The collection consists of over 1 tonne of rock samples from the Theron Mountains, with an emphasis on the mainline of the enscarpment, which was reached by climbing the scree slopes at the base of the cliffs or by traversing the skyline, during the 2004/2005 field season.

Field observations made during the 2004-2005 field season, using such features as sill steps, sill bridges, orientated phenocrysts and asymmetric structures to determine regional magma flow directions in the Theron Mountains. A full photographic record of the cliffs was made at a transit of 1km out from the cliffs.

Ice sheet model runs based on the Glimmer thermo-mechanical ice sheet model. Glacial modelling was used to simulate former WAIS (West Antarctic Ice Sheet) dynamics (specifically grounding line and ice volume changes) in the Weddell Sea embayment, constrained by newly acquired field data (see related datasets).

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) measurements of cosmogenic isotopes were made from erratic and bedrock samples collected in the Ellsworth Mountains, 2005-2006. Pressed AMS targets were analysed at SUERC (Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre) to yield exposure ages.

Laboratory AMS (Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility) measurements made on a collection of sill samples collected from the Theron Mountains, Antarctica, during the 2004-2005 field season. AMS involves the collection of some 1 metric tonne of oriented samples and the lab-based determination of the magmatic flow fabric of the rock. Models concerning the location of mantle plumes and triple junctions associated with the Mesozoic break-up of Gondwana in the Antarctic-southern Africa sector are not capable of independent testing, other than by geochemical and age dating methods. We determined the regional flow directions of the magmas in dyke and sill complexes in the areas of postulated plume heads and related triple points on the opposing conjugate margins. AMS was utilised to determine magmatic flow directions and constrain these with macroscopic observations of flow indicators.

Glacial geomorphological data from the Ellsworth Mountains, Weddell Sea embayment. Satellite imagery and aerial photography, ground truthing, surveying and GPS traverses were used for geomorphological mapping. Additional photographic and weathering data were used to complement the field work. The project resulted in one of the most detailed geomorphological studies of any part of the WAIS (West Antarctic Ice Sheet), as well as the most comprehensive coverage for cosmogenic isotope analysis.

Powders, solutions and residues related to erratic and bedrock samples collected in the Ellsworth Mountains during the 2005-2006 field season. For each of the rock samples analysed in the lab, a (variable) number of laboratory stages are created, including sawing and crushing residues, pure quartz separates, chemical solutions, and AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) targets.