During the period from the Neoproterozoic to the early Paleozoic, numerous continental fragments in the Southern Hemisphere consolidated along a series of interconnected orogenic belts to form the supercontinent Gondwanaland. The Ross orogen of the Transantarctic Mountains is the part of the orogenic system that formed at the Pacific continental margin of present-day Antarctica. According to one hypothesis, which is perhaps among the most significant recent developments in regional tectonics, this continental margin was created by the rifting and subsequent drift of Laurentia from...