When Gondwana started to break up, the land masses gradually moved into the positions that we see today. This idea that all the land masses were joined together allows us to make some assumptions about the geology of Antarctica even though very little of its crust is exposed.
Much of what we know about the minerals present there is based on what we know about the geology of South America, South Africa, and Australia. For example, if minerals found in the rocks that were formed before the break up of Gondwana are found in the mountains of South America, then we can assume that we will find the same minerals in the mountains of Antarctica. This is because we can assume that they were formed at similar time and with the same basic processes.
Many people believe that Antarctica is a place of unlimited resource wealth. But the harsh climate, short work season, and thick ice make the recovery of these resources very difficult. The economic value of a resource is determined by its current market value of the resource, the cost of moving the resource to where it is needed, and the cost of moving equipment and workers to recover the resource. The technology to remove and transport mineral resources from Antarctica has not yet been developed but as supplies worldwide are depleted, it will become more cost effective.
There are two opposing views about the feasibility of resource recovery in Antarctica. One side argues by the time it is feasible to use an Antarctic resource, alternative sources will exist. Instead of using oil for energy there will be development of fusion reactors, solar, or geothermal energy. The other view is that increasing economic pressure will force mineral and oil exploration into more and more remote regions as resources are used up elsewhere.
ICE:
One of Antarctica's most important resources is ice. It is said that Antarctica's ice accounts for 90% of the world’s fresh water. As a resource it has potential as a fresh water supply. Some people have considered towing icebergs from Antarctica to parts of the world in need of fresh water. At present the delivery costs make these ventures unprofitable. Another possible use of the ice on Antarctica is as a long term deep freeze storage site for grain and other foods. Again the costs of shipping and handling are currently prohibitive.
COAL:
There are coal deposits found along the coast of Antarctica. They are also wide-spread throughout the Trans-Antarctic Mountains. These deposits were formed between 35 million and 55 million years ago when Antarctica was covered by ancient swamps. Coal forms in swamps as plants die and are buried before they can be completely decomposed. They are then covered by other sediments such as sand and mud. This burial allows the hydrocarbons in the coal to be preserved for future generations to use. Coal is used as a source of direct heat and also to generate electricity in coal-burning power plants. The main problem of developing coal in Antarctica is that the cost of mining and delivering the coal would be so much higher than in the rest of the world. It may be possible for coal to be used in some small research stations as a source of heat, however.
OIL:
Oil deposits are formed when plants and small animal remains are buried in a marine environment by sand and mud. These remains then build up as hydrocarbons and are trapped by a layer of rock that the hydrocarbons cannot pass through…. These cap rocks then store the oil underground until it is pumped out by drilling wells. At this time there has been no oil exploration attempted and there are no known oil resources in Antarctica.
Most of the speculation about oil in Antarctica comes from finding oil on the other Southern continents which were at one time connected together. The oil deposits thought to be on the offshore regions of Antarctica would probably be most feasible to obtain although they would have to be exceptionally large to be considered worthwhile because of the following enormous exploration and development problems:
-Deeper water over the continental shelves
-The presence of sea ice and icebergs
-Short work season and hostile climate.
Comparisons with other Gondwana continents suggest the existence of Oil reserves in the interior of Antarctica. But these lie below the thick ice, ruling out development. This is due not only to the thickness of the ice but also the fact that it is sliding slowly towards the coast. This makes drilling through the ice and into the rock virtually impossible.
METALLIC MINERALS:
Mineral resources have not been found in great quantities so far due to the small amount of rock that is exposed. It is believed that, since the other continents that were once attached to Antarctica to form Gondwana have metallic and non-metallic minerals; Antarctica probably has similar supplies. It is also known that rock layers such as those in Antarctica commonly contain large amounts of cobalt, chromium, nickel, vanadium, copper, iron and platinum group minerals.
The search for sizable concentrations of metallic minerals below the ice will be a difficult prospecting venture which would require costly geophysical and geochemical surveying and core drilling. Geologists have found small deposits of minerals in Antarctica but these deposits are low in quality and occur in widely scattered places. The peninsula seems to have the highest probability of containing economic base-metal deposits. Most of the minerals were formed or deposited during the formation of Antarctica and the other continents that made up Gondwana.
Below is a table containing just 5 of the many metallic deposits geologists have speculated may lie under Antarctica’s ice.
With Technology advancing so fast, it will not be long before Geologists can ascertain what lie underneath the remaining ‘untouched’ continent.
