A high-resolution aeromagnetic survey (altitude 125 m asl, spacing 500 m , area 800 km2) was carried out in 1994 offshore of Cape Roberts by the GITARA (German ITalian Aeromagnetic Research in Antarctica) Group. The availability from drilling of whole-core physical properties logs for magnetic susceptibility, P-wave velocity and density/porosity data allows new insights to be inferred from reprocessed and reviewed HRAM aeromagnetic data. Aeromagnetic data have been reprocessed to image with greater detail the structural framework along the western flank of the Victoria Land Basin. New processing includes 2D Werner and 3D Euler deconvolution, the production of maps of the maximum horizontal gradient of pseudo-gravity, and 2D, 3D modelling. Magnetic trends and anomalies are discussed in conjunction with now available drilling results from the CRP, existing bathymetric data and recently published interpretations of a multichannel seismic reflection survey

Armadillo, E.

Bozzo, E.

Ferraccioli, F.

Gambetta, M.

Talarico, F.

Zangani, M.

Zunino, A.

Earth-prints Repository

U.S.Geological Survey and The National Academies; USGS OF-2007-1047, Extended Abstract 076 
 
A high-resolution aeromagnetic survey over the Cape Roberts Rift Basin: 
Correlations with seismic reflection and magnetic susceptibility log data 
E. Armadillo,1 F. Ferraccioli,2 M. Gambetta,3 F. Talarico,4 A. Zunino,1 M. Zangani,1 and E. Bozzo1 
1DIPTERIS – Università di Genova, Genova, Italy (egidio@dipteris.unige.it) 
2British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK 
3Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sez. di Geofisica Marina, Porto Venere La Spezia, Italy 
4Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Siena, Siena, Italy 
Summary  A high-resolution aeromagnetic survey (altitude 125 m asl, spacing 500 m , area 800 km2) was carried out 
in 1994 offshore of Cape Roberts by the GITARA (German ITalian Aeromagnetic Research in Antarctica) Group. The 
availability from drilling of whole-core physical properties logs for magnetic susceptibility, P-wave velocity and 
density/porosity data allows new insights to be inferred from reprocessed and reviewed HRAM aeromagnetic data. 
Aeromagnetic data have been reprocessed to image with greater detail the structural framework along the western flank 
of the Victoria Land Basin. New processing includes 2D Werner and 3D Euler deconvolution, the production of maps 
of the maximum horizontal gradient of pseudo-gravity, and 2D, 3D modelling. Magnetic trends and anomalies are 
discussed in conjunction with now available drilling results from the CRP, existing bathymetric data and recently 
published interpretations of a multichannel seismic reflection survey. 
Citation: Armadillo, E., F. Ferraccioli, M. Gambetta, F. Talarico, A. Zunino, M. Zangani, and E. Bozzo (2007), A high-resolution aeromagnetic 
survey over the Cape Roberts Rift Basin: correlations with seismic reflection and magnetic susceptibility log data,  in Antarctica: A Keystone in a 
Changing World – Online Proceedings of the 10th ISAES, edited by A. K. Cooper and C. R. Raymond et al., USGS Open-File Report 2007-1047, 
Extended Abstract 076, 5 p. 
Introduction 
In 1994 we carried out a high-resolution aeromagnetic survey offshore of Cape Roberts (Bozzo et al., 1997a). Here 
we review the old survey data set, combining drilling information, seismic and magnetic data, in order to achieve a 
better understanding of the structure of the Cape Roberts Rift Basin (CRRB).  
Cape Roberts is a small outcrop in the southwestern Ross Sea, Antarctica, about 125 km north of Ross Island, on the 
southern flank of Granite Harbour (Figure 1). Offshore from Cape Roberts the bathymetry shows a north-south 
trending, 500 m-deep,  trough-like feature interpreted by many authors as being the seabed expression of a graben :the 
Cape Roberts Rift Basin (Figure 2). This deep graben is bounded by the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) foothills, to 
the west, and by a submerged bathymetric high (~100 m bsl), the Roberts Ridge, to the east. To the north the CRRB is 
abruptly truncated by the WSW-ENE trending Pleistocene McKay sea valley, which reaches a depth of about 1000 m 
below sea level. 
 
Figure 1 (left).  Location of the survey area (box) in the southwest Ross Sea.  
Figure 2 (right). Bathymetric image of the aeromagnetic survey area. Drilling locations and locations of seismic 
multichannel reflection lines are also shown (Hamilton et al., 2001). 
10th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences 
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Cape Roberts is a strategic location where the scientific international community (seven countries)  has focused 
many efforts to investigate the early history of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet and the West Antarctic Rift System (Davey 
et al., 2001). A total of about 250 km of multichannel seismic reflection data were recorded along a number of lines 
crossing the CRRB (Figure 2), in the framework of the Cape Roberts Drilling Project (Hamilton et al., 2001). The 
drilling efforts recovered,over 1500 m of strata in three drill holes, representing a period ranging from 16Ma to about 
34Ma. The availability from the drilling of whole-core physical properties logs for magnetic susceptibility, P-wave 
velocity and density/porosity data (e.g. Davey et al., 2001) allows new insights to be inferred from reprocessed and 
reviewed high-resolution aeromagnetic (HRAM) data. Aeromagnetic data have been reprocessed to image with greater 
detail the structural framework of the western flank of the Victoria Land Basin. New processing includes 2D Werner 
and 3D Euler deconvolution, the production of maps of the maximum horizontal gradient of pseudo-gravity,and 2D, 3D 
modelling. Magnetic trends and anomalies are discussed in conjunction with now available drilling results from the 
Cape Roberts Drilling Project, existing bathymetric data and the recently published interpretations of a multichannel 
seismic reflection survey. 
The aeromagnetic survey 
The aeromagnetic survey was carried out in 1994 using the helicopter-borne aeromagnetic equipment of the Italian 
Antarctic Program (Bozzo et al., 1997a). The profile-line spacing was 500 m and the flight level was 150 m constant 
barometric altitude, corresponding to a clearance (with the sensor 25m below the helicopter) of 125 m above sea level. 
A magnetic base station was operated at Cape Roberts to monitortemporal magnetic variations. 
Standard aeromagnetic processing included the base station correction, IGRF removal, levelling and microlevelling 
in the frequency domain (Ferraccioli et al., 1998). Aeromagnetic data were then reduced to the pole. Changes in the 
distance from the sensor to the magnetic source will lead to variable attenuation of the magnetic anomalies. This is 
particularly relevant since the survey spans an area from high sensor clearance over the McKay sea valley in the north, 
(about 1100 m clearance), to an area of high topographic elevation in the east in the Roberts Ridge where sensor 
clearance was only about 200 m (Figure 2). To accommodate these variations, the aeromagnetic data were draped 
(Pilkington and Thurston, 2001) over the topography grid (Figure 2). The resulting total field aeromagnetic anomaly 
map with a drape interval of 200 m is shown in Figure 3.  
Figure 3. Draped total magnetic field anomaly map. White lines are faults at top of seismic unit V4b 
interpreted by Hamilton et al. (2001). Yellow lines are magnetic lineaments interpreted by Bozzo et al. (1997b). 
Armadillo et al.: High-resolution aeromagnetic survey over the Cape Roberts Rift Basin 
 3
Structural discontinuities, such as faults, subcrops, lithological contacts and depositional edges, can create lateral 
contrasts in magnetization of rocks, generating detectable magnetic anomalies (Glenn and Badgery, 1998, Grauch et al., 
2001; Goussev et al., 2003). Many of these anomalies are sourced in the sedimentary section. Data processing 
techniques can enhance these subtle magnetic anomalies to make them coherent and correlatable over large areas. To 
enhance magnetic lineaments, we have applied the Goussev filter (Goussev et al., 1998, 2003), a space-domain operator 
that calculates the scalar difference between the total magnetic-field gradient and its horizontal component. The 
resulting cascade Goussev filtered map is shown in Figure 4, in which magnetic lineaments can be compared to the 
faults at top of seismic unit V4b interpreted by Hamilton et al. (2001) and to the magnetic lineaments previously 
reported by Bozzo et al. (1997b). 
 
Figure 4. Cascade Goussev filtered magnetic anomaly map. Resulting magnetic lineaments can be compared to the 
faults (white lines) at top of seismic unit V4b proposed by Hamilton et al. (2001) and to the magnetic lineaments 
(yellow) previously reported by Bozzo et al., 1997b. 
 
Discussion 
When applied to the reduced to the pole draped map, Goussev cascade filtering sharpens magnetic contacts and 
delineates the boundaries of the CRRB (Figure 4).While these newly-interpreted lineaments generally agree with 
previous interpretations (Bozzo et al, 1997a; Hamilton, 2001; Figure 5), the new techniques and bathymetry data allow 
the magnetic signature of the rift basin to be better constrained. 
The new lineaments support the high-resolution bathymetry data in defining a basin that appears to be smaller than 
that which was identified in previous surveys. The western-most lineament mimics the master fault of the McMurdo 
Fault zone, approximately parallel to the TAM, while the SSW–NNE trending eastern lineaments converge toward a 
intersection with the NNW-SSE trending eastern bounding fault,with an angle of about 40° between the two trends.  
The narrow and steep-sided edged CRRB is filled with sediments that are characterized by low-to-medium 
amplitude magnetic signatures, even though some high magnetic susceptibility values were recorded in the drill cores. 
Although the sediments do not generally have high magnetic susceptibilities, a prominent positive magnetic anomaly of 
about 150 nT, is preserved in low-pass (10 km) filtered maps, suggest the possibility of a deep basin, not previously 
detected by surveys.
 
10th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences 
 4
 
Figure 5. Comparison of magnetic profile (top) and seismic reflection profile (bottom, after Hamilton et al., 2001) 
 
The short wavelength magnetic highs (A, B, C) visible in the reduced to the pole draped map (Figure 3) may be may 
be due to intra-sedimentary Cenozoic intrusions, that are also interpreted in seismic data and suggested by the previous 
magnetic interpretation. The magnetic high 'C' could indicate that magma flows occurred not only on the west flank of 
CRRB but also on the eastside. 
Acknowledgments.  Logistic and financial support was provided by the italian ‘Programma Nazionale di Ricerca in Antartide’ (PNRA). We would 
like to thank Howard Stagg for his help in formatting and checking the manuscript 
 
Armadillo et al.: High-resolution aeromagnetic survey over the Cape Roberts Rift Basin 
 5
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A high-resolution aeromagnetic survey over the Cape Roberts Rift Basin: Correlations with seismic reflection and magnetic susceptibility log data

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A high-resolution aeromagnetic survey over the Cape Roberts Rift Basin: Correlations with seismic reflection and magnetic susceptibility log data

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