Graphite Peak (85°3′S 172°45′E / 85.050°S 172.750°E / -85.050; 172.750) is a peak, 3,260 metres (10,700 ft) high, standing at the northeast end of a ridge running 3 nautical miles (6 km) northeast from Mount Clarke, just south of the head of Falkenhof Glacier in Antarctica. It was so named by the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (1961–62) because of the graphite found on the peak.[1]

Paleontology edit

Fossiliferous sedimentary rocks containing the Permian–Triassic boundary outcrop on the slopes of Graphite Peak. These sedimentary strata contain well-preserved plant, invertebrate, and vertebrate fossils that are important in understanding paleoclimatic and paleontologic changes associated with the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Graphite Peak is the location where the first fossil of an Early Triassic tetrapod was discovered in Antarctica.[2][3][4][5]

See also edit

Coalsack Bluff

References edit

  1. ^ "Graphite Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2012-05-03.
  2. ^ Retallack, G.J. and Krull, E.S., 1997. Permian coprolites from Graphite Peak. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 32, pp. 7-9.
  3. ^ Basu, A.R., Petaev, M.I., Poreda, R.J., Jacobsen, S.B. and Becker, L., 2003. Chondritic meteorite fragments associated with the Permian-Triassic boundary in Antarctica. Science, 302(5649), pp.1388-1392.
  4. ^ Retallack, G.J., Jahren, A.H., Sheldon, N.D., Chakrabarti, R., Metzger, C.A. and Smith, R.M.H., 2005. The Permian–Triassic boundary in Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 17(2), pp.241-258.
  5. ^ Liu, J., Abdala, F., Angielczyk, K.D. and Sidor, C.A., 2022. Tetrapod turnover during the Permo-Triassic transition explained by temperature change. Earth-Science Reviews, 224(January), no. 103886.