Abstract The tectonic evolution of Antarctica in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras was marked by igneous activity that formed as a result of simultaneous continental rifting and subduction processes acting during the final stages of the southward drift of Gondwana towards the South Pole. For the most part, continental rifting resulted in the progressive disintegration of the Gondwana supercontinent from Middle Jurassic times to the final isolation of Antarctica at the South Pole following the Cenozoic opening of the surrounding ocean basins, and the separation of Antarctica from South America and Australia. The initial rifting into East and West Gondwana was proceeded by emplacement of large igneous provinces preserved in present-day South America, Africa and Antarctica. Continued rifting within Antarctica did not lead to continental separation but to the development of the West Antarctic Rift System, dividing the continent into the East and West Antarctic plates, and uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains. Motion between East and West Antarctica has been accommodated by a series of discrete rifting pulses with a westward shift and concentration of the motion throughout the Cenozoic leading to crustal thinning, subsidence, elevated heat flow conditions and rift-related magmatic activity. Contemporaneous with the disintegration of Gondwana and the isolation of Antarctica, subduction processes were active along the palaeo-Pacific margin of Antarctica recorded by magmatic arcs, accretionary complexes, and forearc and back-arc basin sequences. A low in magmatic activity between 156 and 142 Ma suggests that subduction may have ceased during this time. Today, following the gradual cessation of the Antarctic rifting and surrounding subduction, the Antarctic continent is situated close to the centre of a large Antarctic Plate which, with the exception of an active margin on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, is surrounded by active spreading ridges.

Abstract Petrological investigations over the past 30 years have significantly advanced our knowledge of the origin and evolution of magmas emplaced within and erupted on top of the Antarctic Plate. Over the last 200 myr Antarctica has experienced: (1) several episodes of rifting, leading to the fragmentation of Gondwana and the formation by c. 83 Ma of the current Antarctica Plate; (2) long-lived subduction that shut down progressively eastwards along the Gondwana margin in the Late Cretaceous and is still active at the northernmost tip of the Antarctic Peninsula; and (3) broad extension across West Antarctica that produced one of the Earth's major continental rift systems. The dynamic tectonic history of Antarctica since the Triassic has led to a diversity of volcano types and igneous rock compositions with correspondingly diverse origins. Many intriguing questions remain about the petrology of mantle sources and the mechanisms for melting during each tectonomagmatic phase. For intraplate magmatism, the upwelling of deep mantle plumes is often evoked. Alternatively, subduction-related metasomatized mantle sources and melting by more passive means (e.g. edge-driven flow, translithospheric faulting, slab windows) are proposed. A brief review of these often competing models is provided in this chapter along with recommendations for ongoing petrological research in Antarctica.

Abstract In the last two centuries, demographic expansion and extensive urbanization of volcanic areas have increased the exposure of our society to volcanic hazards. Antarctica is no exception. During the last decades, the permanent settlement and seasonal presence of scientists, technicians, tourists and logistical personnel close to active volcanoes in the south polar region have increased notably. This has led to an escalation in the number of people and the amount of infrastructure exposed to potential eruptions. This requires advancement of our knowledge of the volcanic and magmatic history of Antarctic active volcanoes, significant improvement of the monitoring networks, and development of long-term hazard assessments and vulnerability analyses to carry out the required mitigation actions, and to elaborate on the most appropriate response plans to reduce loss of life and infrastructure during a future volcanic crisis. This chapter provides a brief summary of the active volcanic systems in Antarctica, highlighting their main volcanological features, which monitoring systems are deployed (if any), and recent (i.e. Holocene and/or historical) eruptive activity or unrest episodes. To conclude, some notes about the volcanic hazard assessments carried out so far on south polar volcanoes are also included, along with recommendations for specific actions and ongoing research on active Antarctic volcanism.

Abstract Cenozoic magmatic rocks related to the West Antarctic Rift System crop out right across Antarctica, in Victoria Land, Marie Byrd Land and into Ellsworth Land. Northern Victoria Land, located at the northwestern tip of the western rift shoulder, is unique in hosting the longest record of the rift-related igneous activity: plutonic rocks and cogenetic dyke swarms cover the time span from c. 50 to 20 Ma, and volcanic rocks are recorded from 15 Ma to the present. The origin of the entire igneous suite is debated; nevertheless, the combination of geochemical and isotopic data with the regional tectonic history supports a model with no role for a mantle plume. Amagmatic extension during the Cretaceous generated an autometasomatized mantle source that, during Eocene–present activity, produced magma by small degrees of melting induced by the transtensional activity of translithospheric fault systems. The emplacement of Eocene–Oligocene plutons and dyke swarms was focused along these fault systems. Conversely, the location of the mid-Miocene–present volcanoes is governed by lithospheric necking along the Ross Sea coast for the largest volcanic edifices; while inland, smaller central volcanoes and scoria cones are related to the establishment of magma chambers in thicker crust.

Abstract Nineteen large (2348–4285 m above sea level) central polygenetic alkaline shield-like composite volcanoes and numerous smaller volcanoes in Marie Byrd Land (MBL) and western Ellsworth Land rise above the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and comprise the MBL Volcanic Group (MBLVG). Earliest MBLVG volcanism dates to the latest Eocene (36.6 Ma). Polygenetic volcanism began by the middle Miocene (13.4 Ma) and has continued into the Holocene without major interruptions, producing the central volcanoes with 24 large (2–10 km-diameter) summit calderas and abundant evidence for explosive eruptions in caldera-rim deposits. Rock lithofacies are dominated by basanite and trachyte/phonolite lava and breccia, deposited in both subaerial and ice-contact environments. The chronology of MBLVG volcanism is well constrained by 330 age analyses, including 52 new 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages. A volcanic lithofacies record of glaciation provides evidence of local ice-cap glaciation at 29–27 Ma and of widespread WAIS glaciation by 9 Ma. Late Quaternary glaciovolcanic records document WAIS expansions that correlate to eustatic sea-level lowstands (MIS 16, 4 and 2): the WAIS was +500 m at 609 ka at coastal Mount Murphy, and +400 m at 64.7 ka, +400 m at 21.2 ka and +575 m at 17.5 ka at inland Mount Takahe.

Abstract In Marie Byrd Land and Ellsworth Land 19 large polygenetic volcanoes and numerous smaller centres are exposed above the West Antarctic Ice Sheet along the northern flank of the West Antarctic Rift System. The Cenozoic (36.7 Ma to active) volcanism of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Group (MBLVG) encompasses the full spectrum of alkaline series compositions ranging from basalt to intermediate (e.g. mugearite, benmoreite) to phonolite, peralkaline trachyte, rhyolite and rare pantellerite. Differentiation from basalt is described by progressive fractional crystallization; however, to produce silica-oversaturated compositions two mechanisms are proposed: (1) polybaric fractionation with early-stage removal of amphibole at high pressures; and (2) assimilation–fractional crystallization to explain elevated 87 Sr/ 86 Sr i ratios. Most basalts are silica-undersaturated and enriched in incompatible trace elements (e.g. La/Yb N >10), indicating small degrees of partial melting of a garnet-bearing mantle. Mildly silica-undersaturated and rare silica-saturated basalts, including tholeiites, are less enriched (La/Yb N <10), a result of higher degrees of melting. Trace elements and isotopes (Sr, Nd, Pb) reveal a regional gradient explained by mixing between two mantle components, subduction-modified lithosphere and HIMU-like plume ( 206 Pb/ 204 Pb >20) materials. Geophysical studies indicate a deep thermal anomaly beneath central Marie Byrd Land, suggesting a plume influence on volcanism and tectonism.

Abstract Two volcanoes in Marie Byrd Land, Mount Berlin and Mount Takahe, can be considered active, and a third, Mount Waesche, may be as well; although the chronology of activity is less well constrained. The records of explosive activity of these three volcanoes is well represented through deposits on the volcano flanks and tephra layers found in blue ice areas, as well as by the presence of cryptotephra layers found in West and East Antarctic ice cores. Records of effusive volcanism are found on the volcano flanks but some deposits may be obscured by pervasive glacerization of the edifices. Based on a compilation of tephra depths–ages in ice cores, the activity patterns of Mount Takahe and Mount Berlin are dramatically different. Mount Takahe has erupted infrequently over the past 100 kyr. Mount Berlin, by contrast, has erupted episodically during this time interval, with the number of eruptions being dramatically higher in the time interval between c. 32 and 18 ka. Integration of the Mount Berlin tephra record from ice cores and blue ice areas over a 500 kyr time span reveals a pattern of geochemical evolution related to small batches of partial melt being progressively removed from a single source underlying Mount Berlin.

Abstract A combination of aerogeophysics, seismic observations and direct observation from ice cores, and subglacial sampling, has revealed at least 21 sites under the West Antarctic Ice Sheet consistent with active volcanism (where active is defined as volcanism that has interacted with the current manifestation of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet). Coverage of these datasets is heterogeneous, potentially biasing the apparent distribution of these features. Also, the products of volcanic activity under thinner ice characterized by relatively fast flow are more prone to erosion and removal by the ice sheet, and therefore potentially under-represented. Unsurprisingly, the sites of active subglacial volcanism that we have identified often overlap with areas of relatively thick ice and slow ice surface flow, both of which are critical conditions for the preservation of volcanic records. Overall, we find the majority of active subglacial volcanic sites in West Antarctica concentrate strongly along the crustal-thickness gradients bounding the central West Antarctic Rift System, complemented by intra-rift sites associated with the Amundsen Sea–Siple Coast lithospheric transition.

Abstract The West Antarctic Ice Sheet overlies the West Antarctic Rift System about which, due to the comprehensive ice cover, we have only limited and sporadic knowledge of volcanic activity and its extent. Improving our understanding of subglacial volcanic activity across the province is important both for helping to constrain how volcanism and rifting may have influenced ice-sheet growth and decay over previous glacial cycles, and in light of concerns over whether enhanced geothermal heat fluxes and subglacial melting may contribute to instability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Here, we use ice-sheet bed-elevation data to locate individual conical edifices protruding upwards into the ice across West Antarctica, and we propose that these edifices represent subglacial volcanoes. We used aeromagnetic, aerogravity, satellite imagery and databases of confirmed volcanoes to support this interpretation. The overall result presented here constitutes a first inventory of West Antarctica’s subglacial volcanism. We identified 138 volcanoes, 91 of which have not previously been identified, and which are widely distributed throughout the deep basins of West Antarctica, but are especially concentrated and orientated along the >3000 km central axis of the West Antarctic Rift System.