* The subject matter in this book is presented in chronological order starting about 750 million years ago and continuing to the present time.
* The chapters can be read selectively because the introduction to each chapter identifies the context that gives relevance to the subject matter to be discussed.
* The text is richly illustrated with 330 original line drawings as well as with 182 color maps and photographs.
* The book contains indexes of both subject matter and of authors' names that allow it to be used as an encyclopedia of the Transantarctic Mountains and of the East Antarctic ice sheet.
* Most of the chapters are supplemented by Appendices containing data tables, additional explanations of certain phenomena (e.g., the formation and seasonal destruction of stratospheric ozone), and illustrative calculations (e.g., 38Cl dates of meteorites).
* The authors have spent a combined total of fourteen field seasons between 1964 and 1995 doing geological research in the Transantarctic Mountains with logistical support by the US Antarctic Program.
* Although Antarctica is remote and inaccessible, tens of thousands of scientists of many nationalities and their assistants have worked there and even larger numbers of investigators will work there in the future.