Abstract
Millions of years ago, Antarctica broke free from a giant supercontinent and began its transformation from a land of lush forests that harboured dinosaurs to a frigid continent at the bottom of the world. Evidence of the geological processes acting on the continent is preserved in the many different types of rock in Antarctica. The rocks tell a complex tale of a continent that has experienced a wide range of climates, seen a variety of life forms and hosted mountain ranges that are now completely eroded away. Although exposed rocks are rare in Antarctica, their diversity provides enough information to chart the continent’s history from one of the oldest rocks found on Earth to the present day.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barker PF, Thomas E (2004) Origin, signature and palaeoclimatic influence of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Earth Sci Rev 66:143–162
Barrett PJ (1991) The Devonian to Jurassic Beacon Supergroup of the Transantarctic Mountains and correlatives in other parts of the world. In: Tingey RJ (ed) The geology of Antarctica. Clarendon, Oxford, pp 120–152
Cox KG (1988) The Karoo province. In: MacDougall JD (ed) Continental flood basalts. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 239–271
Dalziel IWD (1997) Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic geography and tectonics: review, hypothesis, environmental speculation. Geol Soc Am Bull 109:16–42
Dalziel IWD, Elliot DH (1982) West Antarctica: problem child of Antarctica. Tectonics 1:3–19
Elliott DH (1992) Jurassic magmatism and tectonism associated with Gondwanaland break-up: An Antarctic perspective. In: Storey BC, Alabaster T, Pankhurst RJ (eds) Magmatism and the causes of continental breakup. Geological Society, London, vol 68, pp 165–184
Grunow AM, Kent DV, Dalziel IWD (1987) Evolution of the Weddell Sea basin: new palaeomagnetic constraints. Earth Planet Sci Lett 86:16–26
Kaiho K, Kajiwara Y, Nakano T, Miura Y, Kawahata H, Tazaki K, Ueshima M, Chen Z, Shi GR (2001) End-Permian catastrophe by a bolide impact: evidence of a gigantic release of sulfur from the mantle. Geology 29:815–818
Larter RD, Cunnigham AP, Barker PF (2002) Tectonic evolution of the Pacific margin of Antarctica. 1. Late Cretaceous reconstructions. J Geophys Res 107:23–45
Lawver LA, Gahagan LM, Dalziel IWD (1998) A tight fit-early Mesozoic Gondwana, a plate reconstruction perspective. Mem Natl Inst Polar Res Spec Issue 53:214–229
Moores EM (1991) The south west U.S. – East Antarctica (SWEAT) connection: a hypothesis. Geology 19:425–428
Rich PV, Rich TH (1993) Wildlife of Gondwana. Reed Books, Chatswood
Stilwell J, Long J (2011) Frozen in time: prehistoric life in Antarctica. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia, p 248
Storey BC (1995) The role of mantle plumes in continental breakup: case histories from Gondwanaland. Nature 377(6547):301–308
Storey BC, Garrett SW (1985) Crustal growth of the Antarctic Peninsula by accretion, magmatism and extension. Geol Mag 122:5–14
Storey BC, Kyle PR (1997) An active mantle mechanism for Gondwana breakup. S Afr J Geol 100(4):283–290
Stump E (1995) The Ross orogen of the Transantarctic Mountains. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Torsvik TH, Gaina C, Redfield TF (2008) Antarctica and global paleogeography: From Rodinia, through Gondwanaland and Pangea, to the birth of the southern ocean and the opening of gateways. In: Cooper AK, Barrett PJ, Stagg H, Storey B, Stump E, Wise W (eds) Antarctica, a keystone in a changing world. Proceedings of the 10th international symposium on Antarctic Earth sciences, The National Academies Press, Washington DC
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Storey, B., Cook, Y. (2015). A Long Journey South. In: Liggett, D., Storey, B., Cook, Y., Meduna, V. (eds) Exploring the Last Continent. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18947-5_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18947-5_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-18946-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-18947-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)