Quartermain Mountains

The Quartermain Mountains are a group of exposed mountains in Antarctica, about 32 kilometres (20 mi) 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.[1]

Quartermain Mountains
Quartermain Mountains is located in Antarctica
Quartermain Mountains
Geography
ContinentAntarctica
Range coordinates77°51′S 160°45′E

Exploration

The mountains were visited by British expeditions led by Robert Falcon Scott (1901–04 and 1910–13) and Ernest Shackleton (1907–09), who 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 Programme and United States Antarctic Research Program field parties, and to fulfill the requirement for maps compiled from United States Navy aerial photographs, 1947–83. In 1977, the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee named the mountains after New Zealand Antarctic historian Lester Bowden Quartermain (1895–1973).[1]

List of mountains

Mount Benninghoff

Mount Benninghoff (77°55′S 161°19′E) is a mainly ice-free mountain (1,965 m) standing 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) southeast of Terra Cotta Mountain. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names in 1993 after William S. Benninghoff (1918–93), Professor of Botany, 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 Research (SCAR) Working Group on Biology, 1968–87; member, Polar Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences, 1966–86.[2]

Mount Feather

Mount Feather (77°57′S 160°21′E) is a massive mountain, 3,010 metres (9,875 ft), with a broad flattish summit, standing at the southern extremity of the Quartermain Mountains. Named after Thomas A. Feather, Royal Navy, Boatswain on the Discovery during the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901–04), who accompanied Scott in his Western Journey to this area in 1903.[3]

Finger Mountain

Finger Mountain (77°45′S 160°40′E) is an elongated mountain rising to 1,920 metres (6,299 ft) 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 sandstone strata has the appearance of a finger.[4]

Pyramid Mountain

Pyramid Mountain (77°47′S 160°40′E) is a mountain resembling a pyramid, rising to 2,120 metres (6,955 ft) between Turnabout Valley and the mouth of Beacon Valley. 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.[5]

Tabular Mountain

Tabular Mountain (77°52′S 160°14′E) is a broad, flat-topped mountain, 2,740 metres (8,990 ft), about 9 kilometres (6 mi) north-northwest of Mount Feather. Descriptively named by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04.[6]

Terra Cotta Mountain

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.[7]

Quartermain Mountains from South Beacon ridge

Other features

References
  1. "Quartermain Mountains". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved January 24, 2006.
  2. "Mount Benninghoff". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  3. "Mount Feather". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  4. "Finger Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  5. "Pyramid Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved January 24, 2006.
  6. "Tabular Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  7. "Terra Cotta". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved October 30, 2010.

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