McMurdo Volcanic Group
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McMurdo Volcanic Group
The McMurdo Volcanic Group is a large group of Cenozoic volcanic rocks in the western Ross Sea and central Transantarctic Mountains areas of Antarctica. It is one of the largest provinces of alkaline volcanism in the world, having formed as a result of continental rifting along the West Antarctic Rift System. The McMurdo Volcanic Group is part of the Western Ross Supergroup, a stratigraphic unit that also includes the Meander Intrusive Group. Subdivisions Three subprovinces comprise the McMurdo Volcanic Group, namely the Hallett, Melbourne and Erebus volcanic provinces. The Balleny Volcanic Province along the Balleny Fracture Zone in the Southern Ocean was originally defined as part of the McMurdo Volcanic Group but is now excluded due to its location on oceanic crust with no obvious geographic or tectonic relationship to the other McMurdo volcanic provinces. Hallett Volcanic Province The Hallett Volcanic Province in northern Victoria Land is situated along the margin of the Tr ...
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Group (stratigraphy)
In geology, a group is a lithostratigraphic unit consisting of a series of related formations that have been classified together to form a group. Formations are the fundamental unit of stratigraphy. Groups may sometimes be combined into supergroups. Groups are useful for showing relationships between formations, and they are also useful for small-scale mapping or for studying the stratigraphy of large regions. Geologists exploring a new area have sometimes defined groups when they believe the strata within the groups can be divided into formations during subsequent investigations of the area. It is possible for only some of the strata making up a group to be divided into formations. An example of a group is the Glen Canyon Group, which includes (in ascending order) the Wingate Sandstone, the Moenave Formation, the Kayenta Formation, and the Navajo Sandstone. Each of the formations can be distinguished from its neighbor by its lithology, but all were deposited in the sam ...
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Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-smallest of the five principal oceanic divisions: smaller than the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans but larger than the Arctic Ocean. Over the past 30 years, the Southern Ocean has been subject to rapid climate change, which has led to changes in the marine ecosystem. By way of his voyages in the 1770s, James Cook proved that waters encompassed the southern latitudes of the globe. Since then, geographers have disagreed on the Southern Ocean's northern boundary or even existence, considering the waters as various parts of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, instead. However, according to Commodore John Leech of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), recent oceanographic research has discovered the importance of Southe ...
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Hargreaves Peak
Hargreaves Peak () is the highest peak on Adare Peninsula, Victoria Land, rising to . It stands sharply above Downshire Cliffs to the east; with gently descending ice slopes on the western side toward Nameless Glacier. Named by the New Zealand Geographic Board in 2008 after Paul Hargreaves, sea cadet aboard HMNZS Hawea on the first New Zealand scientific voyage into the Southern Ocean and Ross Sea in company with HMNZS Endeavour, summer 1956–57; visitor to Scott Base and McMurdo Sound McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica. It is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world, and is about from the South Pole. Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841, and named it after Lt. Archibald McMurdo ... on a Distinguished Visitor tour, in January 1994; Board Member, Antarctica New Zealand from 2001; Chairman, 2003–2008. References Mountains of Victoria Land {{VictoriaLand-geo-stub ...
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Hanson Peak
Hanson Peak is a small peak, high, south of Cape Adare in the northern part of Adare Peninsula, Antarctica. It was named by the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee after Nicolai Hanson, a member of the British Antarctic Expedition 1898–1900 The ''Southern Cross'' Expedition, otherwise known as the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898–1900, was the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, and the forerunner of the more celebrated journeys of Robert Falcon Sc ..., under C.E. Borchgrevink, who was the first man known to have died on the Antarctic mainland (at Cape Adare, October 14, 1899, where his grave is located). References Mountains of Victoria Land Borchgrevink Coast One-thousanders of Antarctica {{BorchgrevinkCoast-geo-stub ...
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Adare Peninsula
The Adare Peninsula, sometimes called the Cape Adare Peninsula, is a high ice-covered peninsula, long, in the northeast part of Victoria Land, extending south from Cape Adare to Cape Roget. The peninsula is considered the southernmost point of the Borchgrevink Coast, named for Carsten Borchgrevink (1864-1934). The peninsula was named by the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee (NZ-APC) for Cape Adare. The Adare Peninsula consists of overlapping shield volcanoes that have been potassium–argon dated 6 to 13 million years old. Potassium–argon dates of 2.27 million years and perhaps 1.14 million years have also been obtained. The Adare Peninsula shields form part of the Hallett Volcanic Province of the McMurdo Volcanic Group. Named features West coast Cape Adare is a prominent cape of black basalt forming the northern tip of the Adare Peninsula and the north-easternmost extremity of Victoria Land. On the west side of the peninsula is Ridley Beach, a cupsate be ...
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Subaerial Eruption
A subaerial eruption is any sort of volcanic eruption that occurs on the Earth's surface, or in the open air 'under the air', and not underwater or underground. They generally produce pyroclastic flows, lava fountains, and lava flows, which are commonly classified in different subaerial eruption types, including Plinian, Peléan, and Hawaiian eruptions. Subaerial eruptions contrast with subaqueous, submarine and subglacial eruption Subglacial eruptions, those of ice-covered volcanoes, result in the interaction of magma with ice and snow, leading to meltwater formation, jökulhlaups, and lahars. Flooding associated with meltwater is a significant hazard in some volcan ...s which all originate below differing forms of a water surface. References Volcanic eruption types {{Types of volcanic eruptions ...
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Antarctic Ice Sheet
The Antarctic ice sheet is one of the two polar ice caps of Earth. It covers about 98% of the Antarctic continent and is the largest single mass of ice on Earth, with an average thickness of over 2 kilometers. It covers an area of almost and contains of ice. A cubic kilometer of ice weighs approximately 0.92 metric gigatonnes, meaning that the ice sheet weighs ~24,380,000 gigatonnes. It holds approximately 61% of all fresh water on Earth, equivalent to about 58 meters of sea level rise if all the ice were above sea level. In East Antarctica, the ice sheet rests on a major land mass, while in West Antarctica the bed can extend to more than 2,500 m below sea level. Satellite measurements by NASA indicate a still increasing sheet thickness above the continent, outweighing the losses at the edge. The reasons for this are not fully understood, but suggestions include the climatic effects on ocean and atmospheric circulation of the ozone hole, and/or cooler ocean surface temp ...
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Subglacial Eruption
Subglacial eruptions, those of ice-covered volcanoes, result in the interaction of magma with ice and snow, leading to meltwater formation, jökulhlaups, and lahars. Flooding associated with meltwater is a significant hazard in some volcanic areas, including Iceland, Alaska, and parts of the Andes. Jökulhlaups (glacial outburst floods) have been identified as the most frequently occurring volcanic hazard in Iceland, with major events where peak discharges of meltwater can reach 10,000 – 100,000 m3/s occurring when there are large eruptions beneath glaciers. It is important to explore volcano-ice interactions to improve the effectiveness of monitoring these events and to undertake hazard assessments. This is particularly relevant given that subglacial eruptions have demonstrated their ability to cause widespread impact, with the ash cloud associated with Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010 resulting in significant impacts to aviation across Europe. Example ...
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Shield Volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava erupted from a stratovolcano. Repeated eruptions result in the steady accumulation of broad sheets of lava, building up the shield volcano's distinctive form. Shield volcanoes are found wherever fluid low-silica lava reaches the surface of a rocky planet. However, they are most characteristic of ocean island volcanism associated with hot spots or with continental rift volcanism. They include the largest volcanoes on earth, such as Tamu Massif and Mauna Loa. Giant shield volcanoes are found on other planets of the Solar System, including Olympus Mons on Mars and Sapas Mons on Venus. Etymology The term 'shield volcano' is taken from the German term ''Schildvulkan'', coined by the Austrian geologist Eduard Suess in 1888 ...
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Victoria Land
Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Antarctic Plateau. It was discovered by Captain James Clark Ross in January 1841 and named after Queen Victoria. The rocky promontory of Minna Bluff is often regarded as the southernmost point of Victoria Land, and separates the Scott Coast to the north from the Hillary Coast of the Ross Dependency to the south. The region includes ranges of the Transantarctic Mountains and the McMurdo Dry Valleys (the highest point being Mount Abbott in the Northern Foothills), and the flatlands known as the Labyrinth. The Mount Melbourne is an active volcano in Victoria Land. Early explorers of Victoria Land include James Clark Ross and Douglas Mawson. In 1979, scientists discovered a group of 309 meteorites in Antarctica, some of which were found near the Al ...
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Coulman Island
Coulman Island is an ice-covered island in the Ross Sea, located southeast of Cape Jones, Victoria Land, Antarctica. It is long, wide and in elevation. Emperor penguins inhabit this island. It was discovered in 1841 by Sir James Clark Ross who named it for his father-in-law, Thomas Coulman. A notable landmark of this island is Cape Anne, the south-easternmost point of the island, so named by Sir James Clark Ross for his wife. Cape Wadworth is the northernmost point of the island. The island is composed of several overlapping shield volcanoes that form part of the Hallett Volcanic Province of the McMurdo Volcanic Group. A wide and deep caldera called the Hawkes Heights can be found on the south end of the island. Important Bird Area (IBA) The island was founded in 1841, however, the island is currently recognized as an important bird area because it holds a huge super-colony of emperor penguins and is the largest colony of this species in the world. However, scien ...
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La Trobe University
La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria and the twelfth university in Australia. La Trobe is one of the Australian verdant universities and also part of the Innovative Research Universities group. La Trobe's original and principal campus is located in the Melbourne metropolitan area, within the northern Melbourne suburb of Bundoora. It is the largest metropolitan campus in the country, occupying over . It has two other major campuses located in the regional Victorian city of Bendigo and the twin border cities of Albury-Wodonga. There are two smaller regional campuses in Mildura and Shepparton and a city campus in Melbourne's CBD on Collins Street and in Sydney on Elizabeth Street. La Trobe offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses across its two colleges of Arts, S ...
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