Christine Smith Siddoway, Department of Geology, The Colorado College, 14 E. Cache la Poudre, Colorado Springs, CO 80903 and Michael F. Siddoway, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, The Colorado College, 14 E. Cache la Poudre, Colorado Springs, CO 80903.
The convergence of meridians of longitude toward the South Pole causes problems for direct geometrical comparison of structural geological and geophysical datasets in Antarctica. Rotation of data to a common reference direction can be performed using a modular arithmetic function, in order to carry out geometrical analysis of faults, dike arrays, and tectonic or ice lineaments for tectonic interpretations. Performed as a spreadsheet calculation, the function Sc = MOD [(Sm + dL), 360] is demonstrated for structural datasets from latitude >80°S in the southern Transantarctic Mountains, Ellsworth, and Pensacola Mountains. Sc is converted strike; Sm, measured strike; dL, angle in degrees longitude between reference site and study site; and 360 (the divisor), the number of degrees for the circumference of a sphere. The paper proposes a protocol for geometrical and kinematic comparison of structural and geophysical data from high South latitude in Antarctica.
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