry Valleys represent an excellent example, perhaps the best on Earth, of a fully integrated magmatic system that can be studied in great detail due to its excellent exposure and pristine condition of the rocks. By collecting samples and by mapping the spatial relations of the rocks of the Ferrar magmatic system, researchers with this project seek to establish the fundamental operational principles of the process of planetary magmatism.

Field Season Overview:
The field team will travel by helicopter to the southern end of Bull Pass in the Olympus Range, where they will establish a field camp. From there they will make day trips by helicopter to other study sites. Team members will map the geologic relations among the various magmatic rocks at these sites and collect rock samples. Using helicopter close support, the researchers will also perform geologic mapping reconnaissance surveys. The field team will break camp and return to McMurdo by helicopter in late January. All rock samples will be shipped to the home institution for analysis.

Deploying Team Members:

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