Usarp Mountains
Encyclopedia
The Usarp Mountains is a major Antarctic mountain range
, lying westward of the Rennick Glacier
and trending N-S for about 190 kilometres (118 mi). The feature is bounded to the north by Pryor Glacier
and the Wilson Hills. Its important constituent parts include Welcome Mountain, Mount Van der Hoeven, Mount Weihaupt, Mount Stuart, Mount Lorius, Smith Bench, Mount Roberts, Pomerantz Tableland, Daniels Range
, Emlen Peaks, Helliwell Hills and Morozumi Range
.
Parts of these mountains were discovered and first photographed from aircraft of the U.S. Navy Operation Highjump
, 1946–47. They were first sighted and entered by the U.S. Victoria Land Traverse 1959-1960 (VLT), and the first ascent of Mount Welcome made by John Weihaupt (U.S.), Alfred Stuart (U.S.), Claude Lorius (France), and Arnold Heine (New Zealand) of that traverse team. The mountains were completely mapped by USGS
from VLT reports, U.S. Navy air photos, 1960–63, and subsequent surveys. The name is an acronym of the United States Antarctic Research Program
(USARP), and was applied by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names
(US-ACAN) in recognition of the accomplishments of that program in Antarctica.
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
, lying westward of the Rennick Glacier
Rennick Glacier
Rennick Glacier is broad glacier, nearly 200 miles long, which is one of the largest in Antarctica. It rises on the polar plateau westward of Mesa Range and is 20 to 30 miles wide, narrowing to 10 miles near the coast. It takes its name from Rennick Bay where the glacier reaches the sea. The...
and trending N-S for about 190 kilometres (118 mi). The feature is bounded to the north by Pryor Glacier
Pryor Glacier
Pryor Glacier is a glacier flowing northeastward, to the north of Mount Shields and Yermak Point, into Rennick Bay. The feature is about 30 nautical miles long and forms a physical separation between Wilson Hills and Usarp Mountains. Mapped by United States Geological Survey from surveys and...
and the Wilson Hills. Its important constituent parts include Welcome Mountain, Mount Van der Hoeven, Mount Weihaupt, Mount Stuart, Mount Lorius, Smith Bench, Mount Roberts, Pomerantz Tableland, Daniels Range
Daniels Range
The Daniels Range is a principal mountain range of the Usarp Mountains, about 80 km long and 16 km wide, bounded to the north by Harlin Glacier and to the south by Gressitt Glacier. The range was mapped by USGS from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-63. Named by US-ACAN after...
, Emlen Peaks, Helliwell Hills and Morozumi Range
Morozumi Range
Morozumi Range is a spectacular mountain range of unusual scenic beauty, extending NW-SE for 25 miles, with its northern elevations overlooking the convergence of the Gressitt and Rennick Glaciers. Mapped by United States Geological Survey from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-63. Named by...
.
Parts of these mountains were discovered and first photographed from aircraft of the U.S. Navy Operation Highjump
Operation Highjump
Operation Highjump , officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946-1947, was a United States Navy operation organized by RADM Richard E. Byrd Jr. USN, , Officer in Charge, Task Force 68, and led by RADM Richard H. Cruzen, USN, Commanding Officer, Task Force 68....
, 1946–47. They were first sighted and entered by the U.S. Victoria Land Traverse 1959-1960 (VLT), and the first ascent of Mount Welcome made by John Weihaupt (U.S.), Alfred Stuart (U.S.), Claude Lorius (France), and Arnold Heine (New Zealand) of that traverse team. The mountains were completely mapped by USGS
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
from VLT reports, U.S. Navy air photos, 1960–63, and subsequent surveys. The name is an acronym of the United States Antarctic Research Program
United States Antarctic Program
United States Antarctic Program is an organization of the United States government which has presence in the continent of Antarctica. It co-ordinates research and the operational support for research in the region...
(USARP), and was applied by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names
Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names
The 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 recognition of the accomplishments of that program in Antarctica.
List of mountains
- Emlen Peaks 71°54′S 160°35′E
A group of scattered peaks and nunatakNunatakA nunatak is an exposed, often rocky element of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within an ice field or glacier. The term is typically used in areas where a permanent ice sheet is present...
s, 16 mi long and 7 mi wide, lying 6 mi south of Daniels RangeDaniels RangeThe Daniels Range is a principal mountain range of the Usarp Mountains, about 80 km long and 16 km wide, bounded to the north by Harlin Glacier and to the south by Gressitt Glacier. The range was mapped by USGS from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-63. Named by US-ACAN after...
in the south end of the Usarp Mountains. Mapped by USGS from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-63. Named by US-ACAN after John T. Emlen, biologist, University of Wisconsin, program leader who made penguinPenguinPenguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
navigational studies on the Ross Ice ShelfRoss Ice ShelfThe Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica . It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 km long, and between 15 and 50 metres high above the water surface...
, the interior of Victoria LandVictoria LandVictoria 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...
, and elsewhere in Antarctica, 1962-63.
- Helliwell Hills 71°50′S 161°25′E
A group of rocky hills and low mountains about 18 mi long and 9 mi wide. The hills lie south of Gressitt Glacier and midway between Emlen Peaks and the Morozumi RangeMorozumi RangeMorozumi Range is a spectacular mountain range of unusual scenic beauty, extending NW-SE for 25 miles, with its northern elevations overlooking the convergence of the Gressitt and Rennick Glaciers. Mapped by United States Geological Survey from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-63. Named by...
. Mapped by USGS from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-63. Named by US-ACAN for Robert A. Helliwell of Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, Program Director for the USARP study of very low frequency (VLF) radio noise phenomena.
- Mount Shields – 1170 metres (3,839 ft) 70°11′S 159°56′E
A mountain at the junction of the Pryor and Robilliard Glaciers, at the north end of the Usarp Mountains. Named by US-ACAN for Staff SergeantStaff SergeantStaff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
James K. Shields, United States Marine CorpsUnited States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
(USMC), assigned to U.S. Navy Squadron VX-6VX-6Air Development Squadron Six was a United States Navy Air Development Squadron based at McMurdo Station, Antarctica...
in Antarctica, 1962–63 and 1963-64. During 1962, Shields served as navigator on aircraft in support of the USGS Topo West survey of this area.
- Ship Nunatak 71°04′S 159°50′E
A very striking nunatakNunatakA nunatak is an exposed, often rocky element of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within an ice field or glacier. The term is typically used in areas where a permanent ice sheet is present...
which rises above the ice near the center of the upper portion of Harlin GlacierHarlin GlacierHarlin Glacier is a broad sweeping glacier that descends from the polar plateau in the vicinity of Mount Nero on the northwest side of Daniels Range. It flows northeast between Sample Nunataks and the north end of Daniels Range and then eastward to join the lower part of Rennick Glacier...
. Mapped by USGS from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-63. A descriptive name applied by US-ACAN because of the appearance of the feature, resembling that of a ship at sea.
- Mount Simmonds – 1885 metres (6,184 ft) 70°20′S 159°33′E
A mountain standing higher and next westward of Mount Theaker along the north side of Robilliard Glacier. Surveyed in 1962-63 by USGS and in 1963-64 by New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic ExpeditionNew Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic ExpeditionThe New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition describes a series of scientific explorations of the continent Antarctica. The expeditions were notably active in 1957-58 and again in 1958-59. The 1957-58 expedition went to the Ross Dependency and named the Borchgrevink Glacier...
(NZGSAE). Named by New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names CommitteeNew Zealand Antarctic Place-Names CommitteeNew 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) for G.A.E. Simmonds, New ZealandNew ZealandNew 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...
cartographer engaged in preparing final drawings of Antarctic maps, 1961-67.
- Mount Theaker – 1685 metres (5,528 ft) 70°18′S 159°38′E
A mountain along the north wall of Robilliard Glacier, 3 mi NE of Mount Simmonds. Mapped by USGS from surveys and U.S. Navy aerial photographs, 1960-62. Named by US-ACAN for Paul R. Theaker, USARP biologist at McMurdo StationMcMurdo StationMcMurdo Station is a U.S. Antarctic research center located on the southern tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program, a branch of the National...
, 1967-68.
List of geological features
- Armstrong Platform 70°32′S 160°10′E
A mainly ice-covered height, or small plateau, which is a northeastward extension of Pomerantz Tableland. The feature is 5 mi long and ranges from 1,200 to 1,800 m in elevation and rises directly north of Helfferich Glacier. Mapped by USGS from surveys and U.S. Navy aerial photographs, 1960-62. Named by US-ACAN for Richard L. Armstrong, USARP geologist at McMurdo Station, 1967-68.
- Helfferich Glacier 70°38′S 159°50′E
A glacier about 8 mi long which drains the east slopes of Pomerantz Tableland southward of Armstrong Platform. Mapped by USGS from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-62. Named by US-ACAN for Merritt R. Helfferich, USARP worker in the field of ionospheric physics at South Pole Station, 1967-68.
- Pomerantz Tableland 70°38′S 159°50′E
A high (2,290 m) ice-covered tableland about 10 mi long, standing 15 mi NW of Daniels Range. Mapped by USGS from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-62. Named by US-ACAN for Martin A. PomerantzMartin A. PomerantzMartin Arthur Pomerantz was an American physicist who served as Director of the Bartol Research Institute and who had been a leader in developing Antarctic astronomy. When the astronomical observatory at the United States Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station was opened in 1995, it was named the...
, Director of the Barthol Research Foundation and Chairman of the U.S. Committee for the International Year of the Quiet Sun, who carried on cosmic rayCosmic rayCosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The term ray is historical as cosmic rays were thought to be electromagnetic radiation...
studies in the McMurdo SoundMcMurdo SoundThe ice-clogged waters of Antarctica's McMurdo Sound extend about 55 km long and wide. The sound opens into the Ross Sea to the north. The Royal Society Range rises from sea level to 13,205 feet on the western shoreline. The nearby McMurdo Ice Shelf scribes McMurdo Sound's southern boundary...
area, 1959–60 and 1960-61.
- Robilliard Glacier 70°13′S 159°56′E
A valley glacier, 17 mi long, which flows northeastward through the mountain range. It rises southward of Mount Simmonds and emerges from the mountains at Mount Shields, where it joins Kooperatsiya Ice PiedmontKooperatsiya Ice PiedmontKooperatsiya Ice Piedmont is an ice piedmont at the southwest side of Yermak Point on the west shore of Rennick Bay. This area was photographed in 1958 by the Soviet Antarctic Expedition which gave the name "Zaliv Kooperatsiya" to the western portion of Rennick Bay. The Advisory Committee on...
. Mapped by USGS from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-62. Named by US-ACAN for Gordon Robilliard, USARP biologist at McMurdo Station in 1967-68 and 1968-69.