A review journal of current scientific advance.

This memoir is the first to review all of Antarctica’s volcanism between 200 million years ago and the Present. The region is still volcanically active. The volume is an amalgamation of in-depth syntheses, which are presented within distinctly different tectonic settings. Each is described in terms of (1) the volcanology and eruptive palaeoenvironments; (2) petrology and origin of magma; and (3) active volcanism, including tephrochronology. Important volcanic episodes include: astonishingly voluminous mafic and felsic volcanic deposits associated with the Jurassic break-up of Gondwana; the construction and progressive demise of a major Jurassic to Present continental arc, including back-arc alkaline basalts and volcanism in a young ensialic marginal basin; Miocene to Pleistocene mafic volcanism associated with post-subduction slab-window formation; numerous Neogene alkaline volcanoes, including the massive Erebus volcano and its persistent phonolitic lava lake, that are widely distributed within and adjacent to one of the world’s major zones of lithospheric extension (the West Antarctic Rift System); and very young ultrapotassic volcanism erupted subglacially and forming a world-wide type example (Gaussberg).

The Ross Orogen of the Transantarctic Mountains is the part of the orogenic system that formed at the Pacific continental margin of present-day Antarctica. According to a recent hypothesis, this continental margin was created by the rifting and subsequent drift of Laurentia from Gondwana. With an unparalleled breadth and depth of information, this book provides a detailed synthesis of the history of the Ross orogen. In doing so, it incorporates classical studies with discussions of the most recent and controversial research from the international community. The book also includes a comprehensive bibliography and a historical chronology of all expeditions that have worked on the Ross orogen in the Transantarctic Mountains, from the first sightings by Ross in 1840 right up to the present day. This review of the Ross orogen of the Transantarctic Mountains will be valuable to all geologists interested in these episodes in the Earth's history, and to researchers of the geology of Antarctica.