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The second generation Antarctic magnetic anomaly compilation for the region south of 60°S includes some 3.5 million line-km of aeromagnetic and marine magnetic data that more than doubles the initial map’s near-surface database. For the new compilation, the magnetic data sets were corrected for the International Geomagnetic Reference Field, diurnal effects, and high-frequency errors and leveled, gridded, and stitched together. The new magnetic data further constrain the crustal architecture and geological evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula and the West Antarctic Rift System in West Antarctica, as well as Dronning Maud Land, the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, the Prince Charles Mountains, Princess Elizabeth Land, and Wilkes Land in East Antarctica and the circumjacent oceanic margins. Overall, the magnetic anomaly compilation helps unify disparate regional geologic and geophysical studies by providing new constraints on major tectonic and magmatic processes that affected the Antarctic from Precambrian to Cenozoic times.

The second generation Antarctic magnetic anomaly compilation (ADMAP‐2) for the region south of 60oS includes some 3.5 million line‐km of aeromagnetic and marine magnetic data that more than doubles the initial map's near‐surface database. For the new compilation, the magnetic datasets were corrected for the International Geomagnetic Reference Field, diurnal effects, and high‐frequency errors, and levelled, gridded, and stitched together. The new magnetic data further constrain the crustal architecture and geological evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula and the West Antarctic Rift System in West Antarctica, as well as Dronning Maud Land, the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, the Prince Charles Mountains, Princess Elizabeth Land, and Wilkes Land in East Antarctica, and the circumjacent oceanic margins. Overall, the magnetic anomaly compilation helps unify disparate regional geologic and geophysical studies by providing new constraints on major tectonic and magmatic processes that affected the Antarctic from Precambrian to Cenozoic times.

Understanding Antarctic volcanoes is important as they provide a window on magmatic and tectonic processes of the Antarctic plate and contain datable records of ice-sheet changes. We present the results from the first detailed airborne radar and gravity surveys across James Ross Island, northern Antarctic Peninsula, which is dominated by Mt Haddington, an ice-covered Miocene-Recent alkaline stratovolcano. The surveys provide new insights into the subsurface structure of the volcano and hence its development, which are unavailable from the surface geology alone. We show that Mt Haddington is associated with a significant negative Bouguer gravity anomaly (>= 26 mGal), which suggests that there has not been significant pooling and solidification of a dense shallow-level mafic magma chamber during the growth of the volcano over at least the past 6 m.y., which is consistent with independent geochemical evidence. Simple flexural isostatic models cannot explain the localised negative Bouguer anomaly. 3D modelling techniques show that the negative anomaly is best explained by a shallow, low-density intra-crustal body with its top close to, or at, the surface. Although comparable gravity anomalies are commonly associated with large (similar to 20 km) ash-filled calderas, as seen at Yellowstone or Toba, there is no geological evidence on James Ross Island for a similar structure. We therefore propose that the James Ross Island volcanic edifice subsided into the thick underlying pile of relatively soft Jurassic and Cretaceous sediments, which were displaced by low-density hyaloclastite breccia. The type of deformation envisaged is similar to that associated with Concepciou, or lwaki volcanoes in South America, although Mt Haddington is much larger. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

James Ross Island (JRI) exposes a Miocene-Recent alkaline basaltic volcanic complex that developed in a back-arc, east of the northern Antarctic Peninsula. JRI has been the focus of several geological studies because it provides a window on Neogene magmatic processes and paleoenvironments. However, little is known about its internal structure. New airborne gravity data were collected as part of the first high-resolution aerogeophysical survey flown over the island and reveal a prominent negative Bouguer gravity anomaly over Mt Haddington. This is intriguing as basaltic volcanoes are typically associated with positive Bouguer anomalies, linked to underlying mafic intrusions. The negative Bouguer anomaly may be associated with a hitherto unrecognised low-density sub-surface body, such as a breccia-filled caldera, or a partially molten magma chamber. Citation: T. A. Jordan, F. Ferraccioli, P. C. Jones, J. L. Smellie