Despite the important tectonic and stratigraphic setting, rocks from the English Coast area remain largely unstudied, as the paucity of exposure has hindered detailed structural and sedimentological analysis. Samples were collected for zircon analysis following a traverse starting at the English Coast and ending at Sky-Blu. A total of around 250kg of rock were collected and rocks at Fitzgerald Bluffs were revisited and sampled for the first time in 25 years. Highlights included the recognition of a previously undiscovered granitoid body and the discovery of fossils that tentatively indicate that Permian rocks are more widespread in the region.

During field work in 2001 over 1600 specimens were collected from four main fossil plant assemblages: the ''Nordenksjold flora'' from the Cross Valley Formation of Late Palaeocene age; and 3 floras from La Meseta Formation i) Flora2 from the Valle De Las Focas allomember, ~late Early Eocene, ii) Wiman Flora, Acantilados allomember, late Early/mid Eocene, iii) Cucullaea 1, Cuculleae 1 allomember Flora, early Late Eocene. In addition smaller collections of fossils from other parts of the La Meseta Formation were collected. The work concentrated on the Late Palaeocene and the Cuculleae 1 floras as these were the best preserved and had sufficient morphotypes for climate analysis. In the Late Palaeocene flora 36 angiosperm leaf morphotypes were identified, along with 2 pteridophytes (ferns), and podocarp and araucarian conifers. Discovery of several new leaf types indicates that the Tertiary floras from Antarctica were more diverse than previously thought.

A new technique that coupled SHRIMP (Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe) U-Pb analyses with Laser ablation ICP isotope analyses for detrital zircons enabled the provenance of sediments from the English Coast region to be better assessed than had been previously possible. Such analyses, combined with Sm-Nd, Sr and Pb analyses for the sediments and plutonic rocks that cut the sediments, enabled a better assessment of the affinity of the English Coast rocks.

Samples of early Tertiary age fossil wood and leaves were collected from Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula, in 2001. Fossils from Palaeogene strata were studied to determine the nature of vegetation response to the fundamental change from greenhouse to icehouse climates in Antarctica. Palaeoclimate data was derived using CLAMP (Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program) and several Leaf Margin Analysis (LMA) techniques based on the physiognomic properties of the leaves. Climate interpretation of the fossils produced new data on terrestrial climate change at high latitudes and were used to test and validate climate models, and to establish whether climate-induced changes in biodiversity occurred in a gradual or punctuated manner.

Geological station and sample registers related to rock samples collected from eastern Ellsworth Land during the 2002-2003 field season. In addition, processed data related to zircon mineral analysis using a technique that combines measurement of the U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotope systems. Minerals found in sediments that are resistant to earth surface processes, such as weathering and erosion, can yield information including the age and geological evolution of the sediment source region. Such a fingerprint is often unique and can be put in geographical context allowing an evaluation as to whether rock units today found adjacent to each other were originally deposited close to each other or not. Ultimately through rigorous zircon provenance analysis a new model for the crustal makeup of the Antarctic Peninsula can be tested.

This dataset presents the annual and sub-annual diatom records preserved in a set of ice cores from the Antarctic Peninsula and Ellsworth Land over the 1992-2019 CE interval, as presented in Tetzner et al. (2022). Annual diatom abundance (annual d-abundance) data are provided as annual averages for the 1992-2019 CE interval. Annual diatom concentration (annual d-concentration) data are provided as annual averages over the 1992-2019 CE interval. Sub-annual diatom concentration (sub-annual d-concentration) data are provided for each ice core as depth profiles for the 2002-2006 CE interval. Annual d-abundance and d-concentration are timeseries. Column A represents years between 1992 and 2019 CE. Annual data are listed for each ice core site alphabetically (Jurassic (JUR), Rothschild Island (ROIC), Sherman Island (SHIC) and Sky-Blu (SKBL)). Sub-annual d-concentration data are depth profiles. Column A represents ice depth (m). The ice depth interval presented in each file represents the 2002-2006 CE interval. Diatom abundance data are presented as the number of diatoms identified in an ice core annual layer (diatoms a-1). Diatom concentration data are presented as the number of diatoms identified per unit volume of water (L) contained on each annual (or sub-annual) sample (diatoms L-1). This dataset was created with the support of the Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (grant number 72180432).

The palaeontology collection at the British Antarctic Survey is a unique and internationally important collection of specimens sourced predominantly from the Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia Arc. The collection was started in the 1940s and continues to be added to frequently through ongoing BAS research. Its importance lies not only in the fact that it is globally one of the main reference collections of Antarctic palaeontological material, but also in its high proportion of Mesozoic flora and fauna which can be used to understand evolutionary dynamics, continental movements and climatic changes over the past 250 ma. In addition to molluscs and other major animal phyla, the collection is particularly strong in plant material, ranging from fossilised wood and exceptionally preserved leaves to pollen and spores. Given the logistical challenges of sampling material from the Antarctic continent, this collection represents a wealth of taxa which were previously unknown to science and consequently houses a high number of taxonomic types. A project is underway to digitally catalogue the BAS Type and Figured fossil collection and make the data easily accessible to researchers worldwide. Currently the data from over 2000 fossil specimens are available online, together with high resolution photographs. Over the next year further specimens, including palynological samples, will be added to the database and photographs will be made available of the entire collection. Please direct any comments, questions or enquiries to: fossils@bas.ac.uk

The British Antarctic Survey holds one of the most extensive collections of Antarctic rocks and fossils anywhere in the world. These are predominately from the Antarctic Peninsula region and Scotia Arc, although there is also important material from areas such as the Ellsworth Mountains, Marie Byrd Land and the Transantarctic Mountains. Some of these specimens go back to the very earliest days of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in the 1940s, and include collections made by the pioneer geologists at bases such as Hope Bay and Deception Island. Right from the outset, every specimen collected in Antarctica has been numbered and catalogued, and a vast reference archive is now available for use by the geoscience community. We currently have information relating to 150,000 field samples often with associated analysis data such as geochemistry. Additionally we hold a variety of data for nearly 500 marine cores. Metadata and data are stored digitally within a number of Oracle 10g database tables and for some datasets such as the type and figured fossil collection there is external access through a web interface. However, a significant number of datasets exist only in analog form and are held within the BAS archives organised by individual geologist. This abstract acts as an overview of the BAS geological data - both terrestrial and marine.