Lithospheric Thermal Structure Beneath East Antarctica Derived from Aeromagnetic Anomaly Analysis

East Antarctica is composed of a composite Precambrian shield largely covered by a thick ice sheet. Information on the thermal structure of the East Antarctic lithosphere is critical to the understanding of the geological history and ice sheet dynamics of this region. To better describe the lithospheric thermal structure, Curie-point depths are first estimated through the inversion of aeromagnetic anomaly data using the wavenumber-domain centroid method, and the Curie point estimates is further employed to determine a lithospheric thermal thickness model by integrating the 1D steady-state heat conduction equation. Our results show that the variations in both the Curie-point depth and thermal thickness estimates have strong spatial consistency with known major geological provinces, such as ancient cratons and younger orogens. Moreover, our findings show a hot and thin lithosphere in the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains and Dronning Maud Land, whereas a cold and thick cratonic lithosphere is found in the Wilkes and Aurora Subglacial Basins and the hinterland of Enderby Land. A few local-scale thermal anomalies are also observed in cratonic areas, indicating that some of these areas have lost their cratonic signature. The new thermal thickness model provides direct constraints that can be used to trace early tectonic–thermal activities in East Antarctica.