Abstract:
15 sections of the Horlick formation were measured in detail along the Ohio escarpment from Discovery Ridge to Lackey Ridge. The Ohio Range contains the only well exposed record of unequivocally marine Devonian sediments in Antarctica, and is a unique and rarely visited locality. Three sections were studied on Discovery Ridge where the main lithofacies were established. One section was studied on
... the second spur west of Discovery Ridge, five sections were studied on Lackey Ridge at the extreme western end of the escarpment and four on Darling Ridge. To complete the coverage, two sections were measured on Schulthess Buttress, one on the western spur and the other on the eastern spur. Seven lithofacies were described and the inter-relationship between each was studied in detail. Fossils that had not been recorded before were collected and the relationships of these fossils to each other and to the sediment in when they were enclosed was examined. The fossils include large bivalves, brachiopods, trilobites, gastropods, monoplacophorans, crinoidal detritus, fish bones and plates and tentaculitids. Psilophyte plant fossils were also discovered. Detailed palaeontological collections were made. The exposed base of the Horlick Formation allowed a unique chance to study a near-shore assemblage of sediments derived from a granitic landmass. Shale samples were collected for palaeomagnetic work. The Buckeye Formation is one of the thicker sequences of Permian glacial sediments in the Transantarctic Mountains and formed some spectacular outcrops. Three small slumped horizons were measured. A three-directional foliation in the sandstones at the top of the formation was measured and photographed. Animal trails were noted and several lithologies sampled. A horizon rich in Glossopteris leaves and non-marine Permian bivalves, the latter recorded for the first time in Antarctica, were collected from the the highest coal measure beds on Mt. Glossopteris.