G. E. Grikurov, G. L. Leitchenkov, E. N. Kamenev, E. V. Mikhalsky, A. V. Golinsky, V. N. Masolov, A. A. Laiba. Antarctic tectonic and mineragenic provinces

Integration of the results of Soviet and Russian Antarctic expeditions as well as numerous published works yielded important new evidence enabling better understanding of geological structure and tectonic history of the Antarctic region. In particular, it appeared possible to develop models of geodynamic evolution of the Antarctic lithosphere prior to breakup of Gondwana supercontinent, and to improve perception of the nature of transition from the Antarctic continent to its modern oceanic surroundings. Two major tectonic provinces are recognized within the continent: the Precambrian East Antarctic Craton, which occupies the most of East Antarctica, the Phanerozoic West Antarctic Mobile Belt, lying mainly within West Antarctica and consisting of several fold systems and Cenozoic volcanic province. Continental margin is underlain mostly by the rifted, differently stretched, continental crust. The regions with oceanic crust form the outer rim of the area covered by the map. There are tectonic reasons to propose, that mineral resources of Antarctica and other Gondwanian continents are similar. Those reasons are supported by the ore occurences and real mineragenic provinces established in Antarctica in the process of many years geologic studies.