Geochemical and radiometric age data on core samples from the Cape Roberts Project, Western Ross Sea, Antarctica.

The Cape Roberts Project is an international drilling project to obtain a series of cores from the sedimentary strata beneath the sea floor off Cape Roberts in the Ross Sea. The project is a joint venture by scientists from the national Antarctic programs of Germany, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom., Australia, and the United States. Drilling will continuously core a composite section of sediments over 1500 m thick which is expected to represent parts of the time period between 30 and more than 100 million years ago.

The principle objectives of this component of the project will be to examine the record of igneous material in the drill core and provide high precision 40Ar/39Ar dates from tephra (volcanic ash) layers, disseminated ash, feldspars and epiclastic volcanic detrital grains to constrain depositional age and provenance of the sediments in the cores.