Open-File Report 2006-1255 Near complete coverage of the East
Antarctic Shield by ice hampers geological study of crustal
architecture important for understanding global tectonic and
climate history. Limited exposures in the central Transantarctic
Mountains (CTAM), however, show that Archean and Proterozoic
rocks of the shield as well as Neoproterozoic-lower Paleozoic
sedimentary successions were involved in oblique convergence
associated with Gondwana amalgamation. Subsequently, the area
was overprinted by Jurassic magmatism and Cenozoic uplift. To
extend the known geology of the region to ice-covered areas, we
conducted an aeromagnetic survey flown in draped mode by
helicopters over the Central Transantarctic Mountains and by
fixed-wing aircraft over the adjacent polar plateau. We flew
more than 32,000 line km covering an area of nearly 60,000 km2
at an average altitude of 600 m, with average line spacing 2.5
km over most areas and 1.25 km over basement rocks exposed in
the Miller and Geologists ranges. Add