Editing Ross Sea (section)

=== Basement ===
The nature of the basement rocks and the fill within the grabens are known in few locations. Basement rocks have been sampled at DSDP Leg 28 drill site 270 where [[metamorphic rock]]s of unknown age were recovered,<ref name=":3" /> and in the eastern Ross Sea where a bottom dredge was collected.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last1=Siddoway|first1=Christine Smith|last2=Baldwin|first2=Suzanne L.|last3=Fitzgerald|first3=Paul G.|last4=Fanning|first4=C. Mark|last5=Luyendyk|first5=Bruce P.|date=2004|title=Ross Sea mylonites and the timing of intracontinental extension within the West Antarctic rift system|journal=Geology|language=en|volume=32|issue=1|pages=57|doi=10.1130/g20005.1|bibcode=2004Geo....32...57S |issn=0091-7613}}</ref> In both these locations the metamorphic rocks are [[mylonite]]s deformed in the [[Cretaceous]] suggesting extreme stretching of the Ross Embayment during that time.<ref>Fitzgerald, P. G., and S. L. Baldwin. 1997. "Detachment Fault Model for the Evolution of the Ross Embayment." In ''The Antarctic Region: Geological Evolution and Processes'', edited by C. A. Ricci, 555–564. Siena: Terra Antarctica Pub.</ref><ref name=":4" />

'''Marie Byrd Land''': Rocks exposed in western [[Marie Byrd Land]] on the [[King Edward VII Land|Edward VII Peninsula]] and within the [[Ford Ranges]] are candidates for basement in the eastern Ross Sea.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Luyendyk|first1=Bruce P.|last2=Wilson|first2=Douglas S.|last3=Siddoway|first3=Christine S.|date=2003|title=Eastern margin of the Ross Sea Rift in western Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica: Crustal structure and tectonic development|journal=Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems|language=en|volume=4|issue=10|page=1090 |doi=10.1029/2002gc000462|bibcode=2003GGG.....4.1090L |s2cid=2310914|issn=1525-2027|doi-access=free}}</ref> The oldest rocks are [[Permian]] sediments of the Swanson Formation, which is slightly metamorphosed. The Ford granodiorite of [[Devonian]] age intrudes these sediments. Cretaceous Byrd Coast granite in turn intrudes the older rocks. The Byrd Coast and older formations have been cut by [[basalt]] [[Dike swarm|dikes]]. Scattered through the Ford Ranges and Fosdick Mountains are late [[Cenozoic]] [[volcanic rock]]s that are not found to the west on Edward VII Peninsula. Metamorphic rocks, [[migmatite]]s, are found in the [[Fosdick Mountains]] and [[Alexandra Mountains]].<ref>Luyendyk, B. P., S. M. Richard, C. H. Smith, and D. L. Kimbrough. 1992. "Geological and geophysical investigations in the northern Ford Ranges, Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica." In ''Recent Progress in Antarctic Earth Science: Proceedings of the 6th Symposium on Antarctic Earth Science, Saitama, Japan, 1991'', edited by Y. Yoshida, K. Kaminuma and K. Shiraishi, 279–288. Tokyo: Terra Pub.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Richard|first1=S. M.|last2=Smith|first2=C. H.|last3=Kimbrough|first3=D. L.|last4=Fitzgerald|first4=P. G.|last5=Luyendyk|first5=B. P.|last6=McWilliams|first6=M. O.|date=1994|title=Cooling history of the northern Ford Ranges, Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica|journal=Tectonics|language=en|volume=13|issue=4|pages=837–857|doi=10.1029/93tc03322|bibcode=1994Tecto..13..837R|issn=0278-7407}}</ref> These were metamorphosed and deformed in the Cretaceous.<ref>Siddoway, C., S. Richard, C. M. Fanning, and B. P. Luyendyk. 2004. "Origin and emplacement mechanisms for a middle Cretaceous gneiss dome, Fosdick Mountains, West Antarctica (Chapter 16)." In ''Gneiss domes in orogeny'', edited by D. L. Whitney, C. T. Teyssier and C. Siddoway, 267–294. Geological Society of America Special Paper 380.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Korhonen|first1=F. J.|last2=Brown|first2=M.|last3=Grove|first3=M.|last4=Siddoway|first4=C. S.|last5=Baxter|first5=E. F.|last6=Inglis|first6=J. D.|date=2011-10-17|title=Separating metamorphic events in the Fosdick migmatite-granite complex, West Antarctica|journal=Journal of Metamorphic Geology|language=en|volume=30|issue=2|pages=165–192|doi=10.1111/j.1525-1314.2011.00961.x|s2cid=1977832 |issn=0263-4929}}</ref>

'''The Ross Supergroup system and Beacon Supergroup''': Ross System rocks exposed in [[Victoria Land]] and in the [[Transantarctic Mountains]] on the western side of the Ross Sea<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last1=Faure|first1=Gunter|last2=Mensing|first2=Teresa M.|date=2011|title=The Transantarctic Mountains|language=en-gb|doi=10.1007/978-90-481-9390-5|isbn=978-1-4020-8406-5}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=The Ross orogen of the Transantarctic Mountains|last=Stump|first=Edmund|date=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521433143|location=Cambridge [England]|oclc=30671271}}</ref> are possible basement rock below the sedimentary cover of the sea floor. The rocks are of upper [[Precambrian]] to lower [[Paleozoic]] in age, deformed in many places during the Ross Orogeny in the [[Cambrian]].<ref name=":6" /> These [[miogeosyncline]] [[metasedimentary]] rocks are partly composed of [[calcium carbonate]], often including [[limestone]]. Groups within the Ross System include the Robertson Bay Group, Priestley Group, Skelton Group, Beardmore Group, Byrd Group, Queen Maud Group, and Koettlitz Group.  The Robertson Bay Group compares closely with other Ross System members. The Priestley Group rocks are similar to those of the Robertson Bay Group and include dark slates, [[argillites]], [[siltstones]], fine [[sandstones]] and limestones. They can be found near the Priestley and Campbell glaciers. For thirty miles along the lower [[Skelton Glacier]] are the calcareous [[greywackes]] and argillites of the Skelton Group. The region between the lower [[Beardmore Glacier]] and the lower [[Shackleton Glacier|Shackelton Glacier]] sits the Beardmore Group. North of the [[Nimrod Glacier]] are four block faulted ranges that make up the Byrd Group. The contents of the Queen Maud Group area are mainly post-tectonic [[granite]].

[[Beacon Supergroup|Beacon Sandstone]] of [[Devonian]]-[[Triassic]] age<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barrett|first=P. J.|date=1981|title=History of the Ross Sea region during the deposition of the Beacon Supergroup 400–180 million years ago|journal=Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand|language=en|volume=11|issue=4|pages=447–458|doi=10.1080/03036758.1981.10423334|issn=0303-6758|doi-access=|bibcode=1981JRSNZ..11..447B }}</ref> and the [[Karoo-Ferrar|Ferarr]] volcanic rocks of [[Jurassic]] age are separated from the Ross Supergroup by the [[Kukri Peneplain]]. Beacon rocks are reported to have been recovered in the drill cores of the Cape Roberts Project at the western edge of the Ross Sea.<ref>Barrett, P. J., C. R. A. Fielding, and S. Wise, eds. 1998. ''Initial Report on CRP-1, Cape Roberts Project, Antarctica''. Vol. 5, ''Terra Antartica''. Siena: Terra Antartica.</ref><ref>Barrett, P.J., F.J. Davey, W.U. Ehrmann, M.J. Hambrey, R. Jarrard, J.J.M. van der Meer, J. Raine, A.P. Roberts, F. Talarico, and D.K. Watkins, eds. 2001. ''Studies from the Cape Roberts Project, Ross Sea, Antarctica, Scientific Results of CRP-2/2A, Parts I and II''. Vol. 7, ''Terra Antartica''.</ref><ref>Barrett, P. J., M.  Massimo Sarti, and S. Wise, eds. 2000. ''Studies from the Cape Roberts Project, Ross Sea, Antarctica: Initial report on CRP-3''. Vol. 7, ''Terra Antartica''. Siena: Terra Antarctica Pub.</ref><ref>Barrett, P.J. 2007. "Cenozoic climate and sea level history from glacimarine strata off the Victoria Land coast, Cape Roberts Project, Antarctica." In ''Glacial Sedimentary Processes and Products'', edited by M.J. Hambrey, P. Christoffersen, N.F. Glasser and B. Hubbart, 259–287. Blackwell: International Association of Sedimentologists.</ref>