Highest Mountains in Antarctica

Geography

The Vinson Massif extends between Goodge Col and Branscomb Glacier to the northwest, Nimitz Glacier and Gildea Glacier to the southwest and south, and Dater Glacier and its tributary Hinkley Glacier to the east. The southeastern part of the massif ends at Hammer Col, which joins it to the Craddock Massif, of which the highest point is Mount Rutford (4,477 metres or 14,688 feet). The massif comprises both the high central Vinson Plateau with its few peaks rising to over 4,700 metres or 15,420 feet, and several side ridges mostly trending southwest or northeast from the plateau.

Geology

Steeply inclined strata known as the Crashsite Group forms Vinson Massif. It consists of 3,000 metres or 9,843 feet of shallow-water, mostly marine, tan, green, and red quartzose sandstones (quartzites) and argillites. In ascending order, the Crashsite Group is subdivided into the Howard Nunataks Formation (1,630 metres or 5,348 feet), the Mount Liptak Formation (1,070 metres or 3,510 feet), and the Mount Wyatt Earp Formation (300 meters or 980 feet). Erosion-resistant and steeply inclined beds of the Mount Wyatt Earp Formation comprise the crest of the Vinson Massif, including Mount Vinson. The steeply inclined strata of the Crashsite Group are part of the western limb of a major syncline that forms the core of the Sentinel Range within the Ellsworth Mountains.

History

A high mountain, provisionally known as "Vinson", was long suspected to be in this part of West Antarctica, but it was not actually seen until January 1958, when it was spotted by US Navy aircraft from Byrd Station. It was named after Carl Vinson, a United States Representative from Georgia who was a key supporter of funding for Antarctic research. The first measurement of the Vinson Massif was established in 1959 at the elevation of 5,140 m (16,864 ft).

In 1963, two groups within the American Alpine Club (AAC), one led by Charles D. Hollister and Samuel C. Silverstein, M.D., then in New York, and the other led by Peter Schoening of Seattle, Washington, began lobbying the National Science Foundation to support an expedition to climb Mount Vinson.

Climate and glaciers

The climate on Mount Vinson is generally controlled by the polar ice cap's high-pressure system, creating predominantly stable conditions but, as in any polar climate, high winds and snowfall are a possibility. Though the annual snowfall on Mount Vinson is low, high winds can cause base camp accumulations up to 46 centimetres (18 in) in a year. During the summer season, November through January, there are 24 hours of sunlight. While the average temperature during these months is −30 °C (−20 °F), the intense sun will melt snow on dark objects.

Over successive years, the limited amount of snow that falls on Vinson Massif compacts and is transformed into ice, forming glaciers.

Location

Mount Kirkpatrick is in the central Queen Alexandra Range to the south of Grindley Plateau, north of the Adams Mountains and northeast of the Marshall Mountains.

Prebble Glacier forms on its west slopes and flows west to Lennox-King Glacier.

Martin Ridge extends southwest from Decennial Peak to the head of Berwick Glacier.

History

The mountain was discovered by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd on an airplane flight, on November 18, 1934, and named by him for Mabelle E. Sidley, the daughter of William Horlick who was a contributor to the 1933–1935 Byrd Antarctic Expedition. Despite its height, the volcano's extremely remote location means that it is little known even in the mountaineering world compared to the much more accessible Mount Erebus, the second-highest Antarctic volcano, which is located near the U.S. and New Zealand bases on Ross Island.

The first recorded ascent of Mount Sidley was by New Zealander Bill Atkinson on January 11, 1990, whilst working in support of a United States Antarctic Program scientific field party.

Location

The Hughes Range runs southwest–northeast to the Giovinco Ice Piedmont on the Ross Ice Shelf.

It is separated from the Commonwealth Range and the Separation Range to the west by the Keltie Glacier, Pain Névé and Canyon Glacier. The Brandau Glacier and Muck Glacier define the southern boundary. The Barton Mountains and Bush Mountains are to their south.

The Shanklin Glacier and the Ramsey Glacier define the east side of the range.

Features of the Hughes Range, from south to north, include Ford Spur, Haynes Table, Campbell Cliffs and Mount Odishaw to the south of Pain Névé. Above Pain Névé are Mount Kaplan, Mount Wexler and Mount Weterman.

To the east, Mount Valinski is south of the Millington Glacier, a tributary of the Ramsey Glacier.

Location

Mount Lister is in central Royal Society Range, the highest point on the main north–south ridge that includes The Pimple and Chaplains Tableland to the north and Mount Hooker, Salient Peak and Mount Rücker to the south.

Emmanuel Glacier and its tributary Carleton Glacier run north along the east side of the ridge to Ferrar Glacier.

Howchin Glacier flows southeast from the ridge system towards Koettlitz Glacier, while Salient Glacier, Hooker Glacier and Lister Glacier flow northeast into Blue Glacier.

Location

The Wisconsin Range is east of the Reedy Glacier and south of the Horlick Ice Stream and the Shimizu Ice Stream. The Wisconsin Plateau is in the southeast of the range.

The southeast of the range borders the west of the Wisconsin Plateau and overlooks the Olentangy Glacier.

From south to north it includes Polygon Spur, Tillite Spur, Red Spur and Mount Huckaby.

The southern massif lies between Olentangy Glacier and Norfolk Glacier both tributaries of the Reedy Glacier.

It includes Mount McNaughton, Mount Bolton, Goodwin Peak, Haworth Mesa and Sisco Mesa.

Geology and volcanology

Mount Erebus is the world's southernmost active volcano. It is the current eruptive centre of the Erebus hotspot. The summit contains a persistent convecting phonolitic lava lake, one of five long-lasting lava lakes on Earth. Characteristic eruptive activity consists of Strombolian eruptions from the lava lake or from one of several subsidiary vents, all within the volcano's inner crater. The volcano is scientifically remarkable in that its relatively low-level and unusually persistent eruptive activity enables long-term volcanological study of a Strombolian eruptive system very close (hundreds of metres) to the active vents, a characteristic shared with only a few volcanoes on Earth, such as Stromboli in Italy.

History

Mount Erebus was discovered on 27 January 1841 (and observed to be in eruption), by polar explorer Sir James Clark Ross on his Antarctic expedition, who named it and its companion, Mount Terror, after his ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror (which were later used and lost by Sir John Franklin on his disastrous Arctic expedition). Present with Ross on HMS Erebus was the young Joseph Hooker, future president of the Royal Society and close friend of Charles Darwin. Erebus is a dark region in Hades in Greek mythology, personified as the Ancient Greek primordial deity of darkness, the son of Chaos.

Upper “Summit Camp” site (HSM 89) consists of part of a circle of rocks, which were probably used to weight the tent valances.

Geography and geomorphology

The mountain's name refers to the takahē, a flightless and nearly extinct bird from New Zealand; members of the 1957–1958 Marie Byrd Land Traverse party nicknamed an aircraft that had resupplied them "takahe". It was first visited in 1957–1958 and again in 1968, 1984–1985 and 1998–1999. A seismic station was installed on Mount Takahe before January 2019.

Mount Takahe is at the Bakutis Coast, eastern Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Bear Peninsula and the Amundsen Sea coast are 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Mount Takahe. It is an isolated mountain, and the closest other volcanoes are Mount Murphy 100 kilometres (62 mi) and Toney Mountain 140 kilometres (87 mi) away.

Geology

The West Antarctic Rift System is a basin and range province similar to the Great Basin in North America; it cuts across Antarctica from the Ross Sea to the Bellingshausen Sea. The Rift became active during the Mesozoic. Owing to thick ice cover it is not clear whether it is currently active, and there is no seismic activity. Most of the Rift lies below sea level. To the south it is flanked by the Transantarctic Mountains and to the north by the volcanic province of Marie Byrd Land. Volcanic activity in Marie Byrd Land commenced about 34 million years ago, but high activity began 14 million years ago. A major uplifted dome, 1,200 by 500 kilometres (750 mi × 310 mi) in width, is centred on the Amundsen Sea coast and is associated with the Rift.

Eruption history

The volcano was active in the late Quaternary. Radiometric results reported in 1988 include ages of less than 360,000 years for rocks in the caldera rim and of less than 240,000 years for volcanic rocks on the flanks. In his 1990 book Volcanoes of the Antarctic Plate and Southern Oceans LeMasurier gave 310,000±90,000 years ago as the oldest date for samples tested, citing unpublished K-Ar dates, but in a 2016 review of dates for Mount Takahe LeMasurier reported that none were older than 192,000 years. A 2013 paper also by LeMasurier reported maximum ages of 192,000 years for caldera rim rocks and of 66,000 years for lower flank rocks. The entire volcano may have formed in less than 400,000 years or even less than 200,000 years, which would imply rapid growth of the edifice.

Location

The Ford Massif is the northern past of the Thiel Mountains, separated from the Bermel Escarpment by the Counts Icefall.

Gray Spur is in the southeast of the massif, separated by the Aaron Glacier from Janulis Spur to its north.

Hamilton Cliff defines the northeast face of the massif, below Hadley peak to its west.

Features to the west of Hadley Peak include Compton Valley, Reed Ridge, Streitenberger Cliff and the Johnson Nunataks.