Eocene initiation of Ross Sea dextral faulting and implications for East Antarctic neotectonics

The Ross Sea region of the East Antarctic plate provides evidence for intraplate tectonic activity inCenozoic times. Still unresolved are the cause, timing and kinematics of this intraplate tectonism. Byintegrating and discussing the different (kinematic and temporal) signals of Cenozoic tectonism, intraplatedextral shearing is recognized as the main tectonic regime controlling the structural architecture of the RossSea region from the Mid-Eocene (c. 40–50 Ma) onward. We speculate that propagation and persistence of thistectonic regime through time constitutes a feasible seismogenetic framework to explain past and currenttectonism in the Ross Sea region.