The Shackleton Range is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. Rising at Holmes Summit to , it extends in an east–west direction for about between the Slessor and Recovery glaciers. The range was named after Sir

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age o ...

, leader of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing ...

(or "Shackleton's Expedition") of 1914–16.

Surveys

The

Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) of 1955–1958 was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. It was the first expedition to reach the South ...

(CTAE), which in 1956 saw the range from the air, conducted a ground-level survey of its western part in 1957. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

photographed the range from the air in 1967. In 1968–69 and 1969–70, the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

(based at

Halley Station Halley Research Station is a research facility in Antarctica on the Brunt Ice Shelf operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The base was established in 1956 to study the Earth's atmosphere. Measurements from Halley led to the discov ...

) conducted further ground surveys with support from US Navy

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desi ...

aircraft.

Geology

The Haskard Group and Turnpike Bluff Group rest

unconformably An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval ...

on the

Archean The Archean Eon ( , also spelled Archaean or Archæan) is the second of four geologic eons of Earth's history, representing the time from . The Archean was preceded by the Hadean Eon and followed by the Proterozoic. The Earth during the Arc ...

-Middle

Proterozoic The Proterozoic () is a geological eon spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8million years ago. It is the most recent part of the Precambrian "supereon". It is also the longest eon of the Earth's geologic time scale, and it is subdivided i ...

Shackleton Range

Metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...

Complex. The

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. T ...

-Early

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, wh ...

Blaiklock Glacier Group (475 Ma) also unconformably overlies the Shackleton Range Metamorphic Complex. This group is composed of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

s and conglomerates, and is unconformably overlain by the

Beacon Supergroup The Beacon Supergroup is a geological formation exposed in Antarctica and deposited from the Devonian to the Triassic (). The unit was originally described as either a formation or sandstone, and upgraded to group and supergroup as time passed. It ...

Features

Geographical features include:

Herbert Mountains

Read Mountains

Du Toit Nunataks

Other features

La Grange Nunataks

Other features

* Aronson Corner * Baines Nunatak * Bergan Castle * Blaiklock Glacier * Blanchard Hill * Chevreul Cliffs * Clarkson Cliffs * Clayton Ramparts * Cornwall Glacier * Crossover Pass * Flat Top * Freshfield Nunatak * Fuchs Dome * Genghis Hills *

Gordon Glacier Gordon Glacier () is an Antarctic glacier of at least in length flowing in a northerly direction beginning in the Crossover Pass, flowing through the Shackleton Range to finally meet the Slessor Glacier. The glacier was first mapped in 1957 b ...

* Guyatt Ridge * Haskard Highlands * Honnywill Peak * Jackson Tooth * Lewis Chain * Lindqvist Nunatak * Lister Heights * Lord Nunatak * Lundström Knoll * MacQuarrie Edge * M'Clintock Bastion *

Meade Nunatak Meade Nunatak () is a nunatak north of Blanchard Hill, rising to in the Pioneers Escarpment, Shackleton Range, Antarctica. It was photographed from the air by the U.S. Navy, 1967, and was surveyed by the British Antarctic Survey, 1968–71. In ...

* Mount Dewar * Mount Greenfield * Mount Haslop *

Mount Homard Mount Homard () is a mountain high, near the head of Blaiklock Glacier, south of the Trey Peaks in the western part of the Shackleton Range, Antarctica. It was first mapped in 1957 by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Commonwea ...

* Mount Lowe (Antarctica) *

Mount Pivot Mount Pivot () is a conspicuous mountain, 1,095 m, with steep rock slopes on its west side, standing between Mount Haslop and Turnpike Bluff in the west part of the Shackleton Range. It was first mapped in 1957 by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic ...

* Mount Provender * Mount Sheffield * Mount Skidmore * Mount Weston * Mummery Cliff * Nostoc Lake * Petersen Peak * Pioneers Escarpment * Pointer Nunatak * Pratts Peak * Ram Bow Bluff * Recovery Glacier * Sauria Buttress * Shotton Snowfield * Slessor Glacier * Stephenson Bastion * Stratton Glacier * Turnpike Bluff * Warden Pass * Wedge Ridge *

Whymper Spur Whymper Spur () is a rock spur rising to about 1,250 m eastward of Blanchard Hill in Pioneers Escarpment, Shackleton Range The Shackleton Range is a mountain range in Antarctica. Rising at Holmes Summit to , it extends in an east–west ...

* Williams Ridge

References

Mountain ranges of Coats Land {{CoatsLand-geo-stub