f Recent advances in the geophysical study of the Ross Sea (Antarctica)

A large multichannel seismic reflection dataset, recorded along the pacific sector of the periantarctic shelf by the OGS-Trieste during the first geophysical surveys (1987-89) of the Italian Antarctic Reserch Program, has been processed and interpreted with specific techniques in order to draw a comprehensive scheme of the structure, the seismostratigraphy and the evolution of the Ross Sea. The exploration of this basin is of considerable scientific interest for reconstructing the main geodynamic phases which have produced the present crustal conditions of the Antarctic continent with particular regard to the following topics: - The uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains - The relationships between East and West Antarctica - The relationships between the rift processes along the pacific margin of Antarctica and the Gondwana breakup The present study illustrates methods and results of the processing and the interpretation of the antarctic seismic data with reference to the following research themes: - Reconstruction of the structural and seismostratigraphic characteristics of the sedimentary sequence - Outline of the deep crustal conditions in areas with favourable signal to norse ratio - Reconstruction of 3D structural models of the interpreted horizons - Preliminary time and space analysis of the deformation