West Antarctic Rift

The range was uplifted during the opening of the West Antarctic Rift to the east, beginning about 65 million years ago in the early Cenozoic.

Shortly after, during the Mid Cretaceous (100 Ma), the West Antarctic Rift began to form.

The West Antarctic Rift, a major active rift valley, lies between West and East Antarctica.

The West Antarctic Rift is located just west of the Transantarctic Mountains, and is considered to be the largest influence in driving the Antarctic plate motion.

It is known, however, that like the East African Rift, the West Antarctic Rift is actually a number of much shorter rifts that cross Antarctica.

Winberry, J. P., and S. Anandakrishnan, 2004, Crustal structure of the West Antarctic rift system and Marie Byrd Land hotspot.

The West Antarctic Rift is the source of all the recently active volcanoes within Antarctica, and of most of the major Antarctic mountain systems outside the Antarctic Peninsula.

Other current examples of divergent plate boundaries within continental crust on Earth include the East African Rift, West Antarctic Rift System, and the Rio Grande Rift.

Exploration of the geology of the West Antarctic Rift is difficult, because, apart from peaks of the Transantarctic Mountains that protrude above the ice, the region is covered by the vast West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

The volcanism is the result of rifting along the vast West Antarctic Rift, which extends from the base of the Antarctic Peninsula to the surrounding area of Ross Island, and the volcanoes are found along the northern edge of the rift.

Many existing continental rift valleys are the result of a failed arm (aulacogen) of a triple junction, although there are two, the East African Rift and the Baikal Rift Zone, which are currently active, as well as a third which may be, the West Antarctic Rift.