Joint U.K.-U.S. West Antarctic Tectonic Project: an introduction

The relationship of West Antarctica to the Precambrian craton of East Antarctica is the longest standing major tectonic problem in Antarctic geology. It has a bearing on Gondwanaland reconstruction but has even more important geotectonic, paleoenvironmental, and paleobiogeographic implications. A joint United Kingdom‐United States project was initiated in 1980–1981 to study certain aspects of the overall problem. Major field programs were undertaken in the 1983–1984 and 1984–1985 Antarctic seasons. Additional efforts will be made in 1986–1987 and 1987–1988. This contribution briefly introduces several accompanying papers describing the preliminary results of geological, geophysical, and geochemical aspects of the project as well as a preliminary tectonic synthesis based on the work completed at the time of the Sixth Gondwana Symposium.