The Geology of the Antarctic Continent

About this book

The present volume provides a comprehensive overview of the geology of the Antarctic continent. It is principally based on the meagre 1% of ice-free area of Antarctica and geophysical data. The only previous, fairly comprehensive treatment of Antarctic geology was published more than 25 year ago. Since then, our knowledge about the geology of the continent has increased immensely; despite the km-thick ice shield, which covers large parts of Antarctica's geology, particularly at its centre.

An outstanding feature of this book is that it combines the present knowledge in just one single volume. Following an introduction with a geographic outline and a general synopsis of Antarctic geology, individual chapters describe the regional geology of the seven main physiographic regions of Antarctica in detail:
- the Antarctic Peninsula,
- West Antarctica (Marie Byrd Land and Enderby Land),
- Transantarctic Mountains,
- the Shackleton Range and its surroundings (including the Bertrab, Littlewood and Moltke Nunataks),
- Dronning Maud Land,
- Lambert Glacier and the area surrounding it,
- East Antarctica from Kaiser-Wilhelm-II.-Land to George V Land/Terre Adélie.

All seven chapters were written by acknowledged specialists in their field. Each chapter contains a topographic, historical and geological overview, a description of the respective geological units, their stratigraphy and related data and the tectonic structure of the respective region. Mostly, the findings are placed in a continent-wide/plate tectonic/geological context. The book closes with chapters on the mineral resources and the palaeontological record of the Antarctic continent.

Even if the Antarctic Treaty System prohibits prospection and any exploitation of mineral resources in Antarctica at this time, occurrences of iron, other metal and coal deposits are known, and many more do probably exist. The mineral resources chapter does not just deal with known and presumed deposits, but also highlights environmental problems and relevant international treaties, economic issues and practical or general problems. The Antarctic ice is the largest freshwater resource on Earth.

All nine authors are or have been active field geologists in the corresponding Antarctic regions and are affiliated with American, British, French and German research institutions. The book addresses researchers, students of geosciences, geologists and all other scientists interested in Antarctic science in general.

Contents

Preface III

1. Introduction and Overview 1 / Georg Kleinschmidt
2. Antarctic Peninsula – Geology and Dynamic Development 18 / John L. Smellie
3. The Geology of West Antarctica 87 / Christine Siddoway
4. The Geology of the Transantarctic Mountains 132 / John W. Goodge
5. The Shackleton Range and Surroundings 218 / Georg Kleinschmidt
6. Geology and Geodynamic Evolution of Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica 254 / Andreas Läufer
7. Lambert Glacier Area (East Antarctica between 45° E and 85°E) 296 / A. Läufer, F. Lisker, N.W. Roland, G. Kleinschmidt
8. The Geology of East Antarctica (between ~85° E and ~145° E) 322 / René-Pierre Menot
9. The Mineral Resources of the Antarctic: Facts and Problems 393 / Norbert W. Roland
10. The Palaeontological Record of Antarctica 426 / Michael R.A. Thomson

References 485
Index 597

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