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.

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.