EARLY CRETACEOUS UPLIFT IN THE ELLSWORTH MOUNTAINS OF WEST ANTARCTICA

Apatite fission-track analysis of samples covering a 4.2-kilometer vertical section from the western flank of Vinson Massif, Antarctica's highest mountain, indicates that the Ellsworth Mountains were uplifted by 4 kilometers or more during the Early Cretaceous following the initial separation of East and West Gondwana and accompanying the opening of the Weddell Sea. Relief of at least 1.8 kilometers has persisted in the Ellsworth Mountains since the Early Cretaceous, and a maximum of 3 kilometers of uplift has occurred since that time.