Quartermain Mountains
Encyclopedia
Quartermain Mountains is a group of exposed mountain
s, about 20 miles (32 km) long, typical of ice-free features of the McMurdo Dry Valleys
, Victoria Land
, located south of Taylor Glacier
and bounded by Finger Mountain, Mount Handsley
, Mount Feather and Tabular Mountain; also including Knobhead
, Terra Cotta Mountain, New Mountain
, Beacon Heights
, Pyramid Mountain, Arena Valley
, Kennar Valley
, Turnabout Valley
and the several valleys and ridges within Beacon Valley
.
The mountains were visited by British expeditions led by Robert Falcon Scott
(1901-04 and 1910-13) and Ernest Shackleton
(1907-09), which applied several names. Names were added in the years subsequent to the International Geophysical Year
, 1957-58, concurrent with research carried out by New Zealand Antarctic Research Program (NZARP) and United States Antarctic Research Program (USARP) field parties, and to fulfill the requirement for maps compiled from U.S. Navy aerial photographs, 1947-83. Named by the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee
(NZ-APC) in 1977 after Lester Bowden Quartermain (1895-1973), New Zealand
Antarctic historian.
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
s, about 20 miles (32 km) long, typical of ice-free features of the McMurdo Dry Valleys
McMurdo Dry Valleys
The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of snow-free valleys in Antarctica located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The region is one of the world's most extreme deserts, and includes many interesting features including Lake Vida and the Onyx River, Antarctica's longest river.-Climate:The Dry...
, Victoria Land
Victoria Land
Victoria Land is a region of Antarctica bounded on the east by the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea and on the west by Oates Land and Wilkes Land. It was discovered by Captain James Clark Ross in January 1841 and named after the UK's Queen Victoria...
, located south of Taylor Glacier
Taylor Glacier
The Taylor Glacier is an Antarctic glacier about long, flowing from the plateau of Victoria Land into the western end of Taylor Valley, north of the Kukri Hills, south of the Asgard Range...
and bounded by Finger Mountain, Mount Handsley
Mount Handsley
Mount Handsley is a subsidiary rock peak on the Knobhead massif in Victoria Land. It rises 1.5 nautical miles south-southeast of Knobhead and overlooks the upper part of Ferrar Glacier from the northwest...
, Mount Feather and Tabular Mountain; also including Knobhead
Knobhead
Knobhead is a massive ice-free mountain, 2,400 m, standing south of the west end of Kukri Hills and overlooking the Ferrar and Taylor Glaciers at their point of apposition, in Victoria Land. It was discovered by the Discovery expedition and so named because of its appearance....
, Terra Cotta Mountain, New Mountain
New Mountain
New Mountain is a mountain in Antarctica. It is high, standing between Arena Valley and Windy Gully, on the south side of Taylor Glacier in Victoria Land. It was charted and named by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04....
, Beacon Heights
Beacon Heights
The Beacon Heights are a small cluster of peaks between Beacon Valley and Arena Valley in Quartermain Mountains, Victoria Land, rising to in West Beacon, and also including East Beacon and South Beacon. They were named by Hartley Ferrar, geologist with the British National Antarctic Expedition...
, Pyramid Mountain, Arena Valley
Arena Valley
Arena Valley is an ice-free valley, between East Beacon and New Mountain, which opens to the south side of Taylor Glacier in Victoria Land. It was given this descriptive name by the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition , 1958–59....
, Kennar Valley
Kennar Valley
Kennar Valley is a small valley, ice free except for a lobe of ice marginal to Taylor Glacier at the mouth, located west of Finger Mountain in the Quartermain Mountains, Victoria Land. The name appears to be first used on a 1961 New Zealand Lands and Survey Department map compiled from New Zealand...
, Turnabout Valley
Turnabout Valley
Turnabout Valley is a partially deglaciated valley between Finger Mountain and Pyramid Mountain, in the Quartermain Mountains, Victoria Land. Named by the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition , 1958-59....
and the several valleys and ridges within Beacon Valley
Beacon Valley
Beacon Valley is an ice-free valley between Pyramid Mountain and Beacon Heights, in Victoria Land. It was mapped by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13, and named by the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition after Beacon Heights....
.
The mountains were visited by British expeditions led by Robert Falcon Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
(1901-04 and 1910-13) and Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
(1907-09), which applied several names. Names were added in the years subsequent to the International Geophysical Year
International Geophysical Year
The International Geophysical Year was an international scientific project that lasted from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific interchange between East and West was seriously interrupted...
, 1957-58, concurrent with research carried out by New Zealand Antarctic Research Program (NZARP) and United States Antarctic Research Program (USARP) field parties, and to fulfill the requirement for maps compiled from U.S. Navy aerial photographs, 1947-83. Named by the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee
New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee
New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee is an adjudicating committee established to authorize the naming of features in the Ross Dependency on the Antarctic continent. It is composed of the members of the New Zealand Geographic Board plus selected specialists on Antarctica...
(NZ-APC) in 1977 after Lester Bowden Quartermain (1895-1973), New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
Antarctic historian.
List of mountains
- Mount Benninghoff (77°55′S 161°19′E) is a mainly ice-free mountainMountainImage:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
(1,965 m) standing 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) southeast of Terra Cotta Mountain. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic NamesAdvisory Committee on Antarctic NamesThe Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending names for features in Antarctica...
(US-ACAN) in 1993 after William S. Benninghoff (1918-93), Professor of Botany, University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, 1957-88, retiring as Professor Emeritus of Botany; seasonal visits to Antarctica in 1968, 1976, 1977 and 1989; member, Scientific Committee on Antarctic ResearchScientific Committee on Antarctic ResearchThe Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science . It was established in February 1958 to continue the international coordination of Antarctic scientific activities that had begun during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58...
(SCAR) Working Group on Biology, 1968-87; member, Polar Research Board of the National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, 1966-86.
- Mount Feather (77°57′S 160°21′E) is a massive mountain, 3,010 m, with a broad flattish summit, standing at the southern extremity of the Quartermain Mountains. Named after Thomas A. Feather, Royal Navy (RN), BoatswainBoatswainA boatswain , bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun is an unlicensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The boatswain supervises the other unlicensed members of the ship's deck department, and typically is not a watchstander, except on vessels with small crews...
on the Discovery during the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901-04), who accompanied Scott in his Western Journey to this area in 1903.
- Finger Mountain (77°45′S 160°40′E) is an elongated mountain rising to 1,920 m on the northern side of Turnabout Valley. So named by the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901-04) because a long tongue of dolerite between the sandstoneSandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
strata has the appearance of a fingerFingerA finger is a limb of the human body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of humans and other primates....
.
- Pyramid Mountain (77°47′S 160°40′E) is a mountainMountainImage:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
resembling a pyramidPyramidA pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
, rising to 2120 metres (6,955 ft) between Turnabout ValleyTurnabout ValleyTurnabout Valley is a partially deglaciated valley between Finger Mountain and Pyramid Mountain, in the Quartermain Mountains, Victoria Land. Named by the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition , 1958-59....
and the mouth of Beacon ValleyBeacon ValleyBeacon Valley is an ice-free valley between Pyramid Mountain and Beacon Heights, in Victoria Land. It was mapped by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13, and named by the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition after Beacon Heights....
. The name seems first to appear on maps of the British Antarctic Expedition (R.F. Scott), 1910-13, but the mountain was almost certainly seen for the first time during Scott's first expedition, 1901-04.
- Tabular Mountain (77°52′S 160°14′E) is a broad, flat-topped mountain, 2,740 m, about 6 mi NNW of Mount Feather. Descriptively named by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-04.
- Terra Cotta Mountain (77°54′S 161°15′E) is a mountain between Windy Gully and Knobhead, on the southern side of Taylor Glacier. The descriptive name was applied by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-04.